Never seen a plastic scraper scratch glass, that defies physics...but to each his own.

 

I have a v-3 , so I make sure it s warm before I take off . our temps the last couple of days ....ave. 20-25 degrees

 

I just wait until the revs drop to 1k and then I drive off, but I keep it under like 4k until it warms up

 

Happened on my '05 v6. After doing it I saw little lines on the windshield. Not deep scratches, but noticeable to me. Felt like Ford skimped an put cheap glass on the car. I wasn't pressing hard or anything...I also had some chips from rocks that didn't seem all that rough that left nicks in the glass.

 

You are on the right track as far as holding the revs down until the engine has warmed up. 2k sounds about right, as it seems to be in kind of a sweet spot between "lugging" and "excessive".

The detail of how soon to drive off probably needs to vary a bit depending on your specific circumstances, but in any event I'd wait until the engine has dropped off its initial fast idle. If your car is a manual transmission, the first few upshifts will be much better if the engine can return to its curb idle. (FWIW, I'll do this even in the summer, let the engine idle while I do things like fasten my seat belt, open the windows, set the ventilation or A/C, and adjust the radio volume.)

Any additional idle time would be based on how far it is from where you're parked to where you need to be able to use more revs and more power. IOW, if your house or job is only a quarter of a mile from the Interstate highway that you go directly to, driving straight off and running up to highway speed immediately isn't a very good idea (even if 5th/6th @ 65 mph is only 2000 rpm). At a minimum, you want to be clearly feeling heat coming out of the vents first.

If you're going to "play" a bit - accelerating moderately hard off a stop light or taking an entrance ramp in 3rd gear come to mind here - you need the car to have warmed up further. I'd judge the revs and amount of throttle to use by the temperature gauge position, something like halfway to the fully warm position being good for 4000 rpm and half throttle or so. Fully warm position for WOT. Fully warm position for at least a couple of minutes before redlining it (know that your oil does not warm up as fast as your coolant does).

Don't forget that there are other fluids and semi-solids that need to warm up (tranny & differential lubes, wheel bearing grease, maybe power steering fluid and even shock oil).


Norm

 

It's almost certainly not the plastic itself, but little grains of grit that can become embedded in the plastic. This can happen if the scraper gets dropped, falls on the car floor, or just from picking up the road grit that's UNDERNEATH the ice when you use it even for the first time. I've managed to scratch two or three different windshields, one with a nearly new plastic scraper. I know of no reliable way to remove it.

I won't use a scraper either.


Norm

 

Being that you are in Texas, where it don't rain or snow, or get cold ever, you can do that! LOL

Well, it does rain and snow and get cold, I was in central Texas last Jan or Fec when it actually snowed and it regularly got cold to below 30 for several days straight!

 

Sorry to hear you lost 3 cylinders. Did you put up signs in the neighborhood to see if anyone has found them?

 

I feel the best method is to start the car and let the oil circulate......the colder the longer. You can feel the engine is a little bit rough/shaky when 1st started in the cold....let it idle for a minute or 2 to warm up the oil......then you will notice the engine will start to be smoother....the newer the car the less I notice the shake/roughness will last. You want the oil to warm up enough so it will circulate easier. Then take it easy until the temp gauge starts to move. I live in Connecticut....the winter is usually cold.

 

ha ha ha !!!! walked right into that one !! love that v-3 whistle !!!