Hi guys I read that if you take shorter trips without the engine getting to normal operating temperatures water can accumulate in the oil and needs to be burned off to maintain maximum effectiveness of engine oil. One mechanic told me yes that’s true while another told me no it’s not true for more modern cars. What’s the consensus? To do or not to do? That is the question. BTW I have a 2002 BMW 330Ci.
Also it sounds like as long as you get the engine to operating temperature that’s all that’s need to boil off the water, not necessarily just doing highway driving at higher RPMs although that would make it simpler to do if one doesn’t normally drive for very long. How long and often should one drive to burn off the oil?
And I don’t have a pic of my dashboard currently (I could get off my butt and get one) but I think the temperate gauge reflects the coolant temp. Does the oil temp have to get to operating temp to burn off the water? If so how much longer does that take than letting the coolant temp get to operating temperature?
Getting the engine to operating temp doesn’t get the oil to that temp as quickly. If you get the engine to temp in 10 minutes, the oil won’t get there until about 20 minutes. And the oil won’t burn off that water until it gets to up to temp.
The key takeaway here is frequent short trips can create problems for your engine, especially with the oil/water thing. Take a few longer trips every month, and you’ll be fine.
Of course, it’s worth noting that a 2002 model year car already has a fair amount of engine wear already.
That is my dilemma, the 1st 6 months all I put on my truck was 1,300 miles, I am coming up on my 2nd 6 months in 2 weeks and I only have put 1,549 miles on it so far, but I can’t bring myself to only change the oil every 12 months…
Don’t feel bad, Dave. Because ~90% of my driving is done in EV mode, my PHEV’s IC engine isn’t run very often. At most, I might drive ~1,500 miles on IC power over a 6 month period. And yet, I change the oil every 6-7 months.
The main reason an EV is not practical for me is I like and often need a truck, and the only EV I would ever trust would be a Tesla (don’t look any further into that people lol) and I am not a fan of Tesla’s truck… Plus I am pretty sure my cherry picker would not fit in a Cyber Truck…
And either this week or next I have to tow a car back 60 miles home…
I switched to an EV (Chevrolet Bolt) last November, and I absolutely love it. However, I freely admit they are not for everyone. Couple of observations:
If you can’t charge the EV at home at night, it’s not worth it. Public chargers are too expensive if you have to use them frequently.
Having said that…there are a lot more EV chargers out there than most people realize. Some of them cost very little or are free to use. I think Tesla Superchargers are the best, all things considered.
Range anxiety passes; it’s a change in mindset. If you largely commute back and forth to work and/or go about your daily business, running out of battery is just not an issue. This is even with the A/C or heat running, etc.
If you’re honest and realistic about your actual activities that require a vehicle… I would say 50-75% of people could drive an EV and never miss a beat. Some people “aspire” to certain activities (towing, hauling, off-roading, etc.)…and that’s fine. But an EV may not be for you.
I have only seen one anywhere close to me, and it is at a motel/hotel, the others when checking are at privet businesses…
I have no issues charging at home if needed, but not practical in my area, and I would be willing that none anywhere near where my buddy lives 200 miles from me out in BFE…
I haven’t yet used a public charger, but I will have to do so when I take a trip to upstate NY this autumn. I will use my Costco Visa card, because it provides a 4% rebate on EV charging.
My experience has been they are a necessary evil. If you’re on a road trip or out and about, you just have to pay to charge.
The trick is you have to balance the “cost” both in dollars and time required to charge. If you have a few hours to kill, there are a lot of Level 2 chargers around that are slower, but far cheaper to use. I’m talking like at libraries and museums, for example.
One the other hand, if time is an issue, or if you just don’t want to wait, Tesla Superchargers or other DC chargers are the way to go. Of course, you pay a premium for that in cost, but gain a lot in time.
Thanks guys… sounds like the mechanic who said modern cars don’t need to worry about milkshake oil was wrong right? Or maybe my car is too old to qualify for this?
Also my coolant temp gets to operating temp really quickly I’m guessing in a couple minutes. I’m in California so it’s relatively warm … does the oil probably twice as long to get to operating temp?
I can make sure once a month to take a 20-30 minute drive pretty easily, sounds like the thing to do.
Have you considered Ram’s new plugin hybrid pickup? Runs over a 100 miles as an EV but then switches to a gas engine for unlimited range. Has enormous towing capacity 14000 pounds and 647 HP.
If it’s like many other PHEVs, the driver can choose when to run in EV mode and when to run in HV mode. This potentially increases one’s driving range.
Car and Drivers estimates the 1500 Ramcharger will cost between $60,000 and $100,000 depending on options. You can bet the $100,000 Tungsten model will be the only one available for a while.
Depends on what you consider to be a “short trip”.
50 years ago anything less than 10 miles could be considered to be a short trip. For a modern engine like in your BMW, less than 4 miles is a short trip.
The engine oil doesn’t need to be greater than 180 degrees F for the moisture in the crankcase to evaporate. Crankcase ventilation systems in modern engines are much better than the PCV systems in the 1970’s.
