How is an oil affected by a remote car starter and prolonged ideling.

[1maniac]

Just wondering as I'm about to do an UOA on S2000 0w30 that's been in for 6k miles and about 7 months and sees ALOT of parked ideling in a 95 Quad4 engine.

 

[3 Mad Ponchos]

Prolonged idling contributes to cylinder wash and the constant exposure to raw gasoline accelerates oil breakdown. Also, the oil will be "older" than the miles indicated because the idle time ages the oil without it showing up in the mileage. Therefore, I would tend to expect the UOA to appear a bit worse than what you'd normally expect. Cheers, 3MP

 

[Patman]

You'll probably see higher fuel content and higher iron content, plus lower TBN.

 

[RichR]

I also have a problem with a Camry V6, a wife with a remote start and prroolloonnggeeddd idle before she leaves no matter what the temperature outside.Can I get a worse combination?I rufuse to let my Tundra idle more than few minutes. Rich

 

[Ken2]

Can't you figure out how to break the remote start function...I could'a done that by the time I was six years old. That long idle makes your Camry really a prime candidate for sludging. Unless it's to be sold soon, do consider a de-sludging with either Auto-Rx or Schaeffer's Neutra. Ken [ April 09, 2003, 06:10 PM: Message edited by: Ken2 ]

 

[YZF150]

Answer: adversely.

 

[RichR]

Yes,I already have had the first bottle of Auto-Rx and have about 400 miles until the second goes in. I think I'll have to go a little shorter on the interval of 3k or less.I've had to pull out the fuses once already when the system went screwy,So Ken I could kill,but she'd take it in anyway Rich

 

[ssmokn]

I have a '97 Ford Powerstroke Diesel that I put a remote start in. I remote start that truck ALL the time (even when I'm walking up to it to get in). It does a lot of idle time with the remote starter engaged. It also has a factory idle controller which cranks up the idle to 1300RPM to keep the heat up and avoid cylinder wash down due to fuel dilution. I go 5 to 6K on oil changes and the UOA has always been excellent. I know the idle controller is what really helps. I use remote starts on other gas cars too and I never have any problems but I haven't really done much UOA on these cars either. In the summer I often leave the car running with A/C on for the dog.

 

[CJH]

re: "How is an oil affected by a remote car starter and prolonged ideling." I don't claim to understand the failure mechanism, but I am 90% sure that cold weather idling with a remote starter prematurely wore the engine in my 1997 Lumina @ 67,000 miles. We have a 2 car garage, and 3 cars (now 4). We saw the remote starter at Sam's Club (very inexpensive) and thought this would be a good solution to getting into a cold snow-covered car in the winter. Easy to install and worked great. It limited idling to 15 mins, then shut down. Enough time to warm the engine and begin defrosting the windshield. My wife drives the car primarily for errands around town. One day I took it on a long trip for business and when I returned home, the "low oil" light came on after refueling. This LTZ Lumina has a low oil light, not to be confused with the low oil pressure light common in cars. The low oil light checks the oil level during the instant betweeen the time the key is turned is ON but before the engine is cranked. Anyway, it was down about 1 quart below the add mark. Note that it holds 4.5 qts at the full mark, so it had only 2 to 2.5 quarts in it. I took it to the dealer, thinking it may be a leak, or PCV valve or something simple. Dealer checked it all out, did a leak down test, said rings were shot. They pulled the spark plugs and filled the cylinders with solvent. They let it soak overnight and the next day, they cranked the engine and said all kinds of deposits came out. After that, I checked the oil consumption with 5W30 oil which I always had used and found it at 850 miles/ qt. Then I switched to 10W30 (recommended alternate) on the next change and it was still 850 miles / qt. Now I am trying 10W40 which is thicker than recommended. Too early to tell for sure, but it looks like it may be consuming about a quart per 1,000 miles. I am going to try 5W50 Syntec on my next oil change. The GM 3.1 engine does not have a history of worn rings. I am pretty sure the cold weather idling is responsible. I had wondered why the new car manufacturers do not install remote starters, as they would be almost free if they were incorporated into the design. I am starting to understand why they don't.

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Originally posted by 1maniac: Just wondering as I'm about to do an UOA on S2000 0w30 that's been in for 6k miles and about 7 months and sees ALOT of parked ideling in a 95 Quad4 engine.

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[Bighank]

Good question. Just how long should one let a vehicle warm up? How long dring a cold weather?

 

[Ken2]

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Originally posted by Bighank: Good question. Just how long should one let a vehicle warm up? How long dring a cold weather?

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Drive the car easy as soon as it will drive. If the winter is very cold and the car won't drive until it idles for a minute or two, so be it. In the summer, just drive away easy. The sooner you can gently get up to operating temperature the better it is for your engine. Ken

 

[davefr]

Vehicles warm up fine on their own just by being driven. If it's real cold, 30-60 seconds is all you need to insure fluids are flowing. Drive conservatively for the first few minutes. I strongly believe that the life of an engine is more directly related to the number of times the engine makes a transition from cold to hot than how many actual miles it gets driven. You always hear about "Aunt Mary's" car that get's driven 1 mile to the local market and a couple miles to church and is shot at way less than 100kmi. On the other hand how many stories do you hear of a traveling salesman's car that's well in excess of 100kmi and runs like new.

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Originally posted by Bighank: Good question. Just how long should one let a vehicle warm up? How long dring a cold weather?

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[Nosmo King]

It is generally thought that most bore/ring wear takes place when the engine is first started. The oil film left on these parts from the previous days use, come under attack by the overly rich fuel mixture needed to start the motor, as well as keep it running. During this dificult time for the motor, the fuel has a tendancy to wash the oil off the cylinder therebye promoting wear. It is generally accepted that the best way to counter this is to start driving slowly within 15 to 30 seconds from start up. It is generally accepted that a motor under load from driving will warm up far quicker than one left to idle. Once the engine warms, fuel is leaned out and warm oil lubricates the upper cylinder area. Oil dilution, in curb idle warm up, worsens the all ready bad situation. Someone mentioned a block heater and this is a great idea as, set on a timer, it can get the motor quite warm before start up and would cut wear conciderably. [ April 10, 2003, 09:39 PM: Message edited by: Nosmo King ]

 

[segfault]

quote:

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Originally posted by CJH: I had wondered why the new car manufacturers do not install remote starters, as they would be almost free if they were incorporated into the design. I am starting to understand why they don't.

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I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that GM plans to offer a remote starter as optional factory equipment in the near future. I suppose it's been delayed until 2004?