How long does it take for your 5.0 to warm up when driving in cold weather?

[intelisevil]

The title say it all . . .

My '99 5.0 takes much longer to warm up than my '00 4.0 SOHC does. This isn't just a hand to the heater outlet test or looking at the gauge on the instrument cluster. I'm using an app getting signal from the OBDII port.

I start my engine and let it run enough to stabilize while I put on my seat belt and make sure my mirrors are good. I don't sit at idle to preheat my vehicles, trying to maximize my mileage. The only time I let my vehicle idle is if the windows are covered with snow or ice, I'll let it run while I clear the windows to be safe to drive. I drive down my 1/3 mile gravel driveway and turn onto a 55 mph country highway. My 4.0 is normally up to temperature (192°) in about 2 miles. 2.5-3 miles as the outside temperature approaches freezing.

Under the same conditions the 5.0 takes about 5 miles at 50-70°, about 7 miles at 30-45° and over 10 miles at 20° or lower.

I've only had the 5.0 for about 2 years. I replaced the thermostat last winter (before I had my OBDII reader) because "I knew" it had to be stuck open. Both the old & new (192°) thermostats reacted the same in almost boiling water but I installed the new one anyway - No difference.

That's when I got the OBDII reader so I could really see when (if?) the coolant got up to temperature.

I'm thinking about putting some sort of cover over part of the radiator (like the big boy truckers do in the Winter). Cold weather is definitely on its way and it's kind of hard to drive when your whole body is shivering uncontrollably because it's 20° inside your vehicle.

An engine block heater of some sort could help at home, but not when I'm at work at our local ski resort. The tree huggers have made it illegal to sit and idle to warm your engine up.

 

[koda2000]

The SOHC and V8 should take about the same amount of time to reach full operating temp. If the V8 is taking too long the thermostat is suspect.

 

[2000Xplor3r]

could be a(n) stuck open thermostat, or a faulty sensor on top of the thermostat housing, but id go with the thermostat first, i had bad thermostats from autozone i went ford and got the thermostat and new gasket it was under 20 bucks

 

[rathrbcruisin]

My 5.0 takes about 2 miles to warm up. Any time I've had a no heat problem it was low on coolant, a bad thermostat, or a plugged heater core.

 

[Turdle]

Aluminum heats faster and exchanges heat faster than cast iron, so I think an engine with aluminum cylinder heads will warm faster.

There is also less mass of metal to heat on the v6 compared to the v8.


My 5.0 will not hit 193 degrees on the scangauge for several miles ( 4-5 or so) of highway driving.

My son's focus blows hot air within 2 blocks of driving.

MY sis in law has a sohc mountaineer. If I can remember to, I would like to run the above experiment with it and mine.

 

[fixt]

Our 96 5.0 takes 3-5 miles during cold weather. New radiator this past summer and it always idles a couple minutes to circulate oil prior to ripping off down the road, and while seat belts put on or any other stuff. I monitor the instrumentation out of habit, but never really timed the warm up phase.

 

[1997XLTRollover]

There are so many factors that come into play here. If you truck reaches operating temp in 3-5 minutes I don't think you really have anything wrong.

Far the the tree huggers they can eat ****, if someone told me I couldn't warm my vehicle up I'd do it anyway. I just dumped thousands into a new engine and there'e no way I'm dropping my truck into drive when it's 20 degrees out without the engine coming up to at least 100 degrees.

 

[A.J.C.]

I don't know about you guys but I'm always running late. As long as I have oil pressure, I drop it in gear and go. I'm not saying this is a good idea, but with the 10 cars I have owned, I have always done this and have not had any issues. It also does not get very cold in Georgia so if I lived up North, I would probably let it warm up first.

My 5.0 warms up in a few miles.

 

[koda2000]

With multi-viscosity oils there's really no reason to let your car warm up. It just wastes fuel and letting an engine run off-load is probably worse for it than driving it before it's warmed up. I've never let my cars warm up before driving them, unless I needed to melt the ice off the windows, and it's never done them any harm. I suppose if I lived in Alaska and it was 30-40 below I might think differently, but then they use engine heaters.

 

[SoNic67]

In normal climates is always better just to start driving right away. Otherwise, at idle cold, the cylinders are lubricated with gasoline instead of oil.
My 5.0 takes slightly longer to warm up maybe because I have a lower temperature T-stat (180F Stant on purpose). Maximum 3-4 miles on surface roads at 40F outside.