Hi
My daughter is at uni and her two year old Seat Arosa spends much of its time parked outside, We do run it for her on some short trips. How can we prevent the engine from wearing due to limited use..any type of oil etc.
thanks
alan
|
Take it off her and use it yourself. Its no fun being a student with a car. In my day, we couldn't afford new clothes, never mind a car and mobile phone.
Grumble Grumble, McDonalds advert and all that.
|
|
|
|
I think you are probably doing the right thing running it once in a while though it would be better to do it less often but go on a longer trip. It needs a decent run to dry everything out.
|
Brian, I'm not an expert but long enough to have no steam at all coming from the exhaust I would say. 1/2 an hour.
Alan, Synthetic oil good for reducing friction but having read previous threads on this site the problem with short trips seems to be a) petrol washing the oil away from the cylinders while the engine is cold due to too much fuel compared to air while choke (fuel enrichment) is on and b) water from the atmosphere condensing in the sump and exhaust.
Therefore synthetic oil does not cure the problem and is expensive. I would guess frequent oil changes would be better than keeping expensive oil in the engine for longer.
The trouble with all this is that if your daughter does normal mileage when not at uni, the engine will outlast the car anyway. So just run it for a decent trip once in a while and leave it at that. Or disconnect the negative battery lead and leave it till next required. I confess that's what i do. seems to work.
|
|
|
|
Richard
Could you define "a longer run"?
When my daughter's car has been standing it gets a six or seven mile run up to the next but one roundabout and back. That is probably not enough.
On other occasions we take it down to my in-laws, 20 miles each way, which I suspect is more than enough.
Am I right?
|
HI
Yes that's about it 7 miles at a go .I wonder if fully synthetic oil would protect the bores better ?
alan
|
|
|
|
Have a look around the accessory shops for a product called FX-1 or ZX-1. This is a treatment for the engine (not an oil additive) which in simple terms forms a microscopic, semi-permanent, film on bearing surfaces reducing wear. It should prevent the initial wear starting up after a lay off.
I am aware that this may be construed as a "snake oil" product but I have personal evidence of its worth and I use it in every car I have owned.
I would however not use it in the Arosa unless it has more than 20-25k on the clock so as not to interfere with the running in process.
|
|
|
