swaangin

When I start my car (about 50-60 degrees where I am) from a cold start, I notice the car idles at 1000+ RPM (specifically 1300-1500 RPM). Is that normal? I just noticed it one day, when I throw it in park, it goes down to under 1000 RPM. The car only has 22K miles

E46CT

high idle on cold start normal. cars are dirty when cold so they run a higher rpm to get the catalysts up to temp as fast as possible. probably has other benefits as well as far as starting performance when cold.

swaangin

oh you think so? I only have 22K miles on it right now.. today, I haven't drove the car in 2-3 days.. decided to give it a start.. took a second longer but it was like 50-55 degrees outside.. was idling almost a 1800-1900 RPM this time :O

geigerbran

What does it idle at when the engine has warmed up? What kind of gas do you use? What kind of oil? Have you missed anything?

swaangin

800-1200 when warm, I get premium gas from Mobil and Sam's Club.. Oil changes have been done by dealer only

geigerbran

Your car is fine, if it idled that high when it was warm then you should worry.

HOMER350

Those idle rpms are about where mine are as well if that cold.

I ALWAYS wait 2-5 minutes for my car's idle to drop after cold start, and usually for the temp gauze to rise a tad before putting into drive. Done this for every car I've ever owned.

Also, wait for normal driving temp on gauge before driving over 2500 rpms.

Anyone else? Or am I over cautious. I'll continue to regardless but just curious.

arentz07

OP, sounds pretty normal for a cold start. It should drop down to 600-800 after things get up to temp.

2-5 minutes seems excessive. 30 seconds would be plenty for a modern car. I think the concept of letting it warm up for minutes from a cold start is a hold-over from old, carbureted engines.

abenjack

I do the same. Always wait at least until the guage has risen a quarter of the way up.

dmavilia

My IS 350 acts the same as yours when cold. I'm guessing it's normal.

Flash5

The whole waiting until the engine warms up completely doesn't apply to modern cars, I could go into full nerd detail mode, but if you're curious look it up as to why that is. While I would personally wait until it is fully warmed up to go WOT, to drive normally just give it about 30 secs to a minute so the oil gets circulated. The RPM's will always run high on a cold start as long as your idle is not running high when the car is completely warmed up you're fine.

MX73

2-5 min is excessive. Also, 3k oil changes are pointless in a modern car, when other markets around the world are pushing 10-15k intervals.

Any vehicles will have a high idle when in a cold temp environment. There are a bunch of technical manuals that explains this and why anything longer than 1 min warm up is a waste of fuel.

MoeGS350

Hi, I have kind of the same issue but for me it doesn’t go back to normal rpm setting when its in drive and its like I have to hit the brakes harder or it will take off. 5-10 mins and then it drives very normal so also wondering if that is normal for a 2007 Lexus GS 350.

arentz07

If this only happens during cold weather, then I would say it's normal.

NickCaesar

Have you tried to drive a car that just sat in -45 degree Celsius weather without warming it up?
im in Canada and it gets that cold I’m winter. It would not even be possible to drive away, my car routinely has multiple inches of snow and ice on it, instrument controls partially frozen and barely work. Transmission shifts very hard, car accelerates like a snail until it warms up a bit.
Also try pulling on the highway and merging with cars doing 120-130km/h when ur car is cold. Now I’m in one of the most extreme climates in the world, someone living in Virginia or somewhere where there definition of “cold” is still 30 degrees warmer than where I’m from does not need to warm their car up like me.

That being said even on -40 Celsius days I only let it warm up about 3-5 min before taking off. I have to. I didn’t buy a 306 hp naturally aspirated v6 Lexus to worry about “wasting” gas for a few min while my car warms up a bit and melts some of the multiple inches of ice on my front and rear windshield during winter.
Summer time I give it about 30 seconds than take off.