2001 high idle start-up

hello !,,, when i start my taurus it idles around 1500 rpm and takes about 1 min to idle down to about 800. This seems lengthy to me, i realize newer vehicles idle somewhat higher than older ones to get the oil flowing faster but i dont like waiting that long is there a problem ???

Ours does the same thing, had a year and a half done it that long.

My '01 does this too. If you don't wait, it will jump when you put it in gear.
Any news on this?

i have a 2001 3.0 vulcan with 56kmi. Mine also idles at 1500rpm for about 30sec-1min depending on the temp outside. Its cold here in WI and now it takes about a minute. It seems normal to me. My pickup does the same thing. Shouldn't be anything to worry about.

Start 'er up when it's 105 and it won't fast idle more than a couple seconds. It senses the O.A.T.

What's the deal on this? My '01 does it too. It can be very dangerous when putting in gear around other people.

What's the deal on this? My '01 does it too. It can be very dangerous when putting in gear around other people.

Huh?? You are aware that you are supposed to have your foot firmly on the brake when you shift out of park, right?

On the 1500RPM at startup: This behavior is completely normal and, in fact, it is designed to run this way. It's done to heat up the engine quickly and get it running efficiently and in closed-loop mode.

I do prefer to run my car until it drops down into that 800-1000RPM range before shifting. It's a lot of unnecessary strain on the transaxle if you're shifting at 1500 RPM.

I do prefer to run my car until it drops down into that 800-1000RPM range before shifting. It's a lot of unnecessary strain on the transaxle if you're shifting at 1500 RPM.

I agree. Wait until it drops down to approx 800 to shift into gear. Besides, why would you want to stress a tranny that is not known for its durability?? :nono:

Its hard trying to tell my wife that. She just gets in and goes sometimes. I just can't believe its normal that even tho its a fast idle for warm-up, that it still tries to maintain 1500 when you put it in gear.
BTW, it does it warm too, maybe not as long.
And duh, the foot is always on the brake when shifting, and you really got to press hard if you don't wait.

Its hard trying to tell my wife that. She just gets in and goes sometimes. I just can't believe its normal that even tho its a fast idle for warm-up, that it still tries to maintain 1500 when you put it in gear.
BTW, it does it warm too, maybe not as long.
And duh, the foot is always on the brake when shifting, and you really got to press hard if you don't wait.

So tell your wife that, then. Tell her you don't want her beating up your vehicles. I live in an apartment community, and I see a lot of women get in their cars, fire them up, and *immediately* take off. These are the kinds of people who wonder why their transmissions take a crap at 80,000 miles (although I guarantee that these same people are the ones who are beating on them on the road, too).

It should do it when it's warm outside on a cold start, but not as long. But if you're saying that you can have the car completely warm, turn it off for a minute, then start it up and have it rev to 1500 RPM, then something isn't right. Once the car is warmed up, you should be able to turn it off and back on and have it almost immediately go to about 800 RPM.

And, yeah, you have to press down firmly on the brake. Look how fast you're going at 1500 RPM in 1st gear sometime when you're rolling with your foot off the gas. Probably around 10-12mph; that's the kind of force you're competing with (and with which you're straining your transmission) when you just put it in gear. At 800 RPM you're almost down to half the torque. I'm not guaranteeing that you're going to destroy your transmission this way, but I would be willing to bet that it's losing potential miles every time you don't wait for the RPM to drop.

I would consider this normal since my Taurus does it as well as my 96 F-150. Back in the day, with carburtors, the proceedure was push gas pedal to the floor and let off, then start car. This set the choke/fast idle, then you let it warm up, then kicked the pedal a little to get it off fast idle. THEN put in gear and go. You shold wait at LEAST 30 seconds before putting in gear. Time it if you have to.

If you tried to start it w/o fast idle, the engine would not stay running.

I cring when my next door neighbor, guy, has the car moving before the starter quits turning. But he is mentally a child. (chem engineer, watchs cartoons on saturday???)
Lee308



hello !,,, when i start my taurus it idles around 1500 rpm and takes about 1 min to idle down to about 800. This seems lengthy to me, i realize newer vehicles idle somewhat higher than older ones to get the oil flowing faster but i dont like waiting that long is there a problem ???