So if I understand correctly, thicker oil warms up faster, reducing wear?
Driving techniques to minimize cold start/short trip wear--what do you think?
- Thread starter Hohn
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So if I understand correctly, thicker oil warms up faster, reducing wear?
It’s not warmer oil that reduces wear, it’s warmer engine parts.
You could drop straight PA100 spectrasyn a warm engine and it would probably much less wear than a cold engine with fully formulated oil of similar viscosity.
As someone who works in Ag and has seen good and terrible maintenance of fleet trucks, I can say with confidence, don’t over think it. Just drive.
I used to think we need to pamper our cars and never start them unless they can be fully warmed up. That went out the window when I saw abused trucks last as long as pampered trucks. The pampered ones looked better and did seem to run a bit better, but they all made it to the 150k miles we drove them.
I’ve seen trucks where you can barly recognize what brand they were from abuse still running fine with 180k miles on them.
Let your wife enjoy her schedule and change the oil more frequently for peace of mind.
I used to think we need to pamper our cars and never start them unless they can be fully warmed up. That went out the window when I saw abused trucks last as long as pampered trucks. The pampered ones looked better and did seem to run a bit better, but they all made it to the 150k miles we drove them.
I’ve seen trucks where you can barly recognize what brand they were from abuse still running fine with 180k miles on them.
Let your wife enjoy her schedule and change the oil more frequently for peace of mind.
This 
, its not until you have bad G/D-PF implementation it becomes a real issue.
, its not until you have bad G/D-PF implementation it becomes a real issue.If you drive so little why think anything of it and just enjoy car worry free. It won’t matter.
This pretty much sums it all up.
Also, the pampering sometimes leads to OCD level rituals that are actually more harmful to the vehicle, but sound good on the surface, like letting the oil drain overnight or using all sorts of additives and flushes too often.
start engine and let it idle for about 3 minutes or so with it in drive (or reverse) with the parking brake on, with the load on the engine and trans. in gear but not moving will warm up engine & tranny faster. leave heater off till coolant temp indicates normal.
Just drive and continue living life. Subjectively, I have a hard DD routine with my Trailblazer. I have a 14km one way route to work. Grid road, highway and a bit of small city. It seems I had to work on every cold day. -37 starts and driving. The transmission doesn't even warm up enough for lockup. Just drive easy and drive. You can analyze this to death. This thing has been dealing with these cold routines since I bought it in 2006. It's still going just fine. Just drive and worry about bigger issues.
I mean absolutely no offense by this; horrible advice. You should not drive around with the parking brake engaged just to create load nor should a person (per the OP his wife) be cold/uncomfortable so the engine can warm up faster. The machine is there to serve the person’s needs, not the person there to serve the machine’s needs. Yes, this could technically work. Is it sound advise to the OP though, I’d say no.
I definitely believe in starting, idling and warming up prior to driving off. That's why I hit the start button first and let it idle/warm while I buckle my seat belt. Then I drive off.
as mentioned, if read carefully,,,,,,not moving and engine idling or put in gear and put foot on brake,thus creating a load----------not moving
Driving off at a somewhat higher RPM is what contributes most to warming up the oil, not load. It’s exactly why many vehicles have an upshift inhibit to warm the engine and light off the catalyst.
Still though. People > machines
I had a VW 2.5 that I short tripped for years - my commute was 1-2 miles. For about 2 years I had a 5 mile commute and I would simply sit and idle in it during my lunch for 30 minutes. Oil changed every 5k with Mann filters and a Euro Synthetic. When I sold it at 185k it made no difference. Now there are many cars that I wouldn’t do this in but for simple engines that are easy on oil don’t overthink it.
teach her how to ride a bicycle.
It’s usually not the engine, but rust, worn out steering/suspension, a shot transmission, or combination of those items that sends a vehicle to the scrapyard. Combining trips won’t help any of those components last longer in a significant way.
Every couple of weeks, get on the highway for an hour and cook the moisture out. I've seen engines destroyed due to condensation buildup choking the oil pump.
I think this would be good for the transmission if you have to use a lot of throttle in the first minute or two of driving. It does place a lot of faith in your parking brake though! I think rpms is what warms up oil though, so its a bit of a compromise.
My parents have lived in the same spot for many years and its 200 yards down a hill onto a fairly busy highway, so in the winter I'm very sure that the transmission is still below 32F before it sees 1/2 throttle to 60mph. None of their cars has seemed to care, except maybe the 1989 Caravan, which went through 3 transmissions under warranty....
