PCMO fuel and water dilution: does it burn off?

[dnastrau]

Greetings:

With the recent frigid temperatures, I had a question that I thought someone here might be able to answer.

I know that fuel and water (condensation) dilution are a major concern with oil in the winter. Short trips and long idling times exacerbate this. My question is: will occasional high speed highway trips cause this to evaporate from oil between changes?

Thanks for any thoughts on this.

Andrew S.

'96 Jeep GC 4.0 currently with MaxLife 5W30 and STP S8A Ecore

 

[wiswind]

This is not a direct answer to your question....but might help.
I have a Greddy catch can installed on my '96 3.8L windstar.
Reason is to try to keep the intake cleaner.
In the summer, I end up with a thick mixture of stuff in the catch can.
In the cold weather.....it fills up fast with very fluid...runny water mix.

This tells me that the moisture is being pulled out of the oil.
I would think that 30 minutes of driving would give the motor time to warm up enough to evaporate the moisture and fuel dilution out of the oil.

 

[BrianWC]

I hear a lot of people calming themselves and others by saying they run their cars out on the highway at least once a week to help burn of contaminants. But I don't get this. I thought that one of the big concerns is the formation of acids from the water and blow-by byproducts. I can't see how taking only one longer trip a week is going to counteract the formation of acids on the other 6 days.

 

[jldcol]

If there is water in the oil, it will seperate when engine is off and layer up at bottom of oil pan, right? The oil pan is cooler than the oil as is cooled by outside airflow, so is this layer of water actually getting heated enough to boil off? Perhaps someone who has oil test done could compare a sample before a long drive with one after say a highway drive, and see if 20-30 minutes of use actually lowers the water content and how much.

 

[chevrofreak]

Originally Posted By: jldcol
If there is water in the oil, it will seperate when engine is off and layer up at bottom of oil pan, right?


No. It becomes an emulsion.