Oil Change Cold or Warm after sitting thru Winter

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I was always told to change it while hot or warm as the warm oil will carry any debris out the drain.

Cold oil is pretty thick. My son changed cold oil on a small tractor this winter and it took over 20 minutes for the oil to drain out.

GORVN4FUN wrote:
My Motorhome (gasser) has been sitting for 3+ months through a very cold winter (Chicago) without being started. It's time to change the oil, which I do myself. Here's the question... Since the oil has settled in the pan all this time, is it better to just drain it cold and change the filter or run the engine before changing the oil?

I re-do my oil BEFORE I put mine into winter hibernation. If you have to...then just wait and get a few thousand miles on the rig and pull into a place that does oil changes and have the oil and filter swapped out

I'd warm it up first (full operating temp too)..

When the oil settles at the bottom of the pan, all the contaminates and 'sludge' form down there too and won't drain out when it's cold.

You'll get the bulk of the cold oil to drain, but it'll leave whatever has settled to the bottom of the pan on the bottom of the pan...

I used to drain cold oil and the new oil would turn 'dark' again pretty fast.. Started doing the warm oil drains and after a couple of changes, the new oil would stay 'cleaner' longer...

Just my experience with it and no 'scientific' proof what so ever.. Just what saw the color of the new oil did... ;)

Good luck!

Mitch

Always best to change oil as warm as possible. If you get it very hot be careful to not burn yourself. It will drain faster and pull any trash out with it.

Hi,

I think hot is better. Drive for an hour at highway speeds.

I suppose one could use a magnetic "stick on" block heater?

I agree with the consensus to change warm. Just thought I'd check. Thanks everyone!

And, next year, much better to change before storing, so the acids in the oil don't sit in the engine over the winter.

wolfe10 wrote:
And, next year, much better to change before storing, so the acids in the oil don't sit in the engine over the winter.

X2

Never change cold!!!