It's not a question of age. It more of a question of driveing many short trips and having a high fuel dillution.
Oil Question?
- Thread starter dave1251
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Acid build up, water condensation, and higher volitile evaporation are also going on on a time basis, not just miles driven.
If the oil is just sitting in an engine not used it oxidizes at a much slower rate than when in use. It will be fine after 3 months, 6 months, ... somewhere on this board is a UOA of oil that had been sitting in a crankcase for x number of years, x>2, and then run and it was perfectly fine. An engine is not a sealed environment, but it is sealed enough to provide some protection from elements. Environment of storage, RH, humididty, temperature, will all have an effect on how long this takes.. YMMV with differenct oils, but 3 months is just a quick lubes effort at making money. Water condensation would be the biggest factor IMO, but even in a humid environment, unless you live next to salt water, effects will be slow.
Will an oil in the engine deteriorate if the car is not driven? I have been told that you should change oil every three months even if the car is not driven but I don't belive it! (dino oil) Some oil sits on the store shelf for that long!
Agree completely with reyjay1. I'm a 3,000 mile changer, but it typically takes me 7-9 months to get "there". My UOAs have shown no more than the typical insolubles that result from acid breakdown and oxidation products for those miles. Moisture condensation in the crankcase will be a very low factor - how's it gonna enter a sitting, stationary motor? Through the intake side and exhuast sides at shutdown? Not terribly likely since the condensate has other various intake and exhaust components to settle on first before it can make its way into a cylinder in which a valve is open. It's not like there's much in the way of active ventilation of ambient air through those systems after shutdown, anyway. Even at that, in both cases that just gets moisture into the cylinders with open valves. How's it gonna get into the crankcase? There's the little matter of the PCV valve that's spring-loaded to remain closed except during the intake phase during operation. The piston rings aren't gonna be terribly cooperative to moisture intrusion if they're at all in decent condition, either.
I agree. Once the oil is out of the bottle, it can be subject to the above quote.
I ran a 13 month OCI in my motorhome. Basically saw nothing but long trips and only a few of those. It was driven at least once every 2 to 3 months. After 13 months the oil still looked pretty good on the stick and on a file card blotter.
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