warming up engine whilst on SORN

[gov]

Like many others my Elan is tucked up in the garage for the winter on a trickle charger to maintain the battery - my question is concerning the merits of whether it is worth periodically running the engine or whether this does it more harm than good ? If I leave the car untouched for a few days or a week I get the common problem of noisy tappets that persist until the engine is thoroughly warmed up that can take 10 minutes or more - I understand why this is ie oil draining down from the hydraulic lifters - a quirk that has been with this car for many years with no apparent adverse affect ie no exhaust smoke, no oil consumption etc and always quietens down - am wondering whether it's best just to leave it alone till the spring then take it out for it's first proper warm up ?

Tony

[dapinky]

I'm a believer in leaving it alone until it will get a 'good' run.

There are more things to think about than just getting the water (coolant) hot enough to switch on the fans - at that point, the oil will still not be at it's optimum temperature (or, at least, not evenly throughout the engine). _ This is more prevalent whilst static, but also when driving.

This can have adverse issues with the engine 'cooling down' again, and condensation forming - which may cause more issues (like mayonaise in the oil... which will clear up once it gets a good run anyway, but won't improve the engine whilst it's still there.

Then there is the transmission oil temperature, which takes a good run to warm up.

Brakes that get hot, then go back into a cool(er) damp(er) garage will attract rust to the discs, so a 'short run' up the road and back to keep the tyres round may cause more harm than good.

I just put mine into the garage, with the tyres pumped up to 40psi, and will worry about it when the nicer weather comes.

(this is the first Winter that I've had a garage, so it's not been SORN'd before and I've always used it sporadically to keep it ticking over - so it will be a bit of a learning curve for me as well).

[sideways]

I'm a believer in leaving it alone until it will get a 'good' run.

Hmm, that could lead to problems, this is mine...waiting for a 'good' run.

[Rambo]

And I'm a believer in using my Elan's all year round, even throughout a Scottish winter

I must admit though that the Black Beastie is currently SORN'd (2nd replacement hip joint 8 weeks ago) and I am a fan of running the engine at least once a month. This usually lasts between 30 and 45 minutes , enough time for the dual fans to recycle 3 times. I also drive the car out of the garage and turn it forwards and backwards a few times in the area in front of the house so that the wheels/tyres aren't in the same position. I also use a CTEK battery conditioner or (currently) disconnect the battery

And finally, I check the mousetraps regularly