Colder weather upon us!

[Rod Run]

Originally Posted by litew8

Found this topic interested and decided to read up a little on the net. Here's a reply that sounds good:

[I]"I personally start the car every week for about 20 minutes or so. Take it from a research chemist (myself! I get paid for a living to think about these things!..but I'd rather be racing and getting paid for it, right?) the amount of water condensate, the rate of evaporation of this condensate and its effect on the engine and exhaust is not big. Think about it. You warm up the engine at say 180º F or so. Water starts evaporating at around 90º F (30ºC..yep believe it or not!) and by the time you reach engine temperature, most of your water if not all is gone!

I would argue that point with whoever that person is.

Start your car in the dead of winter, then run it for 20 minutes. After that, give the go pedal a couple of good stabs and you will still see plenty of condensation coming out of your exhaust.

Also, way back when I had mufflers on a Z-28 and they had some type of "drain holes" right at the rear bottom edge. Sometimes they would still drip for quite some time after the car was shut off.

I work with "wicked smart people" like that all the time and lots of times they don't know what they are talking about. They forget to actually see what happens in a real world experience, just because their books and figures tell them otherwise.

[FirstOwner69]

Originally Posted by Rod Run

Also, way back when I had mufflers on a Z-28 and they had some type of "drain holes" right at the rear bottom edge. Sometimes they would still drip for quite some time after the car was shut off.

Ahh, I remember those drain holes. I also remember drilling them in the new mufflers put on my truck back in the day.

[litew8]

Originally Posted by Rod Run

I would argue that point with whoever that person is.

Start your car in the dead of winter, then run it for 20 minutes. After that, give the go pedal a couple of good stabs and you will still see plenty of condensation coming out of your exhaust.

Also, way back when I had mufflers on a Z-28 and they had some type of "drain holes" right at the rear bottom edge. Sometimes they would still drip for quite some time after the car was shut off.

I work with "wicked smart people" like that all the time and lots of times they don't know what they are talking about. They forget to actually see what happens in a real world experience, just because their books and figures tell them otherwise.

IDK, you must have poor altitude or something. I said above 40, you consider that dead of winter? Not around here.

[zeldman]

Ah yes... cold, windy and snow forecast here for the last part of the week and the weekend. Time to stay inside with the wife and practice making tricycle motors....

[hamjet]

Originally Posted by Rod Run

I would argue that point with whoever that person is.

Start your car in the dead of winter, then run it for 20 minutes. After that, give the go pedal a couple of good stabs and you will still see plenty of condensation coming out of your exhaust.

Also, way back when I had mufflers on a Z-28 and they had some type of "drain holes" right at the rear bottom edge. Sometimes they would still drip for quite some time after the car was shut off.

I work with "wicked smart people" like that all the time and lots of times they don't know what they are talking about. They forget to actually see what happens in a real world experience, just because their books and figures tell them otherwise.

Well, I slept on your ideas of running a vehicle in cold for 20, 30 minutes, and I guess all are guilty of this when you drive 20 minutes to work every day and then drive home, or if you run to the corner market for a loaf of bread, or run little Jimmy 5 blocks to school because its too cold for him to walk. I guess I'll have to do more pondering.....

[Longhorn 70]

I'll roll the windows up when I drive.

[Rod Run]

Originally Posted by litew8

IDK, you must have poor altitude or something. I said above 40, you consider that dead of winter? Not around here.

I'm sorry that I missed the above 40* comment. I was just responding to the info that you found, with the way it related to the initial discussion of this thread

Originally Posted by hamjet

Well, I slept on your ideas of running a vehicle in cold for 20, 30 minutes, and I guess all are guilty of this when you drive 20 minutes to work every day and then drive home, or if you run to the corner market for a loaf of bread, or run little Jimmy 5 blocks to school because its too cold for him to walk. I guess I'll have to do more pondering.....

I agree most of us have to do that, but those short trips have always been the worst thing we can do to our cars/trucks in every way (wear & tear, oil breakdown, etc), but that is totally another discussion.

This is why when people sell cars, they usually try to get more money for them by putting "all highway miles" in their ads.

The difference is that we buy our regular vehicles, so we can use them for that exact reason. When we take our toys off the road for the winter, we are doing it to protect them a little bit and trying to save them from the conditions that daily drivers are subjected to.

You ever had a vehicle running for a good amount of time, in the winter, after it's brought up to temperature, and then taken a valve cover off after it sat for a while in a garage? Many times you will see condensation built up on the underside of the valve cover. That's not the only place it's going to build up. This is another reason for the argument of why people like to change their oil before storing away for the winter.

I guess this has now been beaten to death enough, so I guess I've said all that I'm going to on this subject. I just hope that it might have given a person or two something else to think about

[Jimjific]

Condensation only occurs when the temperature of given volume of air drops below that given air's dew point. Heating up an engine is the exact opposite for causing condensation. Any condensation found in an engine was already there and has nothing to do with starting it. Now the reaction of burning gas plus the existing water vapor that is already in air (depending on humidity) can produce condensation in a cool tailpipe due to the cold pipe cooling the exhaust below the exhausts dew point on the surface (Like a cold drink in summer). you also might see water pushed out due to condensation that was already present from weather temperature cycles inside the exhaust system. This goes away fairly quickly when the pipe heats up. Most condensation in an engine is going to happen due to temperature/humidity fluctuations from weather (Again, think of your cool drink) and has nothing to do with starting the engine. Think of your engine as a large cool sink. Daily air temperature can change faster than your engine and if it is severe enough, the temperature on the engines surfaces will be lowered below the dew point for the air resulting in condensation. Last year in upstate NY we had a fluke 50 warm humid day after several below freezing days. I am not exaggerating when I say it looked like it rained in my garage. This is why a garaged car will still rust. Last note on condensation: When was the last time you saw condensation accumulate on the sides of your coffee mug?

The best thing you could do when storing your car for the winter is to heat the garage with low humidity air.

Jim

[litew8]

Good reply.

[litew8]

Originally Posted by Rod Run

I'm sorry that I missed the above 40* comment. I just hope that it might have given a person or two something else to think about

np man. I added my 2 cents to the comments I found. And, yes, I believe you did good getting everyone to 'think' - never a bad thing.

[DeadheadNM]

I'm storing a 72 Blazer and 72 K20 truck this winter in non-heated storage units (although my K20 is in my home garage at the moment). The lows here this week will be below zero for several days. I've burned off the ethanol containing gasoline and filled the tanks with ethanol-free gas. I believe the fuel stabilizers are for use with gasoline that contains ethanol. I hope the vinyl on my bucket seats doesn't crack when I jump in the seat when the temp is near zero

[Pizzalovr36]

any of you guys know of that anti frees stuff they put on the road before it snows or gets icy? is it bad for the trucks? paint and body whys?

[DeadheadNM]

Originally Posted by Pizzalovr36

any of you guys know of that anti frees stuff they put on the road before it snows or gets icy? is it bad for the trucks? paint and body whys?

See post here: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s....php?p=6398744

[1972RedNeck]

I plug it in when it gets under 20. The heater blows warm quicker that way.