Super short trips, E85 and OCI

Joined
Jan 3, 2020
Messages
983
Location
Brittany
High guys, i normally do 70% highway and almost no short trips but since i am moving to a place that's only 2.4 kilometers (1.5 mile) away i am forced to do very short trips back and forth every day for at least one or two months with two longish 175 kilometers highway trips every weekend.

I've always been worried about the negative impact of short trips on engines and avoid them as much as i can.

Should i do something different and shorten my OCI or switch to a different oil ? UOA is way too expensive and i can change my oil 5 times for that price.

Car : 1998 Mercedes C180 162k kilometers.
Oil : Shell HX7 10W-40 changed every 7/8k kilometers.
Weather : mild, 15°C min, 25°C max during the next months, fairly humid.
Fuel : E85.
 
For starters once or twice a month I'd get on the highway and drive at least half an hour. Regarding the OCI, your current OCI might be OK, it was short to begin with. I'd probably switch to 5W40. A UOA might be a worth while investment, it will eliminate guessing, shop around for a better price.
 
Is a 98 Mercedes spec'd for E85?

No, but we’ve been through his conversion in a previous thread. The car has a kit, a pretty sophisticated kit, which allows the ECU to measure alcohol content and adjust injector pulse width to run properly.

I think the 175 KM highway run each weekend is perfect for your car. The short trips lead to condensation and battery rundown, which your weekly highway run will clear up.

You're good.
 
No, but we’ve been through his conversion in a previous thread. The car has a kit, a pretty sophisticated kit, which allows the ECU to measure alcohol content and adjust injector pulse width to run properly.

I think the 175 KM highway run each weekend is perfect for your car. The short trips lead to condensation and battery rundown, which your weekly highway run will clear up.

You're good.
Thanks.
 
I would let the car warm up a bit before leaving , when you are going for the short trip.

E85 may leave a lot of water on your exhaust, if you are constantly short tripping and not heating it up.
 
I agree with LeoStrop. Some time warming up the engine before leaving may do good to the engine when short tripping specially running E85. Some Early 90s Brazilian E100 cars without warming up in cold ambient temperatures couldn't even get out of the driveway properly.
 
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