Hi all, I've had my xA for a little over a week and I love it but am noticing something strange.

When I start the vehicle the blue (cold) engine temp light comes on and it stays on for a good 2-3 minutes even while I'm already well out of the driveway.

I know it's winter but I'm in Houston and it's hardly cold here right now.

Does anyone else have this problem? Is it something I should be concerned about or do you guys think it's okay?

Thanks in advance!

It is not a problem it is normal.

Normal Operating Temps for your engine are over 100 degrees.
So unless you are having a hot winter in Houstion, I would say
you are running normal.

Don't complain! Here in Wisconsin I've driven for 10 minutes with my light on... of course, that's when it's -20 outside and snowing! Yeah, I wouldn't worry about it if it's only on for a few minutes. It takes your car a little bit to "warm up" to "normal operating temp"

PS: Welcome to the family :)

just be gentle with the gas pedal while the blue light is on :) warmups can be hard on the engine

A big "WooT!" is sounded in my car when the blue light goes off. That's when all hands race for the heater knob.

normal operating temp is between 80-100c or 176-203f

the blue light is going to stay on till 76c

If driving an xA with auto one gets a sudden drop in RPM when the Temp Light goes out. One might say that the sound reduces at that time.

If driving an xA with auto one gets a sudden drop in RPM when the Temp Light goes out. One might say that the sound reduces at that time.

It's kicking into O/D once the light goes off...

just installed the water temp gauge and it looks like it runs around 185-190 F

hey design, dont worry about it same thing happens to me. I live in Houston too. Im in sugar land. But when i was breaking my car in i would start my car and wait for the light to go off then i would put it in gear. But now when im in a rush i dont. What i always do is start the car and then before driving off, I walk around it to make sure no dents, scratches, key marks etc. then by that time the lights off and i take off. Im probably the only one that does this but im trying to keep it in the best shape possible.

hey design, dont worry about it same thing happens to me. I live in Houston too. Im in sugar land. But when i was breaking my car in i would start my car and wait for the light to go off then i would put it in gear. But now when im in a rush i dont. What i always do is start the car and then before driving off, I walk around it to make sure no dents, scratches, key marks etc. then by that time the lights off and i take off. Im probably the only one that does this but im trying to keep it in the best shape possible.

Hehe. That's funny.

Thanks for all the input, folks; much appreciated!

Well same here i let at least 5 minutes for my car to worm up and the thing is still blue ......then my head gets blue from freezzing weather and thennnnnnnnnnnnn i start to drive ..........well its better to wait 5 minutes longer while the car gets lil bit wormer then wait another week or two to get your car engine repaired ............dont forget that!

I could be mistaken, and am too lazy to go out in the cold and verify this. I swear I read in the owner's manual that Toyota says it's perfectly fine to start the car and drive without worrying about the temperature of the engine.

In most of my old cars, it was understood that I was to let the car "warm up" before driving. Has anyone else read the xA manual closely enough to know what I'm talking about?

yes i read it forgot most of it lol

it did say just start her up and drive away

It is the dumbest thing I've seen in ages, and it's totally useless when the manual says it's a cold engine light, but doesn't say a word as to what you're supposed to do differently when it's on.

All it basically does is to raise the RPMs of the car as you drive to help get the engine temp up, circulate the oil, and basically get the car awake.

You can still drive it hard (with the usual reduced lifespan), but given that it's only a ~110 HP engine and a Toyota engine, I'd expect that even with hard driving right from the start, the engine will last well over 100,000 miles w/o a problem.

Basically, the blue cold engine light means Go Easy on the car until it warms up.

Well, they say the best way to warm up an engine is simply to drive it gently. There's no need to let it idle for too long.