Bringing Oil to Full Operating Temperature

[Leo99]

What is the end goal? You have a 10 year old Toyota that is barely driven now. How long do you plan to keep it? How many miles a year, about 5000 miles or this going to increase post covid19? Let's look at 2 extreme scenarios 1) you get the oil up to temperature each trip and change oil every 5000 miles. 2) you don't do anything special to heat up oil and you just drive and you change oil every 20,000 miles.

I'd guess you'd have to go 50,000 miles before you started to see any differences between the two scenarios.

My in-laws have a 96 Corolla that is only driven to dr visits and the grocery store and every morning to the newspaper stand a half mile from their house. It's hasn't been above 50 mph in 20 years. They say it runs fine. There are many older folks that just drive around town.

I'd be more concerned about the exhaust system rusting out.

 

[incognito_2u]

I do a lot of short trip driving. Most trips are less than three miles, and the engine, much less the oil, doesn't come up to full operating temperature.

About every two-three weeks I take a long highway drive, about 30 miles or so, with the intent of bringing everything up to full operating temp and driving off water and contaminants from the oil. My car doesn't have a real temp gauge, so I'm only guessing that this is adequate for the purpose.

The vehicle in question is a 2011 Camry 4-cylinder. Oil right now is Edge EP.

Any thoughts on how far, how long, or how often I should drive to accomplish the task? Thanks!

Shel, you have the right idea......
The 1998 Corolla in my sig is my Wife’s “to and from work” car. She works in a School about 3 miles away, round trip..........Short tripper to say the least.
My approach to alleviate that problem is every Saturday morning, I take her car on a ride to a Supermarket a ways away from me that opens early (due to COVID) so that persons with issues could shop in a store with minimum exposure to others.
All Highway driving. About 30 miles, round trip. I feel that heats the oil up to burn off any water and contaminants that likely occur during the week. Hope this helps!

(By the way, when I was a pre-teen I used to help out a mechanic on weekends that serviced locals cars in his back yard.....an Old-School guy. He was able to tell the condition of someone’s oil by pulling the dipstick and touching it to the exhaust manifold of the vehicle and observing the smoke that was emitted. Just saying............)

 

[john_pifer]

This. My dad's Tacoma is short tripped too. He got it in November 2011 with 23k miles, in February 2021 it just crossed 70k miles. I try my best to borrow it once a month and drive 80-120 miles between errands just to keep moisture out and batteries charged. OEM Toyota Battery from 2009 finally died last month. Oil is always 0w-20, as I am afraid anything more viscous will take even more time to heat up and get flowing good. Around town I drive in "4" and switch to "D" on highway.
2009 Toyota Tacoma, 2.7L 4-cyl, 2wd SR5 Access cab.

Actually, a thicker oil will warm up QUICKER, because more friction will be generated in pumping it throughout the engine.

 

[OilReport99]

I do not see the point in driving extra to preserve oil.

I do. As I posted before, we have the privilege of worrying about bringing the motor oil to operational temps...go figure!

Wouldn’t be surprised to see the OP hugging a tree.

 

[OilReport99]

What is the end goal?

I thought about that last night, and couldn’t come up with another answer other than the OP is trolling.

But really don’t know.

 

[OilReport99]

Notice same poster.

He will come up with a different way of - basically - asking the same question. Enjoy BITOG!

 

[Shel_B]

I thought about that last night, and couldn’t come up with another answer other than the OP is trolling.

But really don’t know.

Please explain trolling to me, and how I might be doing so? Thanks. I look forward to your unambiguous and thoughtful response, which I'm sure you're capable of providing.

 

[OilReport99]

how I might be doing so?

Look at your posts, and stop. Good night.

 

[EllieMae94]

Hmmm ... I'll have to check that out. I wonder if my Camry does that.

It likely does. Heck, my ‘94 F-150 idles up when I turn the defroster on (the A/C compressor kicks on) and that’s a primitive OBD-1 computer.

 

[MrStamper]

Short tripping is mostly problematic for direct injection engines. Your Camry is the last car on earth I’d worry about when it comes to fuel dilution.

 

[Shel_B]

It likely does. Heck, my ‘94 F-150 idles up when I turn the defroster on (the A/C compressor kicks on) and that’s a primitive OBD-1 computer.

I tried it this morning and didn't experience what you described, but, and this may be important, I turned the heat up not the defroster. I'll try again tomorrow morning. However, the idle when starting in the morning is always high to begin with before slowly dropping down to normal. I'll also see what happens when the car is warmed a bit. Thanks for jumping in.

 

[Shel_B]

Short tripping is mostly problematic for direct injection engines. Your Camry is the last car on earth I’d worry about when it comes to fuel dilution.

Hi ... not so much concerned with fuel dilution as I am with water condensing in the oil and other contaminants. Am I misunderstanding something here? Thanks!

 

[EllieMae94]

I tried it this morning and didn't experience what you described, but, and this may be important, I turned the heat up not the defroster. I'll try again tomorrow morning. However, the idle when starting in the morning is always high to begin with before slowly dropping down to normal. I'll also see what happens when the car is warmed a bit. Thanks for jumping in.

Correct, anytime the A/C compressor turns on it should trigger the computer to idle up around 100 RPM with the primary purpose of cooling the engine. Generally this is more of a concern on a hot day when using the A/C to blow cold air in the cabin but also holds true as the compressor turns on when using the Defrost setting and blowing hot air.

Although now that I think of it this may be the case with my vehicle because it uses a mechanical clutch fan while your newer model probably has an electric fan so the idle may or may not be affected.

Good luck!

 

[Flyingdutchman]

I tried it this morning and didn't experience what you described, but, and this may be important, I turned the heat up not the defroster. I'll try again tomorrow morning. However, the idle when starting in the morning is always high to begin with before slowly dropping down to normal. I'll also see what happens when the car is warmed a bit. Thanks for jumping in.

A mate of mine owns a Toyota Hilux Diesel and this car does indeed raise the rpms after a cold start and the heater is turned to hot/defroster.
A diesel engine has a high effieciny so it otherwise would take very long to generate any heat.
I an not sure if gasoline powered Toyotas have this function like their diesels do.

In germany mercedes diesels are used for taxis, the first generation commonrail diesels where so efficient that during city/stop and go traffic during the winters the car interior heat would drain out all the heat from the engine and the passengers got cold.

After that they came up with a large watercooled alternator and a elctrical heater in the coolant water to generate heat in the cooling water.
Now days they have toaster like electrical heating element in the dash near the blower motor.

 

[Shel_B]

Look at your posts, and stop. Good night.

My O my ... you make an accusation and then run away and hide under the covers when asked for an explanation. A very mature and adult way of handling the situation. Hope you had a good night's sleep and pleasant dreams.

 

[PimTac]

This is starting to sound real familiar.

The question has been answered multiple times over two threads yet this latest saga continues.

 

[02zx9r rev2]

Seems like the answer is to keep driving it every so often for a longer drive. Also seems like he won’t accept that answer.
Like PimTac mentioned, it’s been answered in two threads. Maybe time to lock this thread?

 

[OilReport99]

Also seems like he won’t accept that answer.

See the trend?

 

[s2krunner]

Maybe for 10 years, my parents did less than mile driving to work (3 mins) and once a week they drove for hours (due to their location from city). None of their vehicle had any issues until they sold. Used any oil.

 

[ZeeOSix]

If you're worried about condensation not burning off inside the engine because of short trips, pull off the oil fill cap on the valve cover and look underneath the cap. If it doesn't have a milky look to it than there isn't much if any condensation left inside the engine, and a sign that the engine & oil is getting hot enough to drive out any moisture.