Oil change after winter storage?

[driv3r0000]

I have a 93 Prelude that I have just built the head on and I put 10w40 Brad Penn oil in. I have almost no KMs on the oil and primarily ran the engine to tune it.

My question is if I need to change the oil before I start the engine when I take it out of storage?

Also is there a good procedure to starting an engine after winter storage? I was thinking of draining the oil then heating it and pouring it back in?

Any thoughts?

 

[lipadj46]

If your car does not have a "prime" feature when you hold down the gas pedal then pull the fuel pump fuse and crank it over a couples times for 15 seconds. That should get the oil flowing but is probably overkill even still.

 

[tomcat27]

as long as the oil was not dirty before storage, you should not need to change the oil. obviously, one would not want to store a car with dirty oil as the contaminents would precipitate out and form a layer of goo in the oil pan. I suspect your car has FI (fuel injection) if so, I would disable the fuel pump (pull a fuse or relay) and then crank the car over for 10 seconds to build pressure and get the oil moving. then replace the fuse/relay and fire it up.

 

[mechtech2]

I hope you kept your battery charged.
I wouldn't crank prime it, but simply turn the key and let it start.
Why not?
I think your oil is too thick , especially for start up.
A 5-30 is much better for cold flow and power.

 

[tomcat27]

oops. I didn't even notice the weight. I would not run 10w-40 in a Japanese motor. 5w30.

 

[driv3r0000]

I'm using that thick of oil because it's pretty much a racing engine. I built the engine to run it hard. 5w30 will be too thin at those temps. Also I only drive the car from May 1 to Oct 31.

Since all oil is too thick to lubricate properly below engine operating temp, I'm not sure what good priming the oil pump would even do since the pressure by-pass valve will dump the oil straight back in the pan. I imagine that some of the oil would get through and lubricate a little during warm up, and I guess that's better than nothing.

 

[lipadj46]

If you want to heat the oil and the oil pan is steel get a magnetic tank heater. Also you could use a stick on pan heater and just duck tape it on or use a heat lamp overnight.

 

[saaboc]

Two thoughts:

1) It's nearly impossible to RR a cyl head w/o spilling antifreeze into the crankcase...did you change the oil before or afterwards?

2) Light a few Sterno cans & place them under the oil pan...or you could use citronella candle buckets.

 

[crazyoildude]

Thin is in when is comes to engine oil look at the new corvettes they use 5w30
Look at the new hemi's, fords, honda's etc. they use mostly 5w20
There is no reason to use a thicker oil unless your engine burns oil or you have high mileage or maybe an oil leak
Thinner oil runs cooler and lubricates faster in most cases and especially if you have an overhead cam.. I have heard but can't confirm that a lot of the racing cars are going thin to get that little extra horsepower...

 

[driv3r0000]

saaboc what do you mean when you say RR, remove/reinstall? If that is what you meant, I'm sure the oil is clean. I didn't just take off the head. The engine was removed, built up, then completely assembled and reinstalled in the car before I added any fluids including the oil.

Those thin weight oils are recommended for daily driving those cars. All the corvettes when used for racing will use thicker oil like a straight 40 or 50 weight. Once the oil is hot the weight comes down to 10. So I simply select a 40 weight that will be 10 when the engine is running at the temps I predicted. If I used a 30 or 20 weight oil with high engine temps the oil would become too thin to lubricate properly.

 

[Silber Igel]

Originally Posted By: driv3r0000
Once the oil is hot the weight comes down to 10. So I simply select a 40 weight that will be 10 when the engine is running at the temps I predicted. If I used a 30 or 20 weight oil with high engine temps the oil would become too thin to lubricate properly.


I'm going to kill myself....

 

[mechtech2]

driv3r000 - Oil does indeed thin out at elevated temperatures. But the 40 or 50 will not be a 10. They will always be/act like a 40 or 50. Oil thickness is measured in cst [centistokes] - this tells the actual thickness.
If you have insane temps, like hot turbocharger parts, a thicker oil may be helpful.
Also, if you rebuilt it sloppy, you may need a thicker oil.

So this engine has NOT been started? I thought you said 'storage', which is a different situation.
Priming a NEW engine is a good idea. The relief valve opens under high pressure, but the job is done. The pressure is still high, and flows to the bearings.

You need to learn basic engine operation and oil terminology.

 

[driv3r0000]

I replaced the engine with a used JDM engine (about 50,000km) I had the head built up while I was changing the engine. Like I said before, I ran and used the engine very little but I did both.

I was using hypothetical numbers as an example in my last post to illustrate a point. However if you look at the data sheets the oil viscosity at 100C is 15.6cSt for the 10w40 and 11.0cSt for the 0w30. Since the engine and oil will be hotter than 100C that number will fall, to what exact value I can't be sure.

And as for your remarks about oil terminology ect. I read a huge article linked from this very site to a mans doctoral thesis about oil weights and the relationship between the engine and oil. I don't claim to know much about oil but I do know a lot about my particular engine and heck of a lot more than just "basic engine operation" knowledge. I don't want to argue with anyone but I was instructed by my machine shop (http://www.theoldone.com/) to use 10w40 Brad Penn as it would "significantly reduce valve train wear". Now before you guys slam my engine builder know that he is world renowned as one of the very best machine shops in the world for building Honda engines, measuring everything accurately down to a 100,000th of an inch. Now a man who has built thousands of Honda engines and never had one come back do to a flaw in his work or recommendations, has told me that: if I want my valve train to last then I should use 10w40 so I'll use that very weight. I never asked anyone's opinion on oil weight just about whether I should change the oil before I fire it up in the spring.

And mechtech2 you should learn to not be condescending. I like to cultivate intelligent conversation. Your remark at the end of your post is deliberately insulting.

 

[driv3r0000]

Here this is the link to the article I mentioned:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/faq.php?faq=haas_articles

 

[cchase]

Originally Posted By: driv3r0000
Here this is the link to the article I mentioned:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/faq.php?faq=haas_articles


I think the problem with your statement was that a 10w40 is 10 weight at operating temps and 40 weight cold, you have ot backwards.

 

[saaboc]

Nobody knows everything...that's the very reason this forum exists. Even the more knowledgeable here (won't dare say "such as myself") eventually blunder. I've got a couple of SWEET 80's VF Interceptors I haven't ridden since before my son was born...each has partially filled 6g tank fermenting w/o stabilizer for 3yrs. Hmm, there seems to be a pattern here. Anyone else want to fess up?

 

[lexus114]

Originally Posted By: saaboc
Nobody knows everything...that's the very reason this forum exists. Even the more knowledgeable here (won't dare say "such as myself") eventually blunder. I've got a couple of SWEET 80's VF Interceptors I haven't ridden since before my son was born...each has partially filled 6g tank fermenting w/o stabilizer for 3yrs. Hmm, there seems to be a pattern here. Anyone else want to fess up?


WITH OUT STABILIZER FOR THREE YEARS!!!!

WHAT THE!! R U INSANE MON!?

 

[addyguy]

I'm afraid your understanding of oil is a bit flawed, but stick around, you'll learn!

Love your choice of oil! (Brad Penn) If you are going to beat the [censored] out of your car during the summer, your choice of oil viscosity probably isn't a bad one. But the BP 10w30 should be sufficient - it has a HT/HS value of 3.54, which should be more than adequate.

Is this 'Penngrade 1' 10W-40, or just 'regular' Brad Penn 10W-40?

Did you buy it from Stinsons?