Been meaning to ask .. (1 Viewer)

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Ever since I moved I've had a reeeeeeeeeeally short commute .. 1.3 miles ! If I grab a coffee , then it's 2 miles tops .

Question is , am I harming the engine with such short runs all the time ? I keep it in the underground parking , so warm starts in the AM , but cold starts at end of shirt .

If this is going to cause any adverse engine / plug concerns , what can I do to avoid them . Do I go around the block a few times , idle longer ... walk to work ? :eek:

One last thing , would ambient temp ( ie : summer vs winter ) manifest itself in all this ?

Thanx !
 
Take it on the highway once in a while and stomp on it a tad. Just make sure to not spill any of the latte.

BTW, my commute is much shorter. :flipoff2:
 
Ohhhh , right ! Down your drive to the shed eh ? Damn , I know your basement flooded out the inlaw suite , but do ya have to pimp 'yo Momma out of the shed ?? Reminds me of Sling Blade ... but that brat had a hole to sleep in . Bring back any memories ?

*best Homer SImpson* -- Mmmmmmmmmmmm ... L A T T E .... hehe
 
*Second Best Homer Simpson* Mmmmm... Open face club sandwedge.

Sorry, I digress.
 
How about walking or riding a bike everyday and saving yourself lots of money spent on maintaining the vehicle as well as keeping one more car off the road?
 
Tyler,

I believe the problem caused by "short commutes" is the oil not reaching a high enough temp to evaporate the water that has condensed in the crank case prior to starting up. I believe the recommended cure is to drive the rig long enough for the engine to reach operating temp and allowing the oil to reach a high enough temp to evaporate the condensation (water) that's in the oil :D.

Wayne S :cheers:
 
The bad thing about short trips is the vehicle does not have a chance to get to operating temperature. It is important that the axles and transmission and other components get to operating temperature to "dry out". Condensation forms and if things don't get hot enough for long enough it accelerates wear and corrosion.
 
So please define operating temperature....is it when the it's sitting nicely between the H and L for a certain period of time? How much time? My commute is also short, not that short, but the truck seems to get warm enough. Heater starts getting sarm about half way. But are the axles, or for that matter any other necessary component, up to the right temp..just wondering. Thanks
 
To be arbitrary, lets say as things would be after maybe 20 minutes on the hiway. Of course it was warm before 20 minutes but it has to be warm enough for long enough to dry it out.

Whenever I start my Challenger I let it run long enough so that I can't touch ANY part of the exhaust. I didn't do that in the beginning and I rusted out a pair of very hard to find NOS mufflers :'(
 
The problems occur with a consistant pattern of short trips without a long trip occasionally. The amount of moisture condensed between trips is small (relative humidity really matters here), but over a prolonged period the amount becomes larger, and any moisture can cause wear and rust :eek:. So, once or twice a week take a good drive at a good speed, just to heat the engine, tranny and diffs up :D.

Wayne S :cheers:
 
[quote author=cruiserdan link=board=2;threadid=10145;start=msg90605#msg90605 date=1074127645]
Whenever I start my Challenger I let it run long enough so that I can't touch ANY part of the exhaust. [/quote]

hence the burn marks on your lips? :flipoff2:
 
Well I'll be dipped....



You DO peek afterall.......... :flipoff2:
 
Thanx guys , great stuff ! I am less than a mile from the highway , so I'll start building that into a routine . Was getting spoiled by the fact that 'everything' in my routine is within 2 miles of my door . Good wake up call here *S*
 
That type of use falls under the severe duty "Schedule A" maintenance which calls for a good number of items to be adjusted, replaced or inspected at half the intervals (mileage and time) as the normal schedule B.
 
Another factor of short runs is that the vehicle is constantly running in a rich fuel state. This goes to excess contamination of the oil with fuel from the engines blow by and premature failure of the catalytic converters :eek: since they see more raw fuel and don't reach a nice high temp and burn it off.
 
Phil's right on. That would be considered severe duty. Also, don't go by the temp guage to decide if the truck's warmed up. I've driven several vehicles with oil temp guages and the oil temp temp was still not up to temp even 5 minutes after the water temp guage indicated normal. The rest of the components will take even longer to heat as their heat source is not combustion but simple friction.

DougM
 
I'm dealing with the same situation. Thanks to all who responded...


Mark
 

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