setting five months run the engine or not?
We're setting in the South for five months and a discussion came up as to whether to run the engine once a month or not.. I was allows told not to unless you could go out on the road and run for 20 mi...
Forum Discussion
The "don't start unless you can drive it at least 25 highway miles" certainly applies to diesels. It takes that long/much load to get the OIL (not just coolant) up to temperature. Anything less just adds moisture to the engine.
Gasoline engines produce more heat at idle (less efficient than diesel engines, particularly at very light throttle settings). I do not know if you can achieve high enough oil temperatures at idle with a gas engine. Would not be hard to check-- see how long it takes (if it can even be done) for the oil pan to become too hot to touch.
I can only see 20-30 seconds as negative. Cylinders will at best have incomplete combustion, with water vapor being one of the natural byproducts of combustion. Doubt once or twice would do long-term damage, but certainly can not see the good.
Were you to do anything, move to a premium oil-- one of the synthetics comes to mind.
Gasoline engines produce more heat at idle (less efficient than diesel engines, particularly at very light throttle settings). I do not know if you can achieve high enough oil temperatures at idle with a gas engine. Would not be hard to check-- see how long it takes (if it can even be done) for the oil pan to become too hot to touch.
I can only see 20-30 seconds as negative. Cylinders will at best have incomplete combustion, with water vapor being one of the natural byproducts of combustion. Doubt once or twice would do long-term damage, but certainly can not see the good.
Were you to do anything, move to a premium oil-- one of the synthetics comes to mind.
