Still a bit cold but nice enough to get the '72 out and was going to change the oil first. My question is do any of you have it tested for contamination during the winter storage? If so I was wondering what kind of water content shows up? Mine is kept in a warm garage and with a dehumidifier running but I still see moisture form on the other cars not in that section of the garage. Does any of that collect inside the engine block? Remember this car has an open crankcase breathing system, and an open fuel induction (carburetion).
Its always best to change the oil BEFORE winter storage because used oil is acidic (especially after a seasons use) and is harmful to bearing surfaces , etc.. Ive never had my oil tested when taking the vette out of storage , but, if there is any moisture in the oil, getting the motor good and hot during a long run will boil off whats there. I think its great that you store it in a heated garage with dehumidifier...especially if you can have the heat blown directly on the crankcase. On dry days during the winter, i often go for a 10 mile drive with the 1970 and get her fully warmed up -- I think this helps keep condensation to a minimum inside the motor over long storage. If you want your oil analyzed , Amsoil.com offers a reasonably priced kit that you fill with oil and send in for a written analysis.
Any moisture collected will go away when the engine is warmed up and driven. I'd drive it, get everything completely up to operating temp, then change the oil. What moisture that would be there would be no where near enough to do any harm to anything on the initial drive and warm up.
If you are a little skittish just pull the distributor and do the drill >Still a bit cold but nice enough to get the '72 out and was going to
I understand that, my question is still if anyone has ever had an actual test run to see what was in the mix after being idle for a winter? I've heard of some people that change it before they put it away and then again when they get it out. I was just wondering where that paranoia might have come from. It was due an oil change without reguard to the time of year, or how long it sat, just miles.
Quit doing that in the sixties.
I guess I formed my question wrong, I don't want to test it before starting it, I had it out in January. It needs not to be tested while in storage, just wanted to know how much water content may actually get in the oil during that period. I take it from the replies that no one has every had a test run on their oil.
Got the oil change done this morning and tried the 4 barrels a few times. Got many a stare in town when I topped off the tank. Found a bit of salt dust on the back but didn't mind cleaning it up in exchange for a fun drive. Didn't take the roof panels off even though it got to a sweltering 36 degrees.
Yeah, hot but easy commute this morning--not too much traffic. Many civil servants are taking the week off--4 days charged for 9 continuous days off. Just us taxpayers out there on the concrete! No OAT in the C4 but had to turn the A/C on to MAX for a bunch of miles. Spent 8 years doing ship surveyor work and watched a lot lube oil management in marine and fixed base machinery applications. Have been around aviation oil analysis programs for years as well. Shipboard and fixed based scheme is to not worry about testing for water that will be eliminated by purifying the lube oil. Tests are done for metals found in bearings, pumps, cylinder walls and plating. For water, just run circulate it through a heater and DeLaval lube oil purifier and back to the tank for several hours before rolling the machinery (turbines, diesels, reduction gear etc.) Some aviation pre-oilers have a two stage filter
--particulate filter plus a coalescer to remove water.
I think the Corvette storage problem is tough to generalize from car to car or location to location. Base oil (parafin, asphaltic etc.) will make a difference in hygroscopic qualities (check Wikipedia if 10th grade chemistry is just early history.) Anti-foam and detergent additives will further screw up comparisons from one stored car to the next.
Just for chuckles, I did a Google for "hygroscopic and Mobile One." Was surprised to find that synthetics were much more hygroscopic than conventional oils; so, during the winter Mobil One will pump more water into the sump than will the 39 cent stuff from the corner drug store.
If I was really paranoid about condensation, I'd not put synthetic in the car when laying it up for storage. Coming out of storage, I'd drain off a quart or so of oil when pulling it out of storage. Add a quart or two of 5W synthetic (to scavenge moisture) then start and warm the engine. Drain the crankcase, fill it with your favorite stuff and enjoy the ride.
I think for most people, they can simply run the car to heat it up, then dump the oil. Put in new and any water issues are gone. While most logic is not to sit and idle to warm an engine, if you do right out of storage you are not putting any load on the bearing surfaces where you would have a problem due to water.
So you let the water temp come to 180 or 210 or whatever your normal is, keep it there for 5 minutes so the oil temp is also up to normal, and you should have boiled all the water out of the inside. Normal oil temp will be
220 to 250 in most cars, so the water is gone.
UNLESS, you had so much water it has raised the level and you now have foam inside.
It is still a good idea to dump the stored oil because:
rust washed off during start up
acids
any fuel contamination from sitting
chemical breakdown from contaminants
The best way is simply drive them all year long. While I'm not a fan of starting them to warm them up while in cold storage, if you run them long enough to heat the mufflers hot, then you have driven out the moisture. That usually is at least a half hour sitting and you need to be revving it up some, not just idling.
I drained the first 1/2 quart out of the pan, before I warmed it up to drain, into a glass beaker we used to separate and gage paint particulates, (metal flake-iridescents) to see if any water shows up. It has graduations and a chart to calculate volume of a tube like container about .75 I.D. X 40 inches long. It also allows me to see if there are any sediments in the oil such as the rust Tom mentioned. So far I'm not seeing anything and don't think it will be a fine enough gage of the oil's content. A white magnet didn't pick up any major carbon content from the remaining oil and will filter it to see if there are any other foreign materials. I know it's crude but I tend to work with what I got, and it keeps me off the street. I hear so much about what people think helps a car that sets a long time I thought it would be interesting to check a few of the urban legends. My feelings are that it is little difference than when you restart you car anytime that it has had time to drain down.
I need to re-establish my faith in Wikipedia again after all of the bogus information that was added last year.
The sad thing is that it does not keep me off the streets and I'm headed to Ill-noise where all the left lane dwellers live and my CCW is risky to use. They also have their share of pot holes this time of year.
"Charles Spitzer" wrote in message news:dti9ci$6ul$ snipped-for-privacy@transfer.stratus.com...
Sure does, that's what I get for not throwing my brain in gear some times. May have to skim off the top of the used oil to get a better reading on the water. Thanks for the gentle reminder.
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