Why you shouldn’t warm up Chinese cars for a long time in cold weather
- January 20, 2024
- 0
In winter, the car engine needs to be warmed up, and in summer it is not a sin to let it run for a few minutes before driving:
In winter, the car engine needs to be warmed up, and in summer it is not a sin to let it run for a few minutes before driving: when heated, the metal expands, reaches operating parameters and its natural wear is on a warm engine is considerably lower than on a ‘cold’ one. However, as the current winter has shown, warming can also cause damage. Details are on the AvtoVzglyad portal.
When asked about the need to warm up a car in Russia, it is customary to answer in the affirmative: who, you might ask, would in their right mind decide to get “cold” at -30? And even in less frosty weather, they usually leave the engine running for at least 5-10 minutes: while we clear the snow from the roof, while we place things around the cabin, while the steering wheel and seats warm up. An ordinary life that does not require any justification, giving us 4-5 months of winter every year.
But in 2023, the trends changed slightly: suddenly and almost immediately, thousands of Chinese cars appeared on Russian roads in front of our monarch, which, as it turned out, were completely unprepared. And here, as luck would have it, the most real, epic and fantastic Russian winter: with bitter frosts and prolonged snowfall. This has never happened before, no one could have imagined it! And the Chinese, who produce standard cars for a completely different climate, even more so. And this is what came out of it.
The batteries froze, the sensors went out, and multi-inch screens and beautifully designed touch panels refused to cooperate. Some simply wouldn’t start, while others’ pedals fell due to the cold. Unfortunately. However, a situation that had never happened before was noticed in several cities at the same time. Especially on such a huge scale. The fact is that many Chinese cars have pleased their users with malfunctions in the exhaust system. And some drivers even managed to find out the true cause of the same malfunctions.
The exploding muffler of the Chery Tiggo 7 Pro Max, the series of malfunctions on the GAC GN8 and many, many other Chinese cars that happened to end up in Russia are associated with the same problem: water accumulates in the Chinese exhaust system. And if you warm up the car regularly, a lot of H2O will build up.
It is enough to completely disable this system. In some places, like the Cherry, the exhaust was cracked, in others there was only ‘little bloodshed’. But the verdict is clear: it is not worth warming up the “Chinese”, especially if you do it for a long time, starting the autostart several times. Otherwise, you will then have to remove the manifold, pipe and muffler, disassemble it and pull out the ice.
And here the European version of warm-up comes to the rescue: the engine has been running for a minute or two – and you are ready to go. Yes, this is harmful to the engine, yes, you should not immediately load it, but let it warm up in operating mode, but at low speeds. However, it is absolutely not necessary to heat it according to the old Soviet custom “until the needle goes up” – it is expensive to sort out the system later.
Photo “AutoVzglyad”.
Photo “AutoVzglyad”.
When asked about the need to warm up a car in Russia, it is customary to answer in the affirmative: who, you might ask, would in their right mind decide to get “cold” at -30? And even in less frosty weather, they usually leave the engine running for at least 5-10 minutes: while we clear the snow from the roof, while we place things around the cabin, while the steering wheel and seats warm up. An ordinary life that does not require any justification, giving us 4-5 months of winter every year.
But in 2023, the trends changed slightly: suddenly and almost immediately, thousands of Chinese cars appeared on Russian roads in front of our monarch, which, as it turned out, were completely unprepared. And here, as luck would have it, the most real, epic and fantastic Russian winter: with bitter frosts and prolonged snowfall. This has never happened before, no one could have imagined it! And the Chinese, who produce standard cars for a completely different climate, even more so. And this is what came out of it.
The batteries froze, the sensors went out, and multi-inch screens and beautifully designed touch panels refused to cooperate. Some simply wouldn’t start, while others’ pedals fell due to the cold. Unfortunately. However, a situation that had never happened before was noticed in several cities at the same time. Especially on such a huge scale. The fact is that many Chinese cars have pleased their users with malfunctions in the exhaust system. And some drivers even managed to find out the true cause of the same malfunctions.
The exploding muffler of the Chery Tiggo 7 Pro Max, the series of malfunctions on the GAC GN8 and many, many other Chinese cars that happened to end up in Russia are associated with the same problem: water accumulates in the Chinese exhaust system. And if you warm up the car regularly, a lot of H2O will build up.
It is enough to completely disable this system. In some places, like the Cherry, the exhaust was cracked, in others there was only ‘little bloodshed’. But the verdict is clear: it is not worth warming up the “Chinese”, especially if you do it for a long time, starting the autostart several times. Otherwise, you will then have to remove the manifold, pipe and muffler, disassemble it and pull out the ice.
And here the European version of warm-up comes to the rescue: the engine has been running for a minute or two – and you are ready to go. Yes, this is harmful to the engine, yes, you should not immediately load it, but let it warm up in operating mode, but at low speeds. However, it is absolutely not necessary to heat it according to the old Soviet custom “until the needle goes up” – it is expensive to sort out the system later.
Source: Avto Vzglyad
Donald Salinas is an experienced automobile journalist and writer for Div Bracket. He brings his readers the latest news and developments from the world of automobiles, offering a unique and knowledgeable perspective on the latest trends and innovations in the automotive industry.
