ACCUSUMP question...

[Hal Copple]

I have been interested in engine lubrication for about 25 years, and have read all that i find on the matter. The comment that the vast majority of engine wear occurs at start up is likely not true, given the usual circumstances.

I did once wipe the bearings on a Tr-4, by running straight 30 oil, and repeatedly starting it on really cold, like below zero Nebraska temps.

But despite the advertising i heard a few years ago:

"the toughest thing you can do to your engine is starting it..."

i don't think so. I read somewhere that this way of thinking got a start somewhere a long time ago, and has been repeated as fact ever since. I have also read that with good oil and filtration, there is neglegable wear on rotating parts even with very high mileage. My opinion is that most cars endure counless cold starts with all varieties of oil quality and viscosity, and yet these cars come to the end of their life not because of lubrication failure, but myriad other causes. One of our nurses recently had her oil light come on in her KIA, but decided to drive all the way home anyway, arriving with engine knock and rattle. So she ended up getting a new motor because there was no oil in the sump. I also just read a just out English car magazine, and there was an editorial on the very high number of rental/lease cars in England needing replacement engines because the owners never checked the oil level. So they suggested manufactures put in oil level warning lights. So many cars nowadays run hot, use thin oil, and have very small oil capacities for packageing reasons.

My business partner, with a 911S, a Turbo Porsche, and a C5, the other day asked me why is pickup seemed to be running hot. We went out to the parking lot, his coolant was low, and so i pulled his dipstick (the engine one!!), and he had no oil on it. Anohter friend came to my house this summer, the diesel rattle in his rental truck seemed unusally loud, and it too had no oil on the dipstick.

So many people just gas and go, and never check anything under the hood. These are the cars that have lubrication failures.

Ah well, have a good day. Just more stories about oiling. I have a few of my own, too.