Texas heat question...

[demarpaint]

 Originally Posted By: 1999nick

Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't believe that mechanical devices care about the humidity. I don't believe that an 8 or 10 degree higher temperature will much affect oil, compared to 100 degrees we see here in Tennessee.

They don't care about humidity, or wind chill. On a side note some older cars do run better in high humidity. BTW run a 5W20 and sleep well at night.

 

[mechtech2]

jshaw - Water absorbs heat much better than air.

 

[Gary Allan]

 Originally Posted By: mechtech2

jshaw - Water absorbs heat much better than air.

Pretty much. Try sleeping uncovered in 75F air. Try taking a 75F shower or swimming in it. What dry air allows you to do is evaporatively cool much easier. Hicks: Man! It's hot as Hale down here! Hudson: Yeah, man! ..but it's a dry heat!

 

[FZ1]

Hudson: It's hot down here "anytime;anywhere."

 

[jshaw]

 Originally Posted By: Gary Allan

 Originally Posted By: mechtech2

jshaw - Water absorbs heat much better than air.

Pretty much. Try sleeping uncovered in 75F air. Try taking a 75F shower or swimming in it. What dry air allows you to do is evaporatively cool much easier. Hicks: Man! It's hot as Hale down here! Hudson: Yeah, man! ..but it's a dry heat!

Perhaps you should reread my post and not quote part of if out of context.

 

[Gary Allan]

Did it appear that I was "piling up" on you? Not my intent. We're on the internet here. While I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, or perhaps because of being less sharp, when there's some "unclarity" ..one would sensibly want it clarified. No affront to whatever you were trying to say was intended. Text based communication has its challenges.

 

[Steve S]

What is the operating temps of the oil? 5w-30 may not be a whole lot thicker depending on which brand you pick.

 

[gfh77665]

I would like to add a bit of clarity here, if I may: AZ probably does have higher daytime temps, by a degree or two. (AZ = 104, TX = 102?) TX, however, easily has OVERALL higher temps, for far longer through the year. While AZ quickly cools off in the evenings, TX can be 90 into the night... AZ gets cooler weather much earlier in the year, and stays cooler much longer in the spring. I ran my home A/C on both Christmas Eve & Christmas Day. My neighbors kids played outside on Christmas morning in a swimsuit, squirting water on himself with a garden hose. This scene did not happen in AZ in December, I can promise you that. TX is an extremely harsh environment for cars and oils...

 

[Gary Allan]

I dunno. Is 90+ any less harsh in Canada or PA? Does 10F more ambient make or break an engine or oil? I think that we just index our impressions of this narrow range of temps. While ambient temp can and does play a role in oil temps, it's not a direct relationship due to coolant typically dominating the btu rejection of engine combustion heat. It's more complicated than that, but when you have all things factored, 10-20F difference is going to reduce your warm up time more than it is going to fatigue your oil on the other end. That's just my reasoning from observations. I'll surely entertain alternative points of view. I can have idling oil temps of 220F in the winter if the conditions are right ..and I can have highway temps of 220F+. Which 220F is destroying my oil?

 

[jshaw]

 Originally Posted By: gfh77665

I would like to add a bit of clarity here, if I may: AZ probably does have higher daytime temps, by a degree or two. (AZ = 104, TX = 102?) TX, however, easily has OVERALL higher temps, for far longer through the year. While AZ quickly cools off in the evenings, TX can be 90 into the night... AZ gets cooler weather much earlier in the year, and stays cooler much longer in the spring. I ran my home A/C on both Christmas Eve & Christmas Day. My neighbors kids played outside on Christmas morning in a swimsuit, squirting water on himself with a garden hose. This scene did not happen in AZ in December, I can promise you that. TX is an extremely harsh environment for cars and oils...

Nothing like being wet with sweat at 7:30 in the morning, huh. Luckily our humidity runs just a bit lower north of the red river.

 

[aquariuscsm]

 Originally Posted By: 1999nick

Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't believe that mechanical devices care about the humidity. I don't believe that an 8 or 10 degree higher temperature will much affect oil, compared to 100 degrees we see here in Tennessee.

Get stuck in a Dallas traffic jam in the middle of August vs a traffic jam in Minneapolis in December and then tell me if your car will notice the difference.

 

[gfh77665]

 Originally Posted By: Gary Allan

I dunno. Is 90+ any less harsh in Canada or PA?...

The heat that lasts for 9 months during the year, and 20 out of 24 hours (instead of 3 months long and 6 hrs/day) inflicts more thermal breakdown, IMHO.

 

[AzFireGuy79]

Have you ever lived here in phoenix? 104? Uh, try 112 to 115 in the summers when its really hot. I granted I have seen 120 but its not a regular occurance. And all summer long its atleast 90 or more at night. It does cool off during the winter sooner and for longer periods than texas. If Texas was such a harsh envirmonment and the "gold standard", why then are all of the major auto makers based in the desert for testing????

 

[tsmay51]

I'm in the Dallas - Ft. Worth area myself. Years ago I could see a difference on the temps on my cars pending the ambient temps. Coolant systems I believe have come a long way just like on any other part on our cars today. I see very little difference in my temp or oil pressure guage no matter what the ambient temps is. Now my diesel is a different story. If it is below say 50F it doesn't run warm unless alot of highway driving or pulling some weight. I have always been more concerned with dust conditions here than ambient temps.

 

[aquariuscsm]

 Originally Posted By: AzFireGuy79

Have you ever lived here in phoenix? 104? Uh, try 112 to 115 in the summers when its really hot. I granted I have seen 120 but its not a regular occurance. And all summer long its atleast 90 or more at night. It does cool off during the winter sooner and for longer periods than texas. If Texas was such a harsh envirmonment and the "gold standard", why then are all of the major auto makers based in the desert for testing????

I actually have family in Scottsdale and Phoenix. AZ heat`s got nothing on south Texas heat. Completely different environment.

 

[buster]

Phoenix is warmer year round than Dallas. Weather.com has average for both cities. Phoenix has less humidity. I think dry heat is more bearable, but 120F is still [censored] hot! I'd much rather live in AZ.

 

[aquariuscsm]

You should feel 118F in the Rio Grande Valley. Talk about HOT!!!!!!! The interior of your car will literally melt!!!!! The sun`s also very intense here,unlike anywhere else in the U.S. Tinted windows are basically a requirement.

 

[gfh77665]

I have been through the SW in late July, and there is no question in my mind, that OVERALL, STX is hotter. The operative word here is OVERALL. The desert SW cools off at night, TX does not. The SW has a normal length summer, TX summers last for 9 months or so.

 

[aquariuscsm]

You can actually walk down a paved asphalt street and your feet will literally sink into the pavement on a hot summer day.

 

[Bryanccfshr]

I grew up in Corpus Christi and lived through many hot summers. I spent the last 3 years in the hill country before my last move. It's not that hot for the car though. What Feels hot to us is nothing to the vehicle and a functioning cooling system. You are taking human perception and applying it to machinery and materials that can tell little difference between 60 and 130 degrees f. I have livved in the east coast, I have lived in Texas I ave lived in the desert and I am now living at high altitude. What kills cars in South East Texas is RUST. There a re lots of old cars here running and looking great in the 4 corners region, in Corpus I have seen many trucks rust in half at the frame long before the drivetrain is tired. Taillights and wwindshield sills or any stone chips quickly turn to cancer. Those sticky wet mornings all year long where the dew point coats the car with moisture (salty Gulf of mexico moisture to boot, is your cars worst enemy in southeast texas, I wouldn't worry about the heat.