Severe vs Normal oci and ambient temps

[wemay]

What would be considered more 'severe?' Below freezing winters or Hotter year round climates like Arizona, Texas, N. Mexico, Nevada and some say Florida?

The reason i ask is because in the those warmer regions, most people dont drive during the mid day heat. For instance, here in Miami, i drive in the morning when the temps avg 78 degrees F. and evenings when the avg is 75 degrees. I assume that in the drier states i mentioned, the driving times of most is even cooler. Weekend driving being the exception.

 

[bullwinkle]

Personally, I think the cold, at least in the North, is more severe. Engines take a lot longer to reach operating temperature, oil may not ever get hot enough to burn off moisture from condensation & combustion. In south FL, not sure that'll ever be a problem!

 

[Dufus2]

I lived in Phoenix Arizona and most people would run 20w50 or SAE 30 oil due to the high heat encountered, 10w40 in the winter months. This was before synthetics were widely available... It was so hot the tire shops will not sell recaps LOLZ

Sub zero temps are actually worse due to slow circulation and flooding conditions, including water emulsified into the oil.

 

[Nick1994]

I live in Phoenix, AZ and in the summer it is not unusual that at 12:00 midnight it is still over, yes over, 100 degrees. And the traffic is constant with people running around at 117 in the day and the pavement probably makes the temperature on the roads 125 or more. The news stations use laser thermometers and the sidewalks get to 180 degrees.

 

[Quest]

I'm with bullwinkle.

Also: for liquid cooled IC engine, high ambient temp has little impact on the engine operation so long as the cooling system has sufficient capacity to keep the engine operating temperature under control.

On the other hand: the colder outside temperature gets, the longer the engine needs to run in open loop (rich mixture) in order to get up to normal operating temp. This will elevate the fuel and moisture contents in engine oil as a result.

Q.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: wemay
What would be considered more 'severe?' Below freezing winters or Hotter year round climates like Arizona, Texas, N. Mexico, Nevada and some say Florida?

The reason i ask is because in the those warmer regions, most people dont drive during the mid day heat. For instance, here in Miami, i drive in the morning when the temps avg 78 degrees F. and evenings when the avg is 75 degrees. I assume that in the drier states i mentioned, the driving times of most is even cooler. Weekend driving being the exception.


The thermostat in your vehicle should keep the engine at the desired temp all the time in any weather once it warms up. Sure in colder weather it will take longer to warm up, but once there it should just stay there.

That assumes your radiator is not covered with Florida Love Bugs.

If you look at the Amsoil website they consider a lot to be severe including any vehicle over 100K miles.

 

[tig1]

I do 10K OCIs regardless of conditions. I have been doing this for 36 years.

 

[CATERHAM]

Originally Posted By: Donald

The thermostat in your vehicle should keep the engine at the desired temp all the time in any weather once it warms up. Sure in colder weather it will take longer to warm up, but once there it should just stay there.

Yes colder ambient temp's increase the time it take for both the coolant and more so the oil to get up to even low normal temp's and colder temp's will reduce the maximum attained oil temp's as well.

Hot climates are beneficial for motor oil. Even starting an engine when it's 115F is still a` cold start for an engine.
And of course the engine will get up to temp' much faster.

 

[gregk24]

The cold is harder on an engine for sure, if its super hot you can always go up a grade.