How To Preheat The Engine in Cold Weather

My nearby dealership always seems to be awash in the Plug-In version, and one or two Hybrids.

 

I think he meant coldest town in Colorado... Because we all know there's lots of super cold places in the world, especially 12K years ago.

 

Winter (Dec – Feb): Average lows range from -10C (14f) to -15C (5f) in Calgary

The Calgary I know in winter is cold but not -30C on "most days".

The engine will start on a hybrid pretty quickly due to quick discharging when cold.

You bought a plug in with no place to plug it in. I would dig a trench in the current 63f weather (no freeze in sight) and call it a day.

 

Well, you know what they say about people that make assumptions. Muted for being a Canadian AH

 

0W-16 oil, computer-controlled hybrid drivetrain that also uses the electric motor as the motive force—there is little need to warm up in frigid weather. Even my 1985 Corolla owner’s manual recommended only a few minutes of warm-up in frigid weather, and that was with 5W-30 or thicker (typically 10W-30 or 10W-40) and a carburetor. As long as you drive gently with a cold engine, you will be OK. Just don’t floor it. In fact, if I floor my Gen 4 Prime PHEV with a cold engine (using 0W-16 oil), it smells really bad, like some plastic is burning; so, don’t do it with a cold engine.

 

Have u tried just driving it

 

The icebox of the country. Know it well. Worse than ridiculous, probably not good for the engine.

 

What they said: The best way to warm up any car is to drive it gently for a few minutes. Idling just wastes gas. As a former Minnesota driver, sometimes at -40'C/F, the window defrost solution is external air.

 

Okay I'll bite: What specific problems are people (first hand stories only please) having with Toyota engines from using them in cold climates without preheating?