90% on short trip. What to do to protect engine?

[lh59]

Hi guys, need some help on how to prolong the engine lifespan of my 1.3 auto Yaris. My trip is 90% made up of short trip (less than 7km) and I know that this is quite detrimental to the engine. What can I do to minimise the engine damage beside regular oil change? If I make a long trip every week (purpose being to vaporise the fuel and moisture that acculmulate in the engine during short trip), would this help in protecting the engine? Thanks in advance for the expert advices!

[Snyprwlf47]

Its a small thing but run synthetic oil and try using a magnetic drain plug^_^

[UTVitz]

Since the engine really never warms up, just drive it gently. No jack rabbit starts when leaving lights and give the engine 15 seconds or so on initial start-up before putting it in gear. I'd change the oil every 3-4 months under these conditions. Driving at higher speeds to burn off excessive fuel/water that gets into the oil from running cold all the time would only prolong the life of your oil-not your engine. Keep fresh oil in it and you'll get all the life you'll want out of it.

[YarisSedan]

drive it hard on the freeway at high revs freely like you are doing once a week and you will be okay. And just change your oil every 3 months instead of 3k miles.

[jambo101]

Originally Posted by lh59

Hi guys, need some help on how to prolong the engine lifespan of my 1.3 auto Yaris. My trip is 90% made up of short trip (less than 7km) and I know that this is quite detrimental to the engine. What can I do to minimise the engine damage beside regular oil change? If I make a long trip every week (purpose being to vaporise the fuel and moisture that acculmulate in the engine during short trip), would this help in protecting the engine? Thanks in advance for the expert advices!

Just change oil at recommended intervals and you should have no problems with the motor,in fact the car will be traded in for something else long before you start having engine trouble.

[Red Horse]

Walk.

[Snyprwlf47]

Originally Posted by jambo101

Just change oil at recommended intervals and you should have no problems with the motor,in fact the car will be traded in for something else long before you start having engine trouble.

What are you saying? Do you not think the Yaris is worth keeping?

[IllusionX]

i have just a comment about the engine reving...

does your piston go further when you rev higher? :P

[Snyprwlf47]

In theory its moving faster so it may ,by a very small margin ,flex a little farther^-^

[SilverGlow]

90% short trips mean your oil is probably experiencing fuel dilution. In addition, your oil probably does not warm up enough to boil off the fuel, and in addition, the oils is not hot enough to give the best protection; in other words, the oil may not be reaching the optimal operational temperature to maximize circulation up and around all the engine parts. This is where a lighter weight oil provides more protection over a heavier oil. And it is well known that 90% of the wear and tear inside an engine happens during the first 5 minutes of operation, and it is during this time you most want the oil to protect. It full operational temperatures (usually around 200F to 212F) there is little added protection when synthetic is used over mineral oil.

So to mitigate this I would strongly suggest running 5W-20 weight oil, as it will circulate all over the engine internals faster then 30w during the first 5-10 minutes after first start of the day, and better faster circulation during the first start of the day means less wear on the internal parts. I would use synthetic too, as it often contains better additives that will help deal with oil that is fuel diluted.

One last thought: Never equate oil temperature with water temperature. There is no linear correlation, so even if your water is 181F, your oil is not necessarily up to it's expected operational temperature, and often oil takes 20-30 minutes to reach 212F or thereabouts. And it is only after it reaches those temps, will the fuel in the oil boil/burn away.

You might want to get your Yaris on the freeway for 30 minutes at least once a week to minimize the fuel dilution issues.

So in summary:

Use the cheapest synthetic on sale that is 5w-20 or 0w-20. Another benefit of doing this is that you should be able to run your oil 25% to 50% longer over mineral before you have to change the oil.

Until the car is fully warmed up, don't jump on the gas pedel....keep it slow and smooth. You do this, and your engine wil easily reach 300,000 miles without buring oil, or losing much power.

[lh59]

Using 5W-20 seems like a good idea for faster lubrication of the engine for short trip. I am just a bit worried that the oil might be too thin to protect the engine when I go for the occasional long trip. Have to compromise somewhere I guess. And yes, I seldom rev my engine above 2500rpm.

[jambo101]

Originally Posted by Snyprwlf47

What are you saying? Do you not think the Yaris is worth keeping?

Why would i have one if i thought it wasnt worth keeping? its just that i view the car as an inexpensive,reliable,daily commuter that will get replaced in 5yrs, and for that purpose its a great little car that i'm not going to waste money and defeat the cars original economy by getting all compulsive about extreme maintenance schedules on it or waste thousands of $$ on mods,for me its just not that kind of car.
Are there some other members who share my views?

[nemelek]

Originally Posted by jambo101

Why would i have one if i thought it wasnt worth keeping? its just that i view the car as an inexpensive,reliable,daily commuter that will get replaced in 5yrs, and for that purpose its a great little car that i'm not going to waste money and defeat the cars original economy by getting all compulsive about extreme maintenance schedules on it or waste thousands of $$ on mods,for me its just not that kind of car.
Are there some other members who share my views?

I do. I drive the car 10,000 miles a year. I use Castrol GTS I bought on sale at $.99/quart and OEM filter bought on sale at $3.95/quart. Each oil change costs $8. In 20 years I'll have 200,000 miles on the car and the engine will be just fine.

[thebarber]

Originally Posted by Snyprwlf47

What are you saying? Do you not think the Yaris is worth keeping?

Originally Posted by jambo101

Why would i have one if i thought it wasnt worth keeping? its just that i view the car as an inexpensive,reliable,daily commuter that will get replaced in 5yrs, and for that purpose its a great little car that i'm not going to waste money and defeat the cars original economy by getting all compulsive about extreme maintenance schedules on it or waste thousands of $$ on mods,for me its just not that kind of car.
Are there some other members who share my views?

youre kinda right....but if he takes a bit of care now and over the course of the cars life, itll last a longer time

i had just assumed you meant that after 5 years (and this is a typical thought of we, the ones with snow and ice) the body will rust out before the engine goes bad. which, is exactly opposite way things happen in warmer climates

i have friends (husband/wife) in town with a 2002 hyundai accent 5spd. its done 150,000kms in its time, but theyve never had anything significant go wrong. i say its theyre driving. they NEVER shift above 3000rpm (which is often scary as fvck when they pull out in front of people) and as far as i know, never run it up. a lot of the miles were put on from moving between the maritimes and ontario and between halifax and fredericton, but otherwise, they just do short-ish, in-town driving (fredericton is only 50,000 people)

id say if you take it easy on the car and do the regular maintenance, the normal wear parts will last a LOT longer than driving the car hard. but id take it on the highway once a week and get the carbon out of the exhaust! ;)

[andries]

Mounting a parking heater.

look on this link for infomation

http://www.webasto.com/products/en/3115_3422.html
http://www.webasto.com/products/en/3123_4519.html

this preheated the engine and interior

[1stToyota]

Like someone already stated, change the oil every 3-4 months. And I'd just stick with 5w-30, probably not 5w-20, and certainly not 0w-20.

[lilman717]

Originally Posted by SilverGlow

90% short trips mean your oil is probably experiencing fuel dilution. In addition, your oil probably does not warm up enough to boil off the fuel, and in addition, the oils is not hot enough to give the best protection; in other words, the oil may not be reaching the optimal operational temperature to maximize circulation up and around all the engine parts. This is where a lighter weight oil provides more protection over a heavier oil. And it is well known that 90% of the wear and tear inside an engine happens during the first 5 minutes of operation, and it is during this time you most want the oil to protect. It full operational temperatures (usually around 200F to 212F) there is little added protection when synthetic is used over mineral oil.

So to mitigate this I would strongly suggest running 5W-20 weight oil, as it will circulate all over the engine internals faster then 30w during the first 5-10 minutes after first start of the day, and better faster circulation during the first start of the day means less wear on the internal parts. I would use synthetic too, as it often contains better additives that will help deal with oil that is fuel diluted.

One last thought: Never equate oil temperature with water temperature. There is no linear correlation, so even if your water is 181F, your oil is not necessarily up to it's expected operational temperature, and often oil takes 20-30 minutes to reach 212F or thereabouts. And it is only after it reaches those temps, will the fuel in the oil boil/burn away.

You might want to get your Yaris on the freeway for 30 minutes at least once a week to minimize the fuel dilution issues.

So in summary:

Use the cheapest synthetic on sale that is 5w-20 or 0w-20. Another benefit of doing this is that you should be able to run your oil 25% to 50% longer over mineral before you have to change the oil.

Until the car is fully warmed up, don't jump on the gas pedel....keep it slow and smooth. You do this, and your engine wil easily reach 300,000 miles without buring oil, or losing much power.

well since it's winter, i think it won't make a different with a 5-20 or 5-30 right now because the 5 is the winter weight correct?

[1stToyota]

Originally Posted by lilman717

well since it's winter, i think it won't make a different with a 5-20 or 5-30 right now because the 5 is the winter weight correct?

Correct. And I don't know why he suggested 0w-20 in his reply...that's very bad advice. The Toyota TSB that he's referred to many times clearly states that 0w-20 is not recommended for the Yaris 1NZ-FE motor.