Hi,
As it cools off, how long do you give your beetle to warm up before driving away?? This is my first winter, and she has been a bit "chuggy" in the am.

you live in Rockhampton!

There is no such thing as cool weather!!

Seriously - what sort of dub is it??

Does it have a stock carb??
It "should" be smooth from start - especially if the choke works.

Tell us a bit more on the set up

hehehe well for me, if you count to 20 youll start to get a warm bum too.

geez i love heated seats:bounce

A few minutes at 1500rpm

till the song on the stereo is finished

VW used to advertise in the early 60s that Beetles didn't need to be warmed up as MOST other "water cooled" cars had to back then.....

Start it up with the auto choke and drive away immediately...

I used to do that back in the middle 60s with the "L" plates on..... Its best to do that... otherwise You are just revving the engine for nothing....

Start up and drive away...

If You have twin carbs and no choke etc.... You might have to warm it up slightly.....
but revving a cold engine isn't good.....
thats when most wear is done.....
IMHO of course.....

http://community.webshots.com/user/vw68autobug 

Lee

Hi

Just drive off slow, thats what the factory suggest. Also never let your sit idling to cool down after a hard run, its better to drive steadliy a few ks from your destination instead, this applies to turbos as well.

Steve

To me 9 degrees is cold!!!
I think it is a standard carb with an auto choke, but I've noticed the choke seems to be running fast when the car is warm, when it gets warm.
nyway, I'll just get in turn on and drive after I'm buckled in by the postings here

Well, for those of us in the real cold (one morning last week was -4), what I used to do was start the car and let it idle while I scrape the ice off the car. Now I can't do that as it doesn't idle well when cold (I'm putting it in for a checkover soon).

Mine is a stock 1500 bug....I start it and drive it slowly for the first few mins. It gets a bit chuggy as you say, but I think its just its way of saying it wants a tune.

Besides, I can't drive too quick in the early morning as the condensation on the car re-freezes on the windows...it takes about 7 - 10 mins before the car has lost enough moisture to be confident at speed that your vision is OK.....

I always let it run at fast idle for at least 2 minutes before driving off. Call it what you will but it makes me feel like I've done my bit to look after the engine. I have an oil temp gauge in both my VW's and usually wait until a temperature registers on it before driving. It's a fact that at lower temps the oil will have a greater viscosity and therefore cannot lubricate as well as if it was warm.
Even Muir said in his Idiot's book that he always rolled a smoke and got it drawing well before driving off. Quote: "The morning warm-up is the nicest possible thing you can do for your engine."
I drive a kombi and the engine works much harder than a bug, and I'd never floor a cold motor!
Just my 2c worth.

Please take with the humour intended:- -4 degrees, well no wonder our population is booming!!! Think mine too is asking, " tune up pleaasseee"

GO QUEENSLANDER!!!!!!

i refitted the original thermostat and use magnatec. so i drive off slowly right away. time will tell.

mine gets to warm up as long as it takes me to squeegy of the windows and to open and close my gates :thumb

I dont think Fleur even lets any exhaust gas get out of the tailpipes of the Beetle before she floors it.

That motor is shagged anyway. The kombi gets about 1-2 minutes of warmup, which is about when the auto chokes start warming up.

The EH needs about 5 minutes as it is LPG and has no thermostat in the head, and needs to fully warm up.

I'd have to side with tas. The engine warms up much faster when it is under load. It does make sense not to rev the tits off it when it is cold as the clearances havent closed up yet though.

Either way, the engine has to warm up regardless and it will wear, even if you do believe the ads about "magnatec". I think regular maintanence is more important than idling it for a few minutes every morning.

I know the square root of -1 is i, and I know think I can just get in and drive, as it's apparently not cold here in CQ. I think that is the answer I will live with with!!
Many thanks for the entertaining slants and views (as always)

Cheers:

Well even if it is bollocks Taz, I'm gonna keep warming up my engine.
The oil and the various different metals used in the engine case, rods, bearings, pistons and cylinders etc all have different warmup and expansion rates and are all designed to run at "operating" temperature. That's good enough reason for me anyhoo.
Cheers!
Toby

Yeah as will i keep warming my engine up in the morning so do what you wish its your engine your killing

All you warmer-upperers are entitled to warm up your engines as long as you like. Hell, knock yourselves out, run it for 10 minutes.
Im not TELLING anybody how to treat their engine but i do know what i know.

But to come out with this little gem is absurd!
"so do what you wish its your engine your killing "

Pfftt! Thats childish.
Please!
L8tr
E

make sure your heater control flaps and thermostat are working, this will make warm up ALOT quicker. dunno if a beetle has these put kombi's do

All sorts of viewpoints. I go by how the motor feels. Usually I wait a little bit, less than a minute, at idle. This allows the motor to get to the point that it won't stall (when first started here in cold Vic it turns itself off in the first minute without a little bit of accelerator - I put a small water bottle on the accelerator to hold it a little open). The revs slowly go up as it warms up, so once it no longer stalls were I to release the pedal, she's ready.

However, I also don't floor it (not even close actually) for several (~5?) minutes, and don't rev it. Real gentle. I notice that if I do give it a bit much accelerator when cold it stutters and shudders and isn't impressed. But at the same time, I don't fear driving off straight away.

Cold metal parts don't like stress, things go crack. Also when cold the oil pressure is through the roof and the risk of blowing a seal or creating a leak somewhere is far greater. But like Taz said, you may as well drive off, just treat it easily and it'll be ok. Then again I have to warm mine up for a minute 'cause it doesn't have chokes and runs like a pig.

I'd usually let it run for a minute and then take it easy for a while. The engine tells you how hard it wants to go anyway. Sometimes I was starting off in -20c temperatures in the morning. I'd usually let it run for a little while before I took off, because it just couldn't fire consistently at that temp.

What VW was saying is that you can drive away straight after you start it up. I don't recall them saying you can't let it warm up before you take off.

I mean the engines reach minimum operating temp very quickly, but you can leave it be if you want. ANd whoever said it was right. Cold metal cracks. So if you live in very cold areas, please don't overstress your motor on startup!

I get in turn the key, push the garage door button and leave when its up
Thats the entire warm up
Vern goes like a beauty
First time
Everytime

I used to warm my car up and it ran like crap
now I start driving steady till its warm then thrash it no more problems !

Wrap a big scarf round your inlet manifold and she'll be right