Dad was wrong article on maintenance
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Interesting article. However anyone who takes the writers info to heart will also be misinformed on auto care.
My comments below....
DAD SAID: "Let the engine idle to warm up on cold days."
BUT: Idling just wears the engine without budging the odo. Les Ryder, chief powertrain engineer at Ford, says, "Engines run best at their design temperature." To get there sooner, start by driving at moderate speeds. Your engine will be okay: Modern oils flow fine in cold weather.
Comment-Allowing your car to sit and warm to operating temp is a waste of time and resources. However allowing your car to idle for 1-2 minutes is an excellent idea as getting the car into reverse before your hand leaves the key is not a good idea.
DAD SAID: "Restarting the engine uses more gas than idling."
BUT: Why do you think all these new hybrids shut down the engine at traffic lights? It takes almost no fuel to restart a warm engine. If you had a car that was hard to restart, and the carburetor (remember them?) flooded regularly, this may have had a germ of truth, but no longer.
Comment-Depending on how long you will idle it depends. In addition, if summer time is in full swing you may waste more gas by having to make the ac work harder to compensate for the cooling that was lost while sitting with the car off. Not to mention shortening the life span of the starter, ignition, etc... If you are going to idle for less than 3 to 5 minutes, i say keep it runnin'
DAD SAID: "Don't replace wiper blades, just clean them with solvent."
BUT: Mineral spirits and other petroleum-based solvents kill rubber. Occasionally wiping the blades with alcohol removes dirt, but the rubber blades still deteriorate with age and sunlight, and must be replaced regularly.
Comment-Replace wiper blades every 4-6 months in my book and clean with alcohol wipes when washing the car weekly.
DAD SAID: "Fill up with premium every few tankfuls."
BUT: Unless your owner's manual recommends it, you're wasting money. Regular-grade gas has the additives to keep your engine clean. In fact, modern engines rated for premium will run relatively well on regular—you'll lose a little zip, but you'll save a few bucks.
Comment-Again, it depends, if your car requires 87 octane and you put in 87 octane, the slightest bit of moisture or a not so well blended tank of gas can make for engine problems. Filling up with premium every couple of tanks keeps the overall fuel octane level higher, assuming you fill up before the car is completly empty.
DAD SAID: "Keep cinder blocks in the trunk for traction."
BUT: If you have a pickup or rear-drive car, some weight over the drivewheels can help in the slop. But a front-drive car already has the weight over the drivewheels: Junk in the trunk will unload them, hurting traction. Extra weight hurts handling and mileage, so don't overdo it.
Comment-agreed
DAD SAID: "Pump the pedal before starting in cold weather."
BUT: This was true when cars had carburetors and chokes. A couple of extra squirts of gas meant a richer starting mixture. It also set the choke. Fuel-injected engines automatically adjust mixture for temperature—pumping the pedal does nothing. So fight that impulse and just turn the key.
Comment-read your owners manual, some fuel injected cars to suggest pumping the pedal once before starting in cold weather.
DAD SAID: "Fill the radiator with pure antifreeze."
BUT: Wrong. Coolants are mostly glycol, and too much glycol can damage gaskets. Pure glycol freezes before a glycol/water mix does, so it provides less cold-weather protection. Also, glycol isn't as effective as water at removing heat from the engine.
Comment-I've never heard anyone suggest to fill the radiator with pure coolant.
DAD SAID: "Oil never wears out—just top it off once in a while."
BUT: Technically, this is true. But as Robert Sutherland of Pennzoil notes, "The oil's critical additives do get depleted." Besides, changing a car's oil and filter eliminates built-up crud.
Comment-This guy must have had a retarded Dad. My Dad changes his oil regularly and always has.
DAD SAID: "If you park for a long time, disconnect the battery."
BUT: The car always draws some current and can run down the battery in a month or so. But if the battery is disconnected, the engine computer has to reprogram itself—and driveability suffers until it does. Plus, you'll have to reset the clock and radio. The fix? Attach a trickle charger.
Comment-agreed, a properly operating battery should not discharge in a month, much less a few days.
DAD SAID: "No need for snow tires, all-seasons do a fine job."
BUT: Don't blame Dad. When all-season tires appeared, the tiremakers spent a lot of time and money convincing us of their year-round capability. Today, they're happy to explain why snow tires are better. Bridgestone engineering manager Mark Kuykendall says, "Snow tires have treads that remain pliable in the cold and are aggressive to catch the road surface."
Comment-I live in Texas, so Dad never said anything about snow
My comments below....
DAD SAID: "Let the engine idle to warm up on cold days."
BUT: Idling just wears the engine without budging the odo. Les Ryder, chief powertrain engineer at Ford, says, "Engines run best at their design temperature." To get there sooner, start by driving at moderate speeds. Your engine will be okay: Modern oils flow fine in cold weather.
Comment-Allowing your car to sit and warm to operating temp is a waste of time and resources. However allowing your car to idle for 1-2 minutes is an excellent idea as getting the car into reverse before your hand leaves the key is not a good idea.
DAD SAID: "Restarting the engine uses more gas than idling."
BUT: Why do you think all these new hybrids shut down the engine at traffic lights? It takes almost no fuel to restart a warm engine. If you had a car that was hard to restart, and the carburetor (remember them?) flooded regularly, this may have had a germ of truth, but no longer.
Comment-Depending on how long you will idle it depends. In addition, if summer time is in full swing you may waste more gas by having to make the ac work harder to compensate for the cooling that was lost while sitting with the car off. Not to mention shortening the life span of the starter, ignition, etc... If you are going to idle for less than 3 to 5 minutes, i say keep it runnin'
DAD SAID: "Don't replace wiper blades, just clean them with solvent."
BUT: Mineral spirits and other petroleum-based solvents kill rubber. Occasionally wiping the blades with alcohol removes dirt, but the rubber blades still deteriorate with age and sunlight, and must be replaced regularly.
Comment-Replace wiper blades every 4-6 months in my book and clean with alcohol wipes when washing the car weekly.
DAD SAID: "Fill up with premium every few tankfuls."
BUT: Unless your owner's manual recommends it, you're wasting money. Regular-grade gas has the additives to keep your engine clean. In fact, modern engines rated for premium will run relatively well on regular—you'll lose a little zip, but you'll save a few bucks.
Comment-Again, it depends, if your car requires 87 octane and you put in 87 octane, the slightest bit of moisture or a not so well blended tank of gas can make for engine problems. Filling up with premium every couple of tanks keeps the overall fuel octane level higher, assuming you fill up before the car is completly empty.
DAD SAID: "Keep cinder blocks in the trunk for traction."
BUT: If you have a pickup or rear-drive car, some weight over the drivewheels can help in the slop. But a front-drive car already has the weight over the drivewheels: Junk in the trunk will unload them, hurting traction. Extra weight hurts handling and mileage, so don't overdo it.
Comment-agreed
DAD SAID: "Pump the pedal before starting in cold weather."
BUT: This was true when cars had carburetors and chokes. A couple of extra squirts of gas meant a richer starting mixture. It also set the choke. Fuel-injected engines automatically adjust mixture for temperature—pumping the pedal does nothing. So fight that impulse and just turn the key.
Comment-read your owners manual, some fuel injected cars to suggest pumping the pedal once before starting in cold weather.
DAD SAID: "Fill the radiator with pure antifreeze."
BUT: Wrong. Coolants are mostly glycol, and too much glycol can damage gaskets. Pure glycol freezes before a glycol/water mix does, so it provides less cold-weather protection. Also, glycol isn't as effective as water at removing heat from the engine.
Comment-I've never heard anyone suggest to fill the radiator with pure coolant.
DAD SAID: "Oil never wears out—just top it off once in a while."
BUT: Technically, this is true. But as Robert Sutherland of Pennzoil notes, "The oil's critical additives do get depleted." Besides, changing a car's oil and filter eliminates built-up crud.
Comment-This guy must have had a retarded Dad. My Dad changes his oil regularly and always has.
DAD SAID: "If you park for a long time, disconnect the battery."
BUT: The car always draws some current and can run down the battery in a month or so. But if the battery is disconnected, the engine computer has to reprogram itself—and driveability suffers until it does. Plus, you'll have to reset the clock and radio. The fix? Attach a trickle charger.
Comment-agreed, a properly operating battery should not discharge in a month, much less a few days.
DAD SAID: "No need for snow tires, all-seasons do a fine job."
BUT: Don't blame Dad. When all-season tires appeared, the tiremakers spent a lot of time and money convincing us of their year-round capability. Today, they're happy to explain why snow tires are better. Bridgestone engineering manager Mark Kuykendall says, "Snow tires have treads that remain pliable in the cold and are aggressive to catch the road surface."
Comment-I live in Texas, so Dad never said anything about snow
Comment-read your owners manual, some fuel injected cars to suggest pumping the pedal once before starting in cold weather.
Coo Coo...they do not. This does NOTHING if you don't have a carburetor.
Coo Coo...they do not. This does NOTHING if you don't have a carburetor.
That article being mentioned on the cover was the selling point to me when I saw the Popular Mechanics issue. I bought it and read the article, and laughed with the recalling of several relatives' blathering how wiper blades (tires, hoses, etc.),"never wear out."
Driving a car to raise the engine's temperature to normal operating levels leads to accelerated engine wear from the high visocity of the engine oil. Such a philosophy is better in the fuel economy department, but it hurts engine longevity. Then again, I live in New York where it can be extremely cold in the winter, so this is more of a concern for me than it is for you in Texas.
Shining, thats why we formulate motor oils to protect from start up cold, not just at 100C. Think about it.
The increasing fuel dilution from sitting and idling is a bigger stressor than high rpm hammering of rotating stock in cold temps with a good motor oil.
The increasing fuel dilution from sitting and idling is a bigger stressor than high rpm hammering of rotating stock in cold temps with a good motor oil.
Thanks TERRY....I've been reading a lot and it IS best to drive off after 1-3 minutes (or less) of idling, even in the cold of central NY.
Normally, the same hand that turns the key is also required to get the car into reverse, so I don't see how that's possible.
I know, we had these discussions here many times before. I guess I'm just not a fan of cold idle. Like Terry wrote, that's why we have multiviscosity oils.
My 71 yr old Mother can do it. I think she was a gun-slinger in a former life. I also think it must be a female trait, as my sister has learned the art as well, but neither me nor my father have the ability.
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Well, I'd qualify that. My OBDI Ford Tempo's OM stated that if you failed to start in extreme cold weather with just turning the key ..that depressing the gas pedal may be required. This, admittedly, isn't "pump the gas once before cranking it" ..but is assuredly not JUST a "ONLY turn the key and sit there even if nothing happens, you dummy." type thing.
I haven't seen if this is included in any of my OBDII OM's
I'm pretty sure mine says it. I'll check later on. However while i do have fuel injection, i also have a mechanical throttle pedal, so pumping the pedal once before i crank the car does allow a tiny bit of air circulation and will allow what could be a stuck or frozen throttle valve to get freed up and ready to work.
With a "drive by wire" pedal as is in some new cars, you are right, it would do nada.
I agree that in extreme cold, depressing the pedal during starting can assist. My 86 Civic Si failed to start on its own on a -30 morning, and finally fired off when I touched the gas. I've seen plenty of owners manuals suggest this if the car isn't cooperating. But depressing it before the engine is cranking will not do anything, except possibly free anything that may be frozen shut. Depressing / pumping before cranking is something I've never seen in a manual.
DAD SAID: "Pump the pedal before starting in cold weather."
DAD SAID: "Let the engine idle to warm up on cold days."
These two things were actually related. I used to pump the gas pedal once to set the automatic choke. The automatic choke on the carburetor would open up as the engine warmed. If I started to drive too soon with a choked carburetor, the engine sputtered and died and then was difficult to start again, so I let it idle for a while to be sure the choke would be open. On cold days, it took awhile. Fuel injected engines are a great improvement.
DAD SAID: "Let the engine idle to warm up on cold days."
These two things were actually related. I used to pump the gas pedal once to set the automatic choke. The automatic choke on the carburetor would open up as the engine warmed. If I started to drive too soon with a choked carburetor, the engine sputtered and died and then was difficult to start again, so I let it idle for a while to be sure the choke would be open. On cold days, it took awhile. Fuel injected engines are a great improvement.
My '07 Accord has drive by wire, and this is what the OM says about cold starting:
"Step 5. If the engine does not start within 15 seconds, repeat Step 4 (turning the key and cranking) with the accelerator pedal pressed halfway down...
"Step 6. If the engine fails to start, press the pedal all the way down and hold it there while starting to clear flooding. Return to step 5 if the engine does not start."
I pulled this verbatim from the 2007 Honda Accord OM. Kind of strange, huh?
"Step 5. If the engine does not start within 15 seconds, repeat Step 4 (turning the key and cranking) with the accelerator pedal pressed halfway down...
"Step 6. If the engine fails to start, press the pedal all the way down and hold it there while starting to clear flooding. Return to step 5 if the engine does not start."
I pulled this verbatim from the 2007 Honda Accord OM. Kind of strange, huh?
The garbage about filling your radiator with pure antifreeze was supposedly a common practice in parts of Alaska at one time. My mother moved there for a year in the mid-1980s, and her idiot brother (my uncle) tried to get her to do this, saying, "It's how we do things in Alaska." Fortunately, she had more sense than that and kept the 50/50 mixture at all times while she was there. And he was not an Alaska native anyway.
I also had a supervisor here in Virginia during the same time period who did the same thing in his late 1970s Ford F-100 pickup. He was then in his 40s. Luckily for him, it doesn't get that cold here, though.
Many people don't know that straight ethylene glycol actually freezes at a surprisingly high temperature: -12 deg C, or about 10 deg F. Except in the far southern US, you can expect to get at least that low during the winter.
Also, ethylene glycol does not transfer heat anywhere nearly as well as water. That's why racers still use straight water as coolant—it's the best coolant for most conditions, and racing engines are regularly torn down and rebuilt anyway, so corrosion usually isn't a problem. Using straight ethylene glycol could presumably lead to engine damage under some circumstances from the heat transfer issue.
I also had a supervisor here in Virginia during the same time period who did the same thing in his late 1970s Ford F-100 pickup. He was then in his 40s. Luckily for him, it doesn't get that cold here, though.
Many people don't know that straight ethylene glycol actually freezes at a surprisingly high temperature: -12 deg C, or about 10 deg F. Except in the far southern US, you can expect to get at least that low during the winter.
Also, ethylene glycol does not transfer heat anywhere nearly as well as water. That's why racers still use straight water as coolant—it's the best coolant for most conditions, and racing engines are regularly torn down and rebuilt anyway, so corrosion usually isn't a problem. Using straight ethylene glycol could presumably lead to engine damage under some circumstances from the heat transfer issue.
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