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warming up

5K views 25 replies 7 participants last post by  Cypher 
#1 ·
hey everyone i just wanted to know how many new fiesta owners actualy bother warming up your car before you drive.
Its something like 75% of engine damage happens in the first 10 minutes a car is switched on.
ive only been driving now for about a year but i have always let my car warm up anywhere from 5-10 minutes. and i usualy drive it around the block very slowly to get gearbox warmed up etc... just wana make it last ;)
my car now has just over 1 thousand k's on it and its finished its wear in period. im planning on dumping the oil out and changing it :)
Does anyone know if ford use the fully synthetic shell oil... or is it the semi synthetic. i wana use the expensive shit ;) considering even mobile 1.

What are your opinions on this and do any of you do the same???
 
#4 ·
thats a good idea especialy with a new car ;)
butttt try if all possible to use the same oil all the time. like if u start using synthetics at ur first service just try and keep using only synthetics.
i also suggest servicing the car yourself between manufacturer servicing. and warm your car up. because if i was looking to buy a second hand car and it had fully synthetic oils and had been warmed up before driven id feel more inclined to buy it at a higher price ;) better resale boys and girls... plus you know that your lookin after your new toy :D :bsr:
 
#6 ·
well ford has the complimentary service at 3,000 but they wont change any oils. they will just give everything a check over. check oil levels. all fluids etc..
I suggest servicing between 1,500 and 3,000. then i believe first oil service is at 10,000 then at 15,000 i believe. (dont quote me on that) :p
but yeah with normal driving, very low reving etc u should be okay servicing at ford recomended intervals.
but because we are young... and we like to fang our cars a lil u should really service at least once between ford services.. BUT BUT BUT use genuine ford filters otherwise you might have your warranty voided if they find a filter that aint ford (it would tell em that sumone else has been servicing car, which they dont like)
personaly im going to service my car with fully synthetic oils every 3-4 thousand K's. i dont drive my car much so it takes me a long time to rack up K's
 
#7 ·
The quickest way to warm up your car is to drive it. Cars take longer to warm up when sitting there idling.

Servicing your car every 3k is a waste of money IMO - stretch it out to 5k. Also there is a reason why the oil stays in so long for a new car - I wouldn't change it before Ford does, its all part of the running in procedure of the engine.
 
#8 ·
Yeah, i just drive off slowly for a while, no high revs....i used to let my car idle, don't do it no more.....plus with fully synthetic in your car you don't need to change it as often as normal oil.....i run fully syth in my motorbikes cause it last longer. But what i liked about the Fords servicing was that they don't ask you to service every bloody 6 months like other makes. this proves to me that Ford makes a good engine and they do. It was my only car whilst in England...majority fiesta's (have photos must put them on here for all to see) even had an RS turbo...god i miss that car....yeah, where was i, when i get my 1st service done, i'm getting the oil changed to fully syth.
 
#9 ·
Yeah i realise that the best way to warm an engine up is to drive it :p but i prefer to just let it sit fora lil while. i mean it doesnt matter, hardly uses any fuel doing so and if your not in a rush then its no big deal :D hehe

In regards to servicing, like i said, if you give ur car a bit of a thrash (which i dont reallllly do,, only sometimes hehe.) then u should service more often. but if ur a granny driver then service at normal ford scheduled times.
but thats just me.. everyones different.
 
#10 ·
Mines gonna go into service early next year. I had it serviced at 2000km with and I did have the oil, oil filter and fuel filter changed over by ford.

Next service ill do is will be about the 8000km mark early next year. (Would do it now but going overseas so car will just be sitting)
 
#11 ·
the first service is complimentary right???
Did u pay extra for oil changing etc?
or do they actualy do all that for you on the first service for free?
 
#12 ·
labour is free. They ask if you would like to charge the oil and filters. In the end it came to abour $30 for new oil, oil filter and fuel filter.
 
#14 ·
the oil ford use is semi synth. 30 sounds probly bout right cuz they get everything in bulk.
they use shell products.. shell fully synth is like 54 bucks off the shelf for 4 ltrs i think. Im pretty keen to use mobile 1 all the time like i did with my previous car ;) lube it up baby !! YIEWWW
 
#20 ·
Re: warming up and shutting her down!

gents with modern oils they can hold onto the viscosity (thickness ie micron thick/thin! barrier between moving surfaces) for longer hence the 12000 mile service intervals, believe me when i say i thrap my car 25 miles to work and 25 mile home every day (for 2 years 22,000 miles) one third country lanes bouncing off the rev limiter! and approx 15 miles dual carriageway with very very little traffick which means 90-115mph is the norm, on start up i reverse off the drive so that allows approx 45 seconds for oil to get up to the cams and through the main bearings and i then keep my revs below 2500 until the temp guage reads norm! i drop out the ford oil (at half service intervals 6k and 18k) which i'm led to believe is fully mineral and replace with semi synth (fully synth is best left to pure race engines! or deep pockets!) the ford spare counter purchased oil filter is changed at the same time! my engine still sounds as sweet as the day two years ago when i first fired her up!(1.4 zetec mk6 fiesta!) the thinking is......use mineral during the "break in period" if you are too gentle during this time you will glaze up the bores and get higher oil consumption so dont be afraid to give it the berries! an important thing to do during your first drive on a new engine is to go down a steep hill and drop her into a low gear, this will seat your piston rings (during the engine braking) which will again ensure no oil is required between services! you will have a very tight bedded in engine i note there is a few air box mods being done elsewhere on this forum, be carefull gents unles you are backing it up with fueling changes (via an ecu remap)and dyno read outs you are probably losing power but hearing more induction roar, ex turbo car owners will be aware of the benefits of letting the car idle for a short while before switching off, the worst thing you can do is to rev the engine then switch off...all the unburnt fuel will then wash down the walls of your engine cylinder and when you next fire her up it will be piston ring against engine bore instead of a few microns of oil molecules! thats how an engine gets worn prematurely, give it the berries and enjoy it but be gentle on start up and shut down!.. just my ten penneth

Rick Ryder 44 yr old ex Motorcycle Racer! (stripped a lot of engines!)
 
#22 ·
you will have weakened the fuel / air mix, you may have got it right! but the odds are approx 10-1 against you unless you are following a known formula that works ie k&n induction kit plus brand xyz exhaust sysyem equals 5 bhp etc which has been tried and tested on several cars and found to work on the dyno, but even then... no two engines are the same!, there are probably 5bhp variations in bhp output as they come off the production line!

Rick.....
 
#23 ·
The ECU readjusts itself(to a small amount) to minor mods so that air-fuel mixtures don't get too low or high. Unless you do something that will increase exhaust backpressure or lower the amount of air going in(or increase temp) you will get an increase.

An ECU remap will give best results as the ratios are perfected but ECU's do "learn" about new conditions.
 
#25 ·
i like that feeling too ;) :| :| :|
Oh i started my second job today :D boooooooooooost juice!
i recommend it to everyone :p
 
#26 ·
I had my oil changed to full synth at 800km...revs a hell of a lot better now! Car has now done 4,200km and is going in for the Ford 3,000km comp service.

I am going to do oil, etc every 7,500km....as the car is not turbo and I use Castrol Synth R it should do the job nicely. Although I do tend to rev it a fair bit which is no issue with the full synth oil. Even got rid of a little bit of valve train noise.
 
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