Am I wrecking my P&J with 1.5mile daily run - never warms up

[PBB]

We have an excellent old Peugeot which is up to 130k miles and runs great.

But it a 2L petrol auto, and is horribly uneconomical around town.

So I bought a supermarket bike and now drop the missus to work then drive back home, collect the car out of the shed and cycle to work instead.

Result is a great saving on fuel, but somehow a daily journey when the car never gets up to temperature seems wrong.

With a modern diesel I would not dream of doing this, but with an old petrol am I doing it damage?

[GreatGranny]

So you drive the misses 1.5 miles to work? Why? Can't she walk/drive herself?

[Astra Dan]

If you increase the frequency of the oil changes I reckon it'll be ok. Keep an eye on the oil breather ways as they'll likely get gunged up.

On the other hand.... 1.5 miles? Really? Buy her a bike too!

[Dusty964]

Or just leave it running for 10 minutes before driving to get it up to temp?

[Raize]

It'll coke up...

[shalmaneser]

tell your missus to get herself a bloody bike! 1.5 miles is ridiculous.

And yes, you are wrecking your car. The cat isn't getting hot enough to work, chances are the thermostat isn't even opening leaving stagnat water in you radiator....

[MC Bodge]

shalmaneser said:

tell your missus to get herself a bloody bike! 1.5 miles is ridiculous.

1.5 miles is presumably the round trip.

0.75miles each way!

Of course, there could be mobility issues.

[PBB]

Thanks for your replies, I will increase the oil change frequency.

No, my wife cannot get to work on her own, personal reasons I won't go into on here.

Cheers

[poing]

Go for a longer run every other weekend and give it a nice Italian tune up and it'll be fine.

[LaurasOtherHalf]

We had this same question the other week?!

You're not wearing it out any more than someone doing a 100 mile journey-that car does the same low temperature running as yours it just adds more lower stressed mileage on top.

Just take it on a good run out every couple of weeks to keep things running sweet.

[MC Bodge]

PBB said:

Thanks for your replies, I will increase the oil change frequency.

No, my wife cannot get to work on her own, personal reasons I won't go into on here.

Cheers

Minicab? Taxi?

[kambites]

What you need, is a G-Wizz.

[jimmy156]

poing said:

Go for a longer run every other weekend and give it a nice Italian tune up and it'll be fine.

This, wring its neck once a week, it'll be fun and you'll have the excuse that its good for the car!

[vrsmxtb]

This man needs a Twizy. Maybe the chap who wanted one but couldn't justify could part-own it!

[James Dean]

PBB said:

Thanks for your replies, I will increase the oil change frequency.

No, my wife cannot get to work on her own, personal reasons I won't go into on here.

Cheers

Well, as you have to cycle to work yourself, how about getting her a bike as well and following her to work?

[Monty Python]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

We had this same question the other week?!

You're not wearing it out any more than someone doing a 100 mile journey-that car does the same low temperature running as yours it just adds more lower stressed mileage on top.

Just take it on a good run out every couple of weeks to keep things running sweet.

I beg to differ.

The oil in a car engine doesn't work as effectively when cold as it's more viscous and doesn't flow as easily which results in more wear.

You get condensation in the exhaust system and the crankcase as the engine never gets warm enough to get rid of it, both of which lead to corrosion.

At low temperatures the engine injects more fuel which removes the oil film from the cylinder walls which results in more wear on the piston rings which can let oil into the cylinders, fouling the spark plugs.

[Captain Muppet]

Monty Python said:

LaurasOtherHalf said:

We had this same question the other week?!

You're not wearing it out any more than someone doing a 100 mile journey-that car does the same low temperature running as yours it just adds more lower stressed mileage on top.

Just take it on a good run out every couple of weeks to keep things running sweet.

I beg to differ.

The oil in a car engine doesn't work as effectively when cold as it's more viscous and doesn't flow as easily which results in more wear.

You get condensation in the exhaust system and the crankcase as the engine never gets warm enough to get rid of it, both of which lead to corrosion.

At low temperatures the engine injects more fuel which removes the oil film from the cylinder walls which results in more wear on the piston rings which can let oil into the cylinders, fouling the spark plugs.

How is the cold wear on an engine only driven for 1.5 miles any worse than the cold wear on an engine driven for 1.5 miles that then also does another 98.5 miles?

Other than the condensation, obviously.

[Krikkit]

Captain Muppet said:

Monty Python said:

LaurasOtherHalf said:

We had this same question the other week?!

You're not wearing it out any more than someone doing a 100 mile journey-that car does the same low temperature running as yours it just adds more lower stressed mileage on top.

Just take it on a good run out every couple of weeks to keep things running sweet.

I beg to differ.

The oil in a car engine doesn't work as effectively when cold as it's more viscous and doesn't flow as easily which results in more wear.

You get condensation in the exhaust system and the crankcase as the engine never gets warm enough to get rid of it, both of which lead to corrosion.

At low temperatures the engine injects more fuel which removes the oil film from the cylinder walls which results in more wear on the piston rings which can let oil into the cylinders, fouling the spark plugs.

How is the cold wear on an engine only driven for 1.5 miles any worse than the cold wear on an engine driven for 1.5 miles that then also does another 98.5 miles?

Other than the condensation, obviously.

It isn't. Provided it's warmed properly at least once a week to stop everything bunging up it shouldn't be too bad.

[steveo3002]

change the oil a bit more often and take it for a run when you can , get the oil up to full temps then run it through the gears using some revs

[folos]

What is a reasonable amount of time/distance to fully warm up an engine then?

I have a 3.2 n/a and drive about 6/7 miles each way to work, takes about 10-15 mins dependent on traffic.