Warm engine prior to oil change ?

[Jerry G.]

Re: Warm engine prior to oil change ?

One of the precautions i take with the race engine is to keep the ignition turned off and run the stater until pressure shows on the gauge. i think you could do this with a stock setup by pulling the coil wire.It just prelubes evrything before I start the motor.

[Duke W.]

Re: Warm engine prior to oil change ?

I don't think going to this length is necessary on a road engine. There is plenty of oil in the bearings if you start the engine while it is still warm, and if you follow the previous advice (like prefilling the oil filter), pressure will come up within a couple of seconds. There is very little load on the bearings at cranking speed and initial start speed.

There are plenty of old Chevy engines out there that ran 150-300K miles with just normal maintenance and never had bearing problems - maybe just a valve job. The limiting block wear factor is usually cylinder bore/ring wear.

Duke

[Jerry G.]

Re: Warm engine prior to oil change ?

I agree. There is a lot of effort spent on things that make little difference. BTW New cam and FI unit ran great at Portland race . Now if i can just keep those stamped rockers together for Monterey ....

[Loren L.]

Better HURRY, Wayne.....

The Almanac states that summer in your part of the earth will occur on July 24th.............

[Duke W.]

Re: Warm engine prior to oil change ?

I agree. There is a lot of effort spent on things that make little difference. BTW New cam and FI unit ran great at Portland race . Now if i can just keep those stamped rockers together for Monterey ....

Congratulations! If the rockers lasted the whole weekend, then you probably have a winner. Seems that prior to this they wouldn't survive the first practice session.

Now you can ENJOY driving the car!

Duke

[Adam S.]

Re: Warm engine prior to oil change ?

Hi all, just my two cents.........when I was very young(1970) I whitnesed something that stuck in back of my mind when all my motor head buddies introduced me to a local gas station mechanic who flush his warm motor (283 in a old truck) after each oil change by running mineral spirits thru oil fillers on each valve cover. I can remember looking thru filler cap & under valve cover & motor was clean like new with 170K on clock even with thoes old motor oils used back then. I never tried it as I was just too much in a hurry to go street racing then. Appeared like it worked to me at the time.........

[Timothy B.]

Re: Warm engine prior to oil change ?

I can remember seeing my uncles flush the gasoline engines in old dump trucks with two qts of kerosene. Drain the oil, put kerosene, run for a few minutes then drain oil and change filter and refill.

The pcv systems on these trucks were probably marginal, they ran them for a few minutes then drained and filled with 30wt oil.

[Jerry B.]

Re: Warm engine prior to oil change ?

When disconnecting the coil wire, is it necessary to ground the wire `while cranking new oil?

[Duke W.]

Re: Warm engine prior to oil change ?

When disconnecting the coil wire, is it necessary to ground the wire `while cranking new oil?

Grounding the coil wire will cause a direct short to ground when the points are closed because the ballast is bypassed during cranking.

Just start the engine after your hot oil change and leave the coil wire alone.

Duke

[Duke W.]

Re: Warm engine prior to oil change ?

I can remember seeing my uncles flush the gasoline engines in old dump trucks with two qts of kerosene. Drain the oil, put kerosene, run for a few minutes then drain oil and change filter and refill.

The pcv systems on these trucks were probably marginal, they ran them for a few minutes then drained and filled with 30wt oil.

Don't forget to add Bon-Ami to the crankcase for engine breakin.

Duke

[Wayne M.]

Re: Warm engine prior to oil change ?

Here's another oil Q. Local Superstore has a special on Quaker State synthetic 10-W-30 in 5-litre (bronze) jugs @ 36% less than regular (non-synthetic) [green jugs].

Haven't purchased yet, but if I need to top off or add a quart later on, does it have to be synthetic ? or can I mix ? My BB drips more than it burns .

Loren -- I did consider 5W-30 for the "non-July 24th" winter season.

[Duke W.]

Re: Warm engine prior to oil change ?

...sounds like an S-category oil, which is not the best choice for a vintage engine. There's no real benefit to "synthetic" unless you regularly cold start the engine at well below freezing temperatures or want to run 10,000 mile change intervals.

If you insist on "synthetic" use 5W-40 CJ-4.

There is no harm to mixing any engine oils other than dilution of the additive package if you mix S and C-catergory oil and changing the average viscosity range if the added oil is differnent than what's in the sump.

Duke

[Jim L.]

Re: Warm engine prior to oil change ?

....(1970) I whitnesed something that stuck in back of my mind when all my motor head buddies introduced me to a local gas station mechanic who flush his warm motor (283 in a old truck) after each oil change by running mineral spirits thru oil fillers on each valve cover. I can remember looking thru filler cap & under valve cover & motor was clean like new with 170K on clock even with thoes old motor oils used back then.

Hard to prove that a mineral spirits flush contributed to a clean engine interior.

I've got a '57 vintage 265 that has never been apart except to replace valve cover gaskets and it, too, is squeaky clean inside with approximately 109000 miles on it. It's "secret" is that it received oil changes like clockwork every 2000 miles.

In fact I would be inclined to believe that regular oil changes back in the day contributed more to engine cleanliness than would any kind of flush.

Jim

[Duke W.]

Re: Warm engine prior to oil change ?

It's amazing the stories you hear about what guys did way back when and even into today.

It's real simple: Change the oil hot, use an oil that's appropriate for the internal design details of the engine in a viscosity grade that's suitable to the range of cold starts your it will see, and change it with a frequency that's suitable for the kind of service the engine sees.

For modern cars that are driven daily, follow the manufacturers recommendations for warranty retention.

If it's a vintage car that has sliding surfaces in the valve train and isn't driven very often... well, we've discussed that a zillion times.

Anything more may be a placebo for the owner, but the engine won't know the difference.

Duke