Wait For 2 Mins Before Driving Off In S320?

[bing]

Big BS! Tell the seller not to start the car till you get there tomorrow so you can test for yourself from cold and see if it shifts normal. Generally, yes and if ever shifting maybe slightly delay or even harsh but not severe or thud when cold and should shift thru the gears normal .

IMO it's another old school trait to sit and wait . At most, maybe seconds, when idling settles to 600rpm then pull off, but 2mins? Nah,, waste of time!! For me as a rule, I pull off slowly and never go over 3k rpms before it hits normal operating temp , 80c+.

 

[Rory]

As said - MB manual (and every other car I've owned) has always said 'do not idle, pull away from cold'.

I agree with others that that advice is probably more emissions related. Anyway, if you let a diesel idle for 2 mins it'll still be cold!

Mine can't be shifted out of Park for a few seconds (probably the time it would take to put the seat belt on if you started it first) but to my way of thinking, and bearing in mind I often don't use my car for a week, it seems sensible to let the oil circulate for a bit while there's no load on the engine.

 

[Dieselman]

'fraid I cant agree but there ya go....most bikes water and air cooled I have owned have suggested allowing engine to get up to normal operating temp before puling away.....of the car handbooks that I read years ago these used to suggest the same thing.

Suggested, or stated. Maybe they were written in some long lost language and have been misinterpreted, personally, I don't believe it.
Do you have any actual examples?

Who said rev it like mad? Please answer that, it's a serious question.

There are multiple reasons for driving off straight away, it seats the rings better, reduces mixture strength more quickly and reduces bore wash due to condensation of fuel

I've never seen a car owners manual that said anything other than drive away straight away, but maybe it's there somewhere.

Anyway, it's your time and money so we'll leave you to it...

I bet it's hard being outsmarted by the Wife...

 

[ras8963]

Who said rev it like mad? Please answer that, it's a serious question.

There are multiple reasons for driving off straight away, it seats the rings better, reduces mixture strength more quickly and reduces bore wash due to condensation of fuel

I've never seen a car owners manual that said anything other than drive away straight away, but maybe it's there somewhere.

Anyway, it's your time and money so we'll leave you to it...

I bet it's hard being outsmarted by the Wife...

ouch ...that hurts!!

In reality its most probably semantics, most probably we all sit for a few moments after starting, 5- 30 secs to 5 secs to a few minutes....I was just providing an opinion, some might agree most won't but there ya go. Its an individuals choice.
Mind you I think we have all drifted from the OP which was more a suggestion of being had over by a seller...
Cheers
R

 

[Dieselman]

ouch ...that hurts!!

Yep, sorry about being a bit cutting, but there are genuine reasons to drive off straight away and I wouldn't sit with the engine idling.

My own manual say "Warm the engine quickly".

Personally, by the time the music is on, I'm moving.

I agree about the seller knowing there is a problem with this car, which is why it went to the auto-box specialist in the first place.

 

[Buster'stheboy]

OP, post no.12 on this thread by andy27168 would make me very wary of this seller.

...must be a woman thing, turns the key and sticks it in gear simultaneously much to my annoyance.

It's not a Woman thing. I do the same as you and Hubby does the same as your Wife. When I first started driving I was told not to move off until the oil has had a chance to circulate properly.

Also was told not to blip the throttle before stopping the engine as it meant neat petrol washed the oil from the bores! People don't seem to do this blip nowadays, but was quite common back then IIRC.

 

[Dieselman]

The oil pump is quite capable of circulating cold engine oil, which due to increased viscosity when cold will be at high pressure, typically 3 Bar at cold.

If the engine was at -25c I would give it a few seconds to warm the oil a bit, but not at 10c.

Running a petrol engine at idle is performing the same bore wash trick that blipping the throttle used to do.

 

[Wiizzy]

Wow! Thanks guys. I've read through all the posts and think i'm now better equipped to deal with any arising issues when i go to collect the car tomorrow.

Its been fun and a good learning experience. I'll keep you all updated.

Cheers!

​

 

[kth286]

Wow! Thanks guys. I've read through all the posts and think i'm now better equipped to deal with any arising issues when i go to collect the car tomorrow.

Its been fun and a good learning experience. I'll keep you all updated.

Cheers!

​

How can the potential loss of money be fun ?

 

[John]

when i go to collect the car tomorrow

Hmm, sounds to me like you might be committed to buying it.

I would never buy an eBay auction car for this reason.

You need to see and inspect the car first.

OK, you can still walk away on the basis it is 'not as described' in this case because that fault was not described, but go with an open mind rather than a decided one because the car could be a dog!

 

[DITTRICH]

The car could be a dog... I rest my case.

 

[BlackC55]

Just to be clear, this behaviour is to warm the engine oil faster... not the ATF.

It's to warm the CATs faster, not the engine oil or ATF. All about emissions!!!

 

[trapperjohn]

Wow! Thanks guys. I've read through all the posts and think i'm now better equipped to deal with any arising issues when i go to collect the car tomorrow.

Its been fun and a good learning experience. I'll keep you all updated.

Cheers!

​

Bear in mind the car will probably have been started and run for two minutes before you get there.

 

[DITTRICH]

Bear in mind the car will probably have been started and run for two minutes before you get there.

So say you are going to arrive 2 hours later than you intend to... I would.

 

[rascalmaster]

So say you are going to arrive 2 hours later than you intend to... I would.

or 2 hours earlier

 

[markjay]

On a general note... when inspecting a second hand car from private buyer... the usual advice is to let the buyer know that you would like the engine to be stone cold when you get there.

It's all to common for scruples sellers to warm up the engine before inspection to ensure that any cold-starting or cold-running issues are properly masked.

 

[John]

Bear in mind the car will probably have been started and run for two minutes before you get there.

Or 3 minutes earlier... catch 'em with the keys in their hand.