My method to reduce engine start wear

roger1234 · Jun 16, 2007

Every morning, when I start my car, I pull the fuel pump fuse and turn the key to ignition for about 10 seconds. Obviously the engine will not start (no fuel), but using the starter motor to slowly rotate the engine -and also the oil pump- will force some oil to circulate. Then I put back the fuse and start the engine normally.

Am I doing any harm to my engine?

Auto-Union · Jun 16, 2007

Is it so cold in Portugal to justify that?

Brett Miller · Jun 16, 2007

Sounds like a pain in the keister. The engine will outlast the rest of the car anyway with normal maintenance.

Fordiesel69 · Jun 16, 2007

No, but you will certainly go thru starters like crazy. Secondly the fuse holders are not designed for daily use and will soon fail.

Most fuel injection cars will fail to start if the pedal is held wide open. Try this method first.

Quest · Jun 16, 2007

LOL! You still gonna flood your cylinders with raw fuel due to residual fuel pressure in your fuel line that's been sitting overnite.

And when that happens, it's gonna wash down that precious little bit of oil on the cylinder wall, causing more wear if you constantly practice it "your way".

Start up wear in a cold engine especially on the bearings can be drasatically reduced (or almost eliminated) so long as your oil filter's anti-drainback valve is functioning properly and your motor oil is clean. To eliminate cylinder wall oil film washdown, you just have to ensure that your fuel-rail pressure is within factory range and your fuel injectors spray pattern is good, your pintle isn't blocked or leaking fuel and you have a proper tuneup (so as to reduce the cranking time/effort during cold starts).

Don't waste too much time on oil related bearing issues for the moment your crank shaft begins to rotate is the time when the oil film begins to form a hydrowedge suspending the 2 from rubbing each other...

Later.

Q.

Thatwouldbegreat · Jun 16, 2007

LOL ! Its never easy is it?

Quote:

LOL! You still gonna flood your cylinders with raw fuel due to residual fuel pressure in your fuel line that's been sitting overnite.

And when that happens, it's gonna wash down that precious little bit of oil on the cylinder wall, causing more wear if you constantly practice it "your way".

Start up wear in a cold engine especially on the bearings can be drasatically reduced (or almost eliminated) so long as your oil filter's anti-drainback valve is functioning properly and your motor oil is clean. To eliminate cylinder wall oil film washdown, you just have to ensure that your fuel-rail pressure is within factory range and your fuel injectors spray pattern is good, your pintle isn't blocked or leaking fuel and you have a proper tuneup (so as to reduce the cranking time/effort during cold starts).

Don't waste too much time on oil related bearing issues for the moment your crank shaft begins to rotate is the time when the oil film begins to form a hydrowedge suspending the 2 from rubbing each other...

Later.

Q.

roger1234 · Jun 16, 2007

Actually this is not my daily driver. And I plan to make a cut-switch to save the fuse holder.

Quote:

Most fuel injection cars will fail to start if the pedal is held wide open. Try this method first.

Does not work. I've tried to start the car with the accelerator fully depressed (WOT) and... it started.

Max_Wander · Jun 16, 2007

Not all cars have a 'flood-clear' mode.

roger1234 · Jun 16, 2007

Quote:

You still gonna flood your cylinders with raw fuel due to residual fuel pressure in your fuel line that's been sitting overnite.

My car stays up to several days in the garage.

Chris142 · Jun 17, 2007

When your cranking it it probly does not spin fast enough to pump oil. At least not in 10 seconds.

I'd rather have it start and run 3-5 seconds w/o oil pressure vs cranking 30 seconds untill it get pressure.

Things are still spinning inside even if you don't start it and they are running dry the whole time you crank it.

Black Bart · Jun 17, 2007

Buy a PRE-LUB system if you are that worried about it.

KieferS · Jun 17, 2007

The residiual fuel pressure will subside over night as the fuel system is made to de pressurise after a certain period.
You are however still getting spark...
Nothing good can come of this and i urge you to stop it.

daman · Jun 17, 2007

your wasting your time, just fire it up, there
is still residue oil on your crank bearings and cam bearings
when a engine is off..

Quattro Pete · Jun 17, 2007

Quote:

Actually this is not my daily driver.

In that case, how many times per week does it get cold-started?

As someone else pointed out, chances are the engine will outlast the rest of the car. I wouldn't bother with this witchcraft you're doing.

roger1234 · Jun 17, 2007

The car is cold-started 1 or 2 times a week (primarily weekends)

Merkava_4 · Jun 17, 2007

Quote:

LOL! You still gonna flood your cylinders with raw fuel due to residual fuel pressure in your fuel line that's been sitting overnite.

And when that happens, it's gonna wash down that precious little bit of oil on the cylinder wall, causing more wear if you constantly practice it "your way".

Quest is right! You're causing the very start up wear that you're trying to prevent!

Al · Jun 17, 2007

Startup wear, I believe is over rated. I had an 88 Ranger with a horizontal FL-1 filter. In those days days I was not using one with an anti-drainback valve. It ratttled for 15 seconds or so every time it started up. Later the oil pump was clogged bc of excessive RTV when the Pan was removed. For a year or so it took the oil light 30+ seconds to go out.

This thing has thousands and thousands of noisy starts. Last I heard from the truck..it had 140,000 miles on it and was still running on original everything.

Bottom line....Don't worry about startup wear (IMHO)

AEHaas · Jun 17, 2007

From a previous post of mine:

Effect of Break-In and Operating Conditions on Piston Ring and Cylinder Bore Wear in SI (Spark-Ignition) Engines, Schneider et al:
The rate of wear is much higher within 15-20 minutes of start-up than after reaching normal operating temperature. There was a lot of data but I conclude that the initial start-up time period (first 20 minutes) result is 100 nanometers of wear whereas the steady state wear rate was only 4 nanometers per hour thereafter. (Hence we should be concerned about start-up oil thickness more than running thickness. This justifies the statement that 95 percent of engine wear occurs just after start-up).

This study has been verified by others. I will soon report on another research paper from a few months ago. Start up wear is not what happens during the first few seconds, it lasts for up to 30 minutes. Stay tuned.

aehaas

Rico567 · Jun 17, 2007

I confess I've read this entire thread twice and don't see anything practical that can be done. It may well be true that most wear occurs at (or within 30 min) of startup, but absent some radical departure in engine design, as I understand the lubrication process in contemporary internal combustion engines I see no help for it.

Besides, based on my own experience, I agree with "Brett Miller" that given proper maintenance, the engine will outlast the rest of the car. Out of the sixteen or seventeen vehicles we've owned in 40+ years, three or four that were well-used (80-100K when we bought them) had to be got rid of for reasons other than engine / transmission. The others were just traded, and I should note that NO vehicle we have owned was sold, traded, or donated due to engine failure or need for engine repair.

88Dakota · Jun 17, 2007

If only the engineers had taken this stuff into account...

Oh.

My method to reduce engine start wear

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