RUNNING TIME REQUIRED TO BURN OFF MOISTURE ?

[kingy2]

HI guys i would like to know how long of a run is required
to burn off moisture in your oil ?
at say 60 mph how long would it take to burn off ?
also can a long trip around the city also do the job ?
if so roughly how many minutes of running time would it
take to burn it off ?
most of my driving is city but i do drive for 30 minutes or
longer frequently .
thanks to all who reply .
this is a great forum i have been lurking and reading for quite
some time !

 

[Captain_Klink]

newfoundland is kind of cool, maritime climate. depends partly on condition of engine, amount of blowby, and whether your thermostat is working properly (not too old and partly stuck in the open position). also, on how many cylinders is the engine, and whether you are using a block heater/oil pan heater on a timer.
for a small four cylinder, in good repair, it warms up in 5-10 minutes, and drives off the moisture in another 5-10.

 

[Jim Allen]

I would think it's highly variable according to the amount of moisture in the oil and the oil temperature. The warmup doesn't count for much, it's when the engine oil is good and hot when most of boiling off of moisture would happen. My guess would be no more than about 30 minutes at operating temp would cook off a "normal" amount of moisture.

 

[MrBeachcomber]

Don't know if this is an old racer's tale, but during the off-racing season while the car was in storage, we used to run the engine about 1/2 hour to get all the internal engine components as well as the oil and coolant up to operating temperature. We then ran the engine an additional 1/2 hour to burn off (vaporize) any contaminates (mostly racing fuel by-products).

We did this at least once every two weeks or so when we weren't wrenching on the engine to keep it fresh. Each engine was stored with fresh fuel, oil, and coolant at the end of the season to minimize problems at the start of the next season.

Hope this helps!

 

[hate2work]

It will take exactly 19 minutes

You're welcome

Seriously, why are you concerned about this? It doesn't sound like you store this rig, but rather that you drive it on a regular basis.

Did something happen or did you see something that makes you ask this?

 

[Durango]

kingy2,

I do the same every week on my 01'Durango V-8 cuz it sits in garage until the weekends. Since I have freeways here in Los Angeles I usually take my truck out for about a good 1 hour drive or so just for that issue at the same speed. That way it simulates my every day driving to work miles wise.

Durango

 

[ericthepig]

This has been discussed a lot by the BITOG sages, including some technical write-ups I think -

I can't remember the exact numbers, but it goes something like this -

The coolant reaches temp in about 10-15 minutes.

Oil lags the coolant by 10-15 minutes - so the oil is at OP temp in 20 to 30 minutes.

The engine does not reach thermal equilibrium for 30 to 40 minutes. I think that means a minimization of thermal differentials and full expansion of metals (ie, full seal by the rings, etc).

This may help in guestimating how much time is necessary to burn water and fuel from the oil. I would think if you reached OP temp on the oil, and then ran another 20-30 minutes - you've got some nice evaporization going.

 

[fito]

Depending on the engine I would think a good 45 minute run should burn off any moisture or fuel in the oil.

 

[kingy2]

19 minutes to burn off ..that is all i need to know! lol

thanks for the reply guys !
so i am guessing 45 to 60 minutes running should burn off any moisture .
i ask because my run to work and back each day is about 10 minutes and the last 5 minutes is highway and i know that wont burn off any moisture .
so will 45 to 60 minutes of around city also burn off any moisture as opposed to highway ?
should of said it is a 2006 TACOMA V6 and i do get alot of moisture and mayonaise like [censored] in the fill tube and under the cap ......and this concerns me .

 

[mechtech2]

There should be no moisture [or very little] if the engine was up to temp previously.
So any initial start burn off time would be dependent on the previous drive cycle.
New water?
Winter or Summer has a big effect on build up of water and contaminants in the oil and blowby.

 

[kingy2]

What do you mean by new water ?
my problem with moisture in the fill tube and under the cap only appears during the cold months .
i do frequent trips under 30 minutes ..
during the winter months how often should i have to go for an extended drive to burn off this moisture ?
and can i do this with an extended drive around the city running errands ....or does it have to be a highway run ?

all replies appreciated

 

[hate2work]

Here's a better place to ask that question, these guys have lots of knowledge about the 2nd generation Tacomas. There should not be moisture or mayonaise like stuff under your fill cap or tube, that would worry me too.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/

 

[kingy2]

thanks hate2work .....
i have looked on all the toyota sites .no real info there
on it ..
many of them have the mayoanise like stuff in the fill tube and
under the cap .....it is a poor design for sure but all that moisture eventually runs down in the oil .
i just want to know how long i need to run to and how often
to burn it off ..
thanks again .

 

[ADFD1]

Depends on outside temps, but I would say 20-30 minutes should do it.

AD

 

[hate2work]

Originally Posted By: kingy2
thanks hate2work .....
i have looked on all the toyota sites .no real info there
on it ..
many of them have the mayoanise like stuff in the fill tube and
under the cap .....it is a poor design for sure but all that moisture eventually runs down in the oil .
i just want to know how long i need to run to and how often
to burn it off ..
thanks again .


No problem, make sure you check out the stickys at the top for TSBs about things like breaking motor mounts on the 6 cyl and the problems with the rear leaf springs on some models.

 

[fito]

You should use a good syn oil/filter(Mobil 1 or Pennzoil Platinum) in your engine because I am wondering if you are having a sludge issue...Also, running it for 45 minutes or more in the city or highway should burn off any moisture. Again, it sounds like your engine needs to be cleaned out.

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: ericthepig
This has been discussed a lot by the BITOG sages, including some technical write-ups I think -

I can't remember the exact numbers, but it goes something like this -

The coolant reaches temp in about 10-15 minutes.

Oil lags the coolant by 10-15 minutes - so the oil is at OP temp in 20 to 30 minutes.

The engine does not reach thermal equilibrium for 30 to 40 minutes. I think that means a minimization of thermal differentials and full expansion of metals (ie, full seal by the rings, etc).

This may help in guestimating how much time is necessary to burn water and fuel from the oil. I would think if you reached OP temp on the oil, and then ran another 20-30 minutes - you've got some nice evaporization going.


These figures may be more applicable for a large, iron V-8 or V-6, but if you have a smaller, lighter Aluminum I-4, the heat-up times will be MUCH quicker.

On the ScanGauge-II I've added to my car, as one of the four parameters I keep as a "default" display, is coolant temp. In the Camry Hybrid, which has a 2.4L Aluminum I-4 on the gas side, I see 190F (average operating temp) consistently in 1.5 to 2.0 miles, even when it's cold out (well, Florida cold...).* I tried an experiment a few weeks ago after I got my little hand-held laser-IR temp gun. I stopped as soon as I could after reaching 190F coolant temp, and took an IR off the bottom of the oil pan. Several shots averaged just over 150F, not that far behind the coolant.

I think maybe, fundamentally, you're asking the wrong question. If you're worried about whether or not you're actually burning off water (or letting it build up), I would simply default to changing oil earlier. A UOA or two would also help you tell whether or not you were getting some water buildup. Of course, if you open your oil filler, and see "chocolate milkshake", you KNOW you have massive water buildup (and probably a coolant leak). If you see "vanilla milkshake," turn from the car, walk away, and never touch it again. . .

* EDIT: Oh yeah, this car does NOT have the hot coolant "thermos" like the Prius does. In that car, when you shut down, the car pumps 3L of the hottest coolant into the "thermos". Upon the next start, it injects that hot coolant right back into the water jackets. The op temp in that car positively rockets up to normal, largely eliminating the cold start "penalty" most cars suffer.

 

[SuperBusa]

Originally Posted By: kingy2
What do you mean by new water ?
my problem with moisture in the fill tube and under the cap only appears during the cold months .
i do frequent trips under 30 minutes ..
during the winter months how often should i have to go for an extended drive to burn off this moisture ?
and can i do this with an extended drive around the city running errands ....or does it have to be a highway run ?

all replies appreciated

Remember that a lot of moisture is a byproduct of combustion - you see most of it come out the tailpipe, but some also goes into your crankcase due to ring blow-by. So anytime the engine is running there is some level of combustion blow-by going into the crankcase. Of course, there is more blow-by on cold startups (due to less ring sealing), and also if the air is more humid then there is more moisture in the blow-by gasses because each gulp of air contains more water.

This is a common topic on the Tacoma chat boards. The reason the Tacoma with the long plastic filter neck collects crud on the filler cap and neck when in cold weather is because that area of the engine doesn't get very warm and becomes a "collector" or "condensation area" for any moisture inside the engine. It doesn't collect there on a hot summer day because it then gets much hotter in that area. Any moisture will try to accumulate and condense in the cooler areas of the engine. Once the moisture has condensed it can not be removed by the PCV system until it it heated up enought to make it a gas again.

Most of the guys with Tacomas say don’t worry about the crud collection in the filler neck ... there’s not much you can do except drive it much longer to try and get to higher engine temperature.

Also, obviously the PCV system is not sucking all the blow-by gasses out of the crankcase very well ... not sure if any engine's PCV system is really 100% effective, but some are better than others.

 

[LAGA]

My scangauge-II will display oil temps. I have a 07 Silverado with a 6.0 all aluminum block. It will take 20 miles of highway driving just to get it up to 220f. In city driving it will not even git above 210F. The water temp gets to 195f in about 3 miles.

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: LAGA
My scangauge-II will display oil temps. I have a 07 Silverado with a 6.0 all aluminum block. It will take 20 miles of highway driving just to get it up to 220f. In city driving it will not even git above 210F. The water temp gets to 195f in about 3 miles.


Where in the menu tree are you finding that?