And if not on the highway always drive in a lower gear.
Milkshake Oil - Extreme short trips
- Thread starter Scout1
- Start date
Even redline for 1/4 mile won't get the oil hot.
So, I just found this thread and as is typical of me, i’m late to the dance (story of my life…..)
Anyway,
First, the oil capacity for a 98 Corolla with factory filter is 3.9 quarts. An oversized filter will cost you an additional couple of ounces bringing you to 4qts total. How you were able to get 4 1/2 qts , top dot of dipstick, is beyond me.
My Corolla habitually is short tripped as shown by its low total mileage. That being said, in all the years of me changing the oil, it never came out like that. Sorry to say you have other things going on in that 1ZZFE.
When you start the engine, do you notice if you see the coolant in the reservoir bubbling?
Anyway,
First, the oil capacity for a 98 Corolla with factory filter is 3.9 quarts. An oversized filter will cost you an additional couple of ounces bringing you to 4qts total. How you were able to get 4 1/2 qts , top dot of dipstick, is beyond me.
My Corolla habitually is short tripped as shown by its low total mileage. That being said, in all the years of me changing the oil, it never came out like that. Sorry to say you have other things going on in that 1ZZFE.
When you start the engine, do you notice if you see the coolant in the reservoir bubbling?
If it is due for a spark plug change soon, then I'd do a leak down test while changing them.
Otherwise, I'd wait and not do a UOA just yet, since it isn't driven long each time. Instead check this most recent oil change, daily after driving, then in a couple days, then 4 days, 8 days, and so on, extending the amount of time till the next check, except if it is taken on a longer trip that warms up the engine, then check right after that too. I mean educate her about the importance of checking it herself on this extending interval and then it is up to her to do it, or not... maybe a little reminder every now and then if she is forgetful.
If the vehicle isn't in terrible condition, then it could easily be worth DIY replacing the head gasket, but go ahead and replace the PCV valve now if it hasn't been done in a long time which it probably hasn't.
Telling her to walk for her health, it may not be as unreasonable in Seattle as it is in some areas where you don't really want the elderly walking in extreme heat or freezing weather that poses an ice-slippage risk. It is easy for younger people to assume that everyone is in perfect health as they get older but eventually that is no longer true and walking more doesn't necessarily fix that. YMMV. If she wants to drive then she ought to be able to if it is reasonably sustainable to keep a vehicle running.
Otherwise, I'd wait and not do a UOA just yet, since it isn't driven long each time. Instead check this most recent oil change, daily after driving, then in a couple days, then 4 days, 8 days, and so on, extending the amount of time till the next check, except if it is taken on a longer trip that warms up the engine, then check right after that too. I mean educate her about the importance of checking it herself on this extending interval and then it is up to her to do it, or not... maybe a little reminder every now and then if she is forgetful.
If the vehicle isn't in terrible condition, then it could easily be worth DIY replacing the head gasket, but go ahead and replace the PCV valve now if it hasn't been done in a long time which it probably hasn't.
Telling her to walk for her health, it may not be as unreasonable in Seattle as it is in some areas where you don't really want the elderly walking in extreme heat or freezing weather that poses an ice-slippage risk. It is easy for younger people to assume that everyone is in perfect health as they get older but eventually that is no longer true and walking more doesn't necessarily fix that. YMMV. If she wants to drive then she ought to be able to if it is reasonably sustainable to keep a vehicle running.
There is 'short tripped' and there is short tripped. This is the latter. One quarter of a mile per journey with cool-down in between is not just 'short tripping' it is very severe service. The engine will spend ALL of it's time in cold fuelling mode, meaning a lot of fuel dilution. The water from combustion will accumulate with no opportunity for evaporation. The engine will be in warm-up conditions constantly and the oil will never get warm enough to work properly. You may as well hose water and fuel directly into the oil charge. OP reports that the coolant level is fine and clear.
Of course there could be a coolant issue too, that the short-tripping is masking or antagonising so maybe worth a UOA check for glycol, but I can see this just being the very worst case of condensation and fuel dilution possible.
When I’d run my motorcycle in the driveway without riding it, the oil looked like this. Same with a ford industrial 4 cyl that only ran 5 mins at a time.
I believe short trips will to this.
I believe short trips will to this.
A UOA would certainly tell you coolant or water in the oil.
looks like every forklift that comes to me for service. short trips and minimal runtime will do that. id change the oil , go for a burn on the highway providing the coolant level is good and just send it on down the road.
recommend a shorter interval to her would be the cure imo
recommend a shorter interval to her would be the cure imo
That doesn't surprise me. Propane produces a lot of water when burned. It seems like I recall a figure of around 4 liters per 100k of BTU's?
C3H8 + 5O2 --> 3CO2 + 4H2O.
So burning 1 mol of propane yields 4 mols of water (plus 3 mols of carbon dioxide).
Burn 44g of propane and get 72g of water; so you get around 1.6x as much water compared to the propane burnt. That assumes complete combustion under ideal conditions.
So yes, a lot of water. It's similar for any hydrocarbon.
my customer has more gas powered forklifts then propane for ease of refueling but nevertheless. it is a ongoing problem for that particular fleet. only the big diesel hyster is exempt from moisture in the oil as they leave it running for hours on end
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