(Opinion) Short Trip

[Blaze439]

Hey guys. What distance would you think classifies a "short trip"? Not getting up to operating temperature? Getting there but just barely? Reason asking is I'm looking at an apartment that's 4 miles or 10 min away from where I work. I've always been under the impression that short tripping your car is not a good thing. What do you guys think?

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[Just_George]

I agree that short trips and stop & go traffic are much harder on vehicles. You need to get the oil and other fluids up to operating temp to burn off condensation, etc. I always figured 1/2 hour, preferably at freeway speeds, as a minimum to do that effectively. Longer would be better....

[NoVAphotog]

Short trips are bad for any car, but especially these...that darn CCV system is not ideal in the way it operates for short trips. Especially in the winter as that condensation and gunk can freeze and build up quicker causing severe problems. I've read that one solution is replacing the whole thing with a catch can system which I think would allow a little more wiggle room for short trips. I would say if you did it during the week and then took the car for italian tune ups every so often you would fine.

[BMWCurves]

Short trips are bad for any car, but especially these...that darn CCV system is not ideal in the way it operates for short trips. Especially in the winter as that condensation and gunk can freeze and build up quicker causing severe problems. I've read that one solution is replacing the whole thing with a catch can system which I think would allow a little more wiggle room for short trips. I would say if you did it during the week and then took the car for italian tune ups every so often you would fine.

That's what I'm thinking about doing in the spring since a lot of my trips are just around town, 15 minutes or less.

But yes, I'd classify any trip as "short" if it does not allow the engine to run at proper operating temperature for at least 10-15 minutes to burn off condensation.

[az3579]

The schtuff in a catch can would also freeze up, so it's not immune to that either. Peter is trying to come up with a solution for his catch can setup.

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[BMWCurves]

The schtuff in a catch can would also freeze up, so it's not immune to that either. Peter is trying to come up with a solution for his catch can setup.

True. I'm waiting to see how Peter's setup works out (I forget what he's waiting on). I'm more interested in the decreasing the issues that arise from short trips rather than avoiding freezing the CCV system.

[TheFinanceGuy]

My X5 goes .75 miles down the street in the AM, and back for 4 days a week. Then it does long haul duty on the weekend. Such as 1.5 hr drives to Maine, or 45 minutes into Boston.
For the last oil change, I sent the oil out to blackstone, and it came back looking fantastic after 10k miles. There isn't any right or wrong answer here, however getting the oil up to temp is key for longevity. I do not believe it has to be everyday.

[fredo]

The distances in Mexico are shorter compared to USA. Case in hand: my sister bought a brand new 2006 Nissan back in 2006. I believe her car has 50,000 kms (31,000 miles) at this moment. Her work is less than 2 miles far from home, one way. She makes 2 round trips every day (8 miles total).

No issues to report.

[Oli77]

You could use your on board computer and read the actual engine coolant temperature in Celsius to get an idea. OR buy a UltraGauge II which has second by second display of the engine temp.

http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showthread.php?9606-UltraGauge-OBDII-Gauges

I am driving 20 min in city everyday each way and on some trips, the temp only reaches max (~93-95 degrees C) toward the last 2-3 minutes of my trips.