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Don't listen to this nonsense as it's absolute baloney. I would ask the experts that design engines and oil rather than a one-off op-ed piece from a news sourc
by exabrial 4y ago
Don't listen to this nonsense as it's absolute baloney.
I would ask the experts that design engines and oil rather than a one-off op-ed piece from a news source with a questionable reputation, a history of sensationalism, and zero applicable scientific qualifications.
The primary reason you warm up your engine is because oil is more viscous at cold temperatures. All engine oils have cold flow characteristics and modifiers. It doesn't take a very large temperature rise for oil to thin out and begin filling the various galleries in your engine. Just a a few minutes will absolutely extend the life of your engine and prevent oil starvation on critical components.
As a side note, as your oil ages, the viscosity modifiers break down; so older oil needs more time to flow properly, _especially_ if it's been 'cooked' at high temps from the summer. For your oil changes, try to change it between seasons, or if you do a yearly change, change it in the fall after the summer heat.
- sokoloff 4y agoMy experience is that the viscosity modifiers are more warm-thickening than cold-thinning modifiers. It seems to behave like a low-viscosity base oil and additives to reduce thinning with temperature. (Not a petro /materials engineer.)
- BenjiWiebe 4y agoI agree with you, but that's essentially cold-thinning when it lets you run an otherwise-too-thin base oil.
- sokoloff 4y agoYes. This sub-thread was about “what happens when the additive package wears out; does the oil become full-time thicker or thinner than desired?”
- omginternets 4y agoModern synthetic oils are plenty viscous at subzero temperatures. Warming your engine isn’t necessary in a modern vehicle beyond taking it easy for the first 5-10 min of driving. (Nor will it appreciably decrease your engine’s lifespan.)
- exabrial 4y agohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWuKvnCq1js https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWuKvnCq1js I don't think that's the case at all. The manufacturers don't say that, the oil companies don't say that, and testing doesn't show that.