Revving to redline: does it strain the engine?

[niky]

Idling the engine when cold for a couple of minutes is damaging because it takes longer to warm up the engine that way. I normally warm up the engine for fifteen to thirty seconds, just enough time to adjust my seat, the side mirrors and buckle my safety belt, then drive off at low rpms. This warms up the engine faster without unduly stressing it. Old wives' tales have it that turning the airconditioning on before the car is warmed up is a no-no... but if you're driving down the road, that's only an extra 5-10 hp worth of stress, so I don't think that's such a big problem.

Even though most people don't read it ...the book manual has outlined the recommended shift points- the upper and lower km/h of every gear and it's different for the dohc and sohc model, 1.5 and 1.6. Following it the tach needle lands at 2K- 3K. Something must be gleaned from that...

...curiously, those shift points corresponds to that very limited window of jiving wheel speed and engine speed where you can shift- yes move the shifter out of one gear into another- WITHOUT THE CLUTCH! (not that it's recommendable of course.)

Hahaha... I've heard of that. Very useful to know if your clutch pedal doesn't work... Never tried it myself... just too chicken.

[valskie01]

Depende din siguro sa kotse. Sa manual ng altis ko, di daw kailangan ng engine warm up. You can go as you start the engine, just don't race/labor the engine habang malamig pa. "Never leave the engine idling for more than 10 mins (cold); 40 mins (warm/normal OP temp).

correct. this is also what is stated from the manual of my carens crdi.

[ptk675]

Hahaha... I've heard of that. Very useful to know if your clutch pedal doesn't work... Never tried it myself... just too chicken.

OT: good to know in case you need it. i've done this many times on many different vehicles and has actually come in handy a couple times, 1st on our '93 L200 when the clutch slave suddenly leaked while I was on my way home (from a. bonifacio to bulacan :D) and then on our '97 isuzu pickup when the clutch master's rubber seal got torn while I was on my way to greenhills. napa emergency stop over tuloy ako sa banawe.

BOT: i never redline an engine while its still cold (from startup to about 20 minutes along the way). Like Niky I start 'er up, adjust my seat, put on my belts, turn on the radio, check the mirrors and away I go. Traffic from home to the bocaue exit usually takes around 15 minutes so thats enough time to get the engine warmed up for my NLEX sprint :D

[[archie]]

hmm.. i think its ok to wait for the engine to warm up at idle, thats just me. in my perception, the engine would have lower stress if is warms up slowly. siguro nga iba iba for different models/car makers.

ive been warming up my car for the past 8 years and when i go for routine maintenance, mechanics always say "ganda pa ng condition ng oto". kaya i still continue to do so. hehe

[jomarijoma]

Basic: Know the limit of your car and its engine build and rev it up where it is giving power.

Some engine like JDM B16a can take up to 8k rpm while JDM B18C5 can take up to 9k RPM without problem and can live there. Upgrading your valve springs, retainer, camshaft (jun 4, toda, skunk, et al) and installing bloc girdle will further give you license to rev past 11k rpm. Happy reving

By the way, if your car has vtec, i say you can rev it daily above 6k, your vtec is nothing but a piece of s**t if you would not rev it high, live it! there's nothing to worry vtec engine is design to be rev high and it is basically a high reving engine. Remember vtec lives in high RPM!!!

[marv25]

Basic: Know the limit of your car and its engine build and rev it up where it is giving power.

Some engine like JDM B16a can take up to 8k rpm while JDM B18C5 can take up to 9k RPM without problem and can live there. Upgrading your valve springs, retainer, camshaft (jun 4, toda, skunk, et al) and installing bloc girdle will further give you license to rev past 11k rpm. Happy reving

By the way, if your car has vtec, i say you can rev it daily above 6k, your vtec is nothing but a piece of s**t if you would not rev it high, live it! there's nothing to worry vtec engine is design to be rev high and it is basically a high reving engine. Remember vtec lives in high RPM!!!

this is exactly my point... vtecs are high-rev engines... so am i right that they arent happy when theyre labored on low revs?

like for example, im going uphill... so its better to rev high and labor the engine there, rather than keeping it at 1-2krpm where the torque is really low and it sounds like hirap na hirap ang engine?

although i am hesitant to keep it in high revs for a long time coz its loud, but the engine sounds happy...


and it depends on the condition of the car, right? if you rev a really old car, theres a chance it will blow up?

[lazyfoot]

this is exactly my point... vtecs are high-rev engines... so am i right that they arent happy when theyre labored on low revs?

like for example, im going uphill... so its better to rev high and labor the engine there, rather than keeping it at 1-2krpm where the torque is really low and it sounds like hirap na hirap ang engine?

although i am hesitant to keep it in high revs for a long time coz its loud, but the engine sounds happy...


and it depends on the condition of the car, right? if you rev a really old car, theres a chance it will blow up?

Honda engines are rev happy, you can rev it till the redline but it will still get damaged if you keep it there for more than 5 seconds. shift up once you reach the rev limit.

[voltscastillo]

i'd rather not rev my 1.6 liter honda to the redline at idle...

think of your 1.6 engine as a small blender underneath your hood... will you race your blender powered car? probably not, cause you'll break it. if i want to hear the sonorous orchestra of an engine howling while being idled or abused at the track, i'd buy a porsche or ferrari or maybe just watch f1 at malaysia (di kaya ng budget pag monaco hehehe).

point is, just because honda fanboys (like me) say that the vtec3 engines can scream and deliver power right up to the end of the redline doesn't mean you should go out and try it. without the proper modifications, daily redlining will eventually break your engine prematurely due to the stress all that energy generates. and when it does, we honda guys won't be lining up to pay the repair bill for you... it's you who'll have to shoulder the billz for the replacement of the camshaft and worn piston rings and clutch linings... maybe even a cracked piston dome and bent valves

[Type 100]

What's the point of revving your engine to redline without any load? That's just a huge waste of fuel...and not very politically correct in these "carbon footprint" times

If you're going to spin your engine anyway, better make it worthwhile by doing it in gear.

[marv25]

i'd rather not rev my 1.6 liter honda to the redline at idle...

think of your 1.6 engine as a small blender underneath your hood... will you race your blender powered car? probably not, cause you'll break it. if i want to hear the sonorous orchestra of an engine howling while being idled or abused at the track, i'd buy a porsche or ferrari or maybe just watch f1 at malaysia (di kaya ng budget pag monaco hehehe).

point is, just because honda fanboys (like me) say that the vtec3 engines can scream and deliver power right up to the end of the redline doesn't mean you should go out and try it. without the proper modifications, daily redlining will eventually break your engine prematurely due to the stress all that energy generates. and when it does, we honda guys won't be lining up to pay the repair bill for you... it's you who'll have to shoulder the billz for the replacement of the camshaft and worn piston rings and clutch linings... maybe even a cracked piston dome and bent valves

hmm so it makes more sense to floor the 2.4L CRV then?

I dont rev it on neutral ha... thats a waste of fuel...