Canadian winter + Extremely short trips

[FCD]

Saw this on Reddit :



" Customer commute is less then 1 km. Never drives anywhere. Large V8 needs time to heat up.

Water builds up in the oil, as the engine never gets to operating temperature.

They actually had enough water in the oil a few years ago, that the oil pan froze, and stopped the crank when trying to start the truck. "

 

[FCD]

If my commute was less than 1km i'd just walk... in fact mine is 3km and i rarely drive to work i walk or ride my bicycle.

 

[demarpaint]

Forget about walking, we have to consider the conditions, age of the owner etc. Having said that, that vehicle has to be driven to get it to operating temperature and stay there long enough to boil off the condensation in the oil. If I had to venture a guess, at least twice a week, maybe more under the conditions and environment the vehicle is used in. I could see that oil a mess in 500 miles or less, assuming there is not a bad head gasket causing the problem.

 

[JoelB]

Forget about walking, we have to consider the conditions, age of the owner etc. Having said that, that vehicle has to be driven to get it to operating temperature and stay there long enough to boil off the condensation in the oil. If I had to venture a guess, at least twice a week, maybe more under the conditions and environment the vehicle is used in. I could see that oil a mess in 500 miles or less, assuming there is not a bad head gasket causing the problem.

Everyone jumps to "you should just walk" but in reality that's not always an option no matter how short the drive. As you mentioned age of the person, even considering what someone may need to bring to and from work or outdoor conditions.

My wife has a 0.7 mile commute and she regularly drives. Especially in winter when the paths on the way to work are dangerously icy. Fortunately for me she's willing to humor me and go out of her way to warm up the car on a longer route.

 

[joekingcorvette]

Wow that is a lot of water in the oil. I would use a Mityvac and change it more frequently and leave the same filter on the engine for a quick change whenever the oil gets milky looking. That much water in the engine could cause premature wear and oil is cheap.

 

[demarpaint]

Everyone jumps to "you should just walk" but in reality that's not always an option no matter how short the drive. As you mentioned age of the person, even considering what someone may need to bring to and from work or outdoor conditions.

My wife has a 0.7 mile commute and she regularly drives. Especially in winter when the paths on the way to work are dangerously icy. Fortunately for me she's willing to humor me and go out of her way to warm up the car on a longer route.

Exactly.

 

[zrxkawboy]

If my commute was less than 1km i'd just walk... in fact mine is 3km and i rarely drive to work i walk or ride my bicycle.

Do you do this in a "northern Canadian winter"?

 

[FCD]

Do you do this in a "northern Canadian winter"?

I would, at least where i'm from in Northern Finland people do for sure.

 

[tmorris1]

If my commute was less than 1km i'd just walk... in fact mine is 3km and i rarely drive to work i walk or ride my bicycle.

Easy to say in Spain or if you are able to walk. You might think otherwise when it is -30 and windy. That seems like an excessive amount of water though. Could be fixed by a weekly drive to get it hot. It would be hard to walk here sometime simply because of all the ice and sidewalks buried in snow from the plows. You would have to walk down the road.

 

[FCD]

Easy to say in Spain or if you are able to walk. You might think otherwise when it is -30 and windy. That seems like an excessive amount of water though. Could be fixed by a weekly drive to get it hot. It would be hard to walk here sometime simply because of all the ice and sidewalks buried in snow from the plows. You would have to walk down the road.

I'm from Northern Finland so i know what -30 feels like and walking just 1km in those temps is just fine, now if they plough all the snow onto the sidewalks i could understand not wanting to walk... where i'm from theh plough and grit the sidewalks and bike paths in winter too.

Although i'd understand not walking if it's an elderly person or maybe someone who is disabled ofcourse.

 

[Warlord]

When I lived in Northern Alberta it would get into the minus 30s for weeks on end and occasionally I’d have to walk to work when I forgot to plug in my block heater. It was a bit unnerving knowing if I broke my ankle or something on the walk I could freeze to death lol.

 

[Danno]

Had a short tripper Pontiac G5 in the home fleet, did about 5 miles per way, 2x a day. Changed the oil in the fall, used 5W-30 PP.
It put about 3,000 miles on, fall to spring. We have cold winters, hitting -20F many days. Did the spring oil change and the oil filter was gelled (black) and collapsed, must have been in bypass mode for a while. Car drove fine when it was traded in a couple years later.

 

[IndyIan]

Easy to say in Spain or if you are able to walk. You might think otherwise when it is -30 and windy. That seems like an excessive amount of water though. Could be fixed by a weekly drive to get it hot. It would be hard to walk here sometime simply because of all the ice and sidewalks buried in snow from the plows. You would have to walk down the road.

Well you could snowshoe it... but yes that's not for everybody.
I guess people in the 1800's just put some nails in the bottom of their boots, tried not to break a leg, and got on with life...

 

[hemioiler]

If my commute was less than 1km i'd just walk... in fact mine is 3km and i rarely drive to work i walk or ride my bicycle.

Says the guy located in Spain. This is Northern Canada, nobody is walking anywhere there in the winter.

 

[wareze]

Well at least they are getting maintenance done so one positive.

 

[KGMtech]

Very rare in SW Ontario. I've seen the milky build-up on the underside of the oil cap a couple of times in my 38 years of living in SW Ontario.

 

[FCD]

Well at least they are getting maintenance done so one positive.

Yeah but how long has it had that nasty diluted and contaminated oil in it?

 

[IndyIan]

Says the guy located in Spain. This is Northern Canada, nobody is walking anywhere there in the winter.

It's kind of funny, I was visiting the cook islands which are basically 25C with a nice breeze everyday, and pretty much only the tourists were walking an biking places. The locals were on scooters!

 

[tcp71]

Do you do this in a "northern Canadian winter"?

I cycled to work twice this week. that's my average for the winters and 4-5 days in the summer. 12 mile commute each way...and yes, in Calgary winters.

Ice spikes are cheap and get rid of slipping on the freeze/thaw cycle ice that builds up. Cheap and work fine for pathways. I've had a bit of milky buildup under the oil caps, but the oil never looked anything like that. Definitely should be run up to temp more often.

 

[Oillover]

Wow that is a lot of water in the oil. I would use a Mityvac and change it more frequently and leave the same filter on the engine for a quick change whenever the oil gets milky looking. That much water in the engine could cause premature wear and oil is cheap.

Why bother?
the body will have long rusted away before the engine gives out