MannyZ28

iTrader: (1)

I am just wondering what you guys do before you get ready to drive somewhere. The way my car is right now (see sig), it really doesn't like to be driven when it's cold, it drives much better when it's up to operating temperature. I usually let it sit there and idle a bit till the needle moves a bit and then drive it, shifting as early as possible without it dying, usually at around 2000 to 2500 rpm.

You are supposed to take it easy on the car when cold because of the valve springs, right?

Do you let the car warm up completely (till the fans come on) before you start driving, or do you just take it easy driving it till it's completely warmed up?

Oh the fun of a cammed car....rough to drive when cold....and if you gotta get somewhere in a hurry.....well....you can't...till it's warm.

Manny

777

iTrader: (21)

With your cam you should be able to shift at 1500rpms without it dieing. Anyhow I let mine sit and idle for about 1 minute then just keep the rpms below 2500 until my temp gauge reads at least 160.

ninobrn99

iTrader: (8)

i ususally let it warm up for a few minutes just out of habit. i can drive it cold though and it ususally doesnt give me any trouble.

MannyZ28

iTrader: (1)

It doesn't die when I shift that early, it kinda surges and has no power until it knows what just happened....lol.

In general, my car, as it sits now, does not like driving around in 4th gear at 45 mph, I mean it cruises fine at that speed, but if you have your foot on the gas just lightly to maintain that speed, it's at the virge of a bucking bronco episode.

I am guessing 4.10 gears will cure that. I am still not sure about my tuning, I have never had a cammed car and I just don't know what to expect from drivability with a cam this size. Over all it drives very good, just not like stock....but eh, I am used to it by now.

Manny

jmm98LS1

iTrader: (28)

That's about the same as I do. I can start it and take off immediately with no driveability problems, but I usually give it about a minute or two warm up. I don't go above 2500rpm until my water temp is about 175-180.

MannyZ28

iTrader: (1)

Looks like I have been following the correct procedure

Manny

pewter 01 SS

iTrader: (5)

I have a 408ci and my car feels like **** when i dont let it get warm up.. i usually need to let it get close to the half way mark before it feels good. I dont think it should be dying

thunderdan74

iTrader: (1)

what?? I just get in and go! But, I just put the cam in last month-no cold days yet. Another guy I met asked if can start it with the A/C on, and it ain't a prob either. I might of had these problems before I got it tuned. The only thing mine does is stumble a little when I am cruizing at less than 1200RPM. Gas milage is 15.5 in the city with the A/C on. what are you guys getting?

ninobrn99

iTrader: (8)

your tune needs to be worked on. that cam shouldnt be acting up like that

Checkmate

iTrader: (2)

If you guys can't drive your cammed cars cold you have major tuning issues. I can fire mine up, wait 30 seconds and drive down the street with out it dieing. But typically I give it a few minutes to start to build heat.

hourang

iTrader: (6)

i have a custom 224 cam, no idle issues for me, no surge, start and drive

Nittany_marine

iTrader: (7)

Just to be safe, I let mine warm up to operating temp. Check your tune if its acting up like that. Good luck to you!

MannyZ28

iTrader: (1)

Well, it's gotten better since the tune. After I first had it tuned, my friend who did the cam install drove the car home and he said it was perfectly fine. Later that night I drove it and it felt good after it was warmed up, but a few miles further down the road it started surging at idle, between 800 and 900 rpm. I had the tuner lower the idle from 900 to 800, and after that the SES light came on as well. I just kept driving it, contemplating on what to do. I had the code read and it turned out to be a history of my fromer O2 sensor problems. After a while of driving it, the surging went away, and so did the SES light.

My "drivability" problems are very very minor. The main reason I asked this question is to make sure I am not hurting anything driving it before it is completely warmed up since I know that higher performance springs only work properly under a certain temperature. In other words, high performance springs are supposed to break easy if the car is driven hard while the engine is still cold.

~JOSHUA

iTrader: (92)

I let the whole car warm up before I beat on it. The tranny fluid, differential fluid, and so on.

ninobrn99

iTrader: (8)

dont run the **** out of it when its cold. if you take it easy while driving it cold, you shouldnt have an issue.

Mr. Luos

iTrader: (9)

I don't ever let it sit and warm up. I start and drive. I just keep it under 1800 until fully warmed.

Kraest

iTrader: (3)

Start and drive ......although it's a fun drive before operating temperature.

Mike

Schantin

iTrader: (6)

Yep, that's all I do. I don't beat the crap outta it or go WOT till it's warmed up. Just drive it normally until I see around 160 degrees or so.

As for mileage, just figured out I'm getting a crapy 13.5mpg. It was 17-18 before the cam swap. Bastards!! Oh well, the price for going fast I guess

Patrick G

iTrader: (14)

Manny, the rough idling at cold start is not something you have to live with. It all has to do with the tune. I've seen Geoff from Thunder Racing tune a 346 with a 242/248 110LSA TRex to start up dead cold and idle nearly as cleanly as a stocker. It's all in the tune brother. I'm not talking about doing WOT tuning on the chassis dyno and I'm not talking about raising idle speed...I'm talking about tweaking the VE tables, the running airflow tables and the low speed timing tables. Honestly, the 224 cam is an easy cam to tune to run like stock.

When tuned correctly, you should be able to stick the key in when dead cold, fire it up and listen to the engine purrrrrr. No waiting 30 seconds. No waiting 15 seconds. Just get in a drive, just like it was stock. That's what a real tune will give you, but it takes hours of logging and hours of tweaking to make perfect...something most tuners lose money doing.

MannyZ28

iTrader: (1)

Oh it idles fine on start up....it's just a bit harder to drive when it's cold.

And yeah...he didn't do all the other tuning...just wot runs and making sure the A/F is fine....at least that's what it looked like to me.