Shel_B
Site Donor 2023
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2020
- Messages
- 5,166
It's been said that, if you use your car for lots of short trips, it's wise to take it out for a long drive at some interval to heat up the oil and drive off the water, fuel, etc., that accumulates in the oil due to short tripping. I try to follow that advice and about every two weeks or so take a 50 mile or more drive to rid the oil of accumulated contaminants. But I've been wondering how effective the procedure really is.
If the car is taken on such cleansing drives only occasionally, then it seems that there's be a lot of junk in the oil most of the time, so how much good does the occasional long drive really do?
It also seems that the recommended time frame for such trips is arbitrary: once a week, a couple of times a month, once a month, every now and then are all recommendations I've read about. If these cleansing drives really have some benefit, might there not be a way to determine their frequency beyond some arbitrary number?
If the car is taken on such cleansing drives only occasionally, then it seems that there's be a lot of junk in the oil most of the time, so how much good does the occasional long drive really do?
It also seems that the recommended time frame for such trips is arbitrary: once a week, a couple of times a month, once a month, every now and then are all recommendations I've read about. If these cleansing drives really have some benefit, might there not be a way to determine their frequency beyond some arbitrary number?