damaging my car ?

[geraint13]

i am now working less than 3 miles from home and was wondering if driving such a short distance every day is doing damage to my car.

i havent noticed anything or nothing is wrong.

if i am damaging it, how can i slow it down or stop it completely (apart from walking)

[waynne]

Does the temp guage on the car get out of cold by the end of your journey?

Short journeys are not great, the car never really gets up to temperature and you risk clogging the particulate filter in diesels and there is a build up of acids.

More frequent oil changes will clear out the acid and gunk buildup.

You must take it for a blast out every once in a while. Get it hot and then give it a good booting. Use the full RPM range and drive it hard at the weekends.

[geraint13]

the gauge creeps out by the end waynne.
with servicing, go on a time guide instead of a mileage guide is that what your suggesting ?
if it is, in your opinion how often ?

[waynne]

Do an oil change at half the recommended interval (with filter of course) and you will be ok.

If the temp is up by the end of your journey then this is not too bad as the nasty stuff gets burned off. Drivers doing just 1 or 2 miles on a cold engine are the real problem cases.

I'd be interested in HDI's thoughts on this as it is a diesel and it would be worth dropping a thread in our oil forum, there might be a more suitable oil for short journeys than the one you've been using.

[geraint13]

thanks, will do.

wheres hdi when you need him ???!!!! lol

[HDi fun]

Diesels with DPFs and cats do suffer from short journey operation but a periodic Turin Tune-up does wonders for any car that's used in this way - follow Waynne's instructions above.

There's a bit of a myth about cold start engine wear which I'd like to unpick here. Undoubtedly engine wear is greater on cold start than when running at correct temperature but modern synthetic oils reduce this to about 1/20 of what it would have been with traditional oils. Simply on account of their ability to flow properly when cold.

Don't ever load up a cold engine, whether with high revs or with wide throttle openings - diesels don't actually have throttles, of course, but the advice is the same. Take it gently at first.

From what I understand the cold start engine wear is not so much the problem as cold stop engine wear. When an engine is warming up there are volumes of acidic gases which, together with condensation, form some fairly corrosive acids which can etch away at the engine's internals over time. Obviously if the car is driven until it's fully warm then the water vapour and condensation is not a problem because the water evaporates fully and leaves via the exhaust.

So stopping your car after 2 miles leaves it parked up with the engine full of corrosive acids. This is why cars that do 100+ miles every day will last for several hundred thousand miles (even though they might still cold start twice a day) and cars that do 2 miles only, twice a day, suffer from accelerated engine deterioration.

Diesels are slightly less prone than petrols in this respect and the diesel combustion by-products, although sooty, are not anywhere near as corrosive as petrol engine combustion by-products. The soot, however, is what will eventually clog the DPF. Hence the periodic clean up 'run'.

Using a fully synthetic oil is always going to be better than a mineral or a blended oil in my opinion, though this will not control the pH level of gases and vapours retained in the engine.

[MasterAuron]

On yer bike!

Another excellent nugget of advice bought to you by MA Productions Incorporated Limited Copyright.

[HDi fun]

Originally Posted by MasterAuron

On yer bike!

Another excellent nugget of advice bought to you by MA Productions Incorporated Limited Copyright.

I'm lost now I hope I'm not completely wrong

[pgarner]

he means to get on your bike its only a couple of miles.

as for the turin tune up, not so recommended on the diesels with dpf. rather get up to a speed and hold it for a while. accelarating in the diesel produce more smoke which will block up the DPF your trying to clear. sitting around 60mph for 20 or 30 miles and the DPF the soot will burn off in the DPF

[HDi fun]

There is more than one type of DPF. The one fitted to my 406 had an active regeneration programmed phase. It also utilised a fuel borne catalyst which lowers the temperature required to cause the accumulated soot to ignite. As such mine responded well to a good thrashing.

Later systems, which seem to be more problematical than the earlier ones (such as mine) rely purely upon passive regeneration and can really struggle if driving conditions are not ideal.

[pgarner]

sorry should have said more modern DPF which dont use any additives.

[geraint13]

Originally Posted by MasterAuron

On yer bike!

Another excellent nugget of advice bought to you by MA Productions Incorporated Limited Copyright.

do not own a bike lol. tbh im a lazy git so............. but will take all advice and use it.

@ hdi - what would you recommend for a time line, every 6mths for an oil and filter change ?

[HDi fun]

If you're running high quality synthetic oils I think you can go to 12 months or 12,000 quite happily.

@PG - these additive free DPFs genuinely do seem to cause more problems than the earlier ones. Mine never clogged.

[Yugguy]

Originally Posted by geraint13

i am now working less than 3 miles from home and was wondering if driving such a short distance every day is doing damage to my car.

i havent noticed anything or nothing is wrong.

if i am damaging it, how can i slow it down or stop it completely (apart from walking)

Mate, it is going to &(& it unless you take it for a blow out once a week. The missus does 2 miles each way every day in her focus tdci and in winter if I dont take it for a blast once a week the battery flattens and the injectors clog.

Plus cos you never warm it up, you never get the moisture out, so you get real problems with frost on the inside of the car.

[pgarner]

Originally Posted by HDi fun

@PG - these additive free DPFs genuinely do seem to cause more problems than the earlier ones. Mine never clogged.

agreed

[HDi fun]

Early DPFs use a fuel borne catalyst in the form of a fuel additive. There is a tank of additive adjacent to the fuel tank.

It's filled with about 6 litres of a cerium based compound called Eolys by it's maker. It's a product of Rhodia Inc, formerly Rhone-Poulenc. It needs to be replenished every 50,000-60,000 miles. It's purpose is to lower the temperature at which soot will ignite and burn.

Every time you open the fuel tank cap the ECU notes the fuel level. After fuelling a measured quantity of this additive is added to the tank as soon as the cap is closed and the engine is restarted. The amount of additive administered is based upon the amount of fuel added to the tank.

Many people have been led to believe that the additive is injected directly into the DPF. Wrong.

The active DPF regeneration phase is quite something. The glow plugs are turned on. The intercooler is bypassed. Extra fuel is injected during the expansion phase (combustion phase) of each cylinder of the engine.

The goal is to increase exhaust gas temperatures so accumulated soot in the DPF burns away cleanly.

The DPF is upstream of the 2 way cat so that by-products of this burning are also treated accordingly.

My DPF car worked well with this system.

[jarrus]

This is rather interresting thread, because I no longer do the miles I used to, I now do about 10 miles round trip a day to work rather than 50.

I changed the oil every 6k miles and I would do every 5 months or so,
Now it's been a little over 6 months and I haven't changed the oil because I was going to wait now though I might do.

Pug recommends 6k/6 month oil changes for my engine.

[HDi fun]

Originally Posted by jarrus

This is rather interresting thread, because I no longer do the miles I used to, I now do about 10 miles round trip a day to work rather than 50.

I changed the oil every 6k miles and I would do every 5 months or so,
Now it's been a little over 6 months and I haven't changed the oil because I was going to wait now though I might do.

Pug recommends 6k/6 month oil changes for my engine.

YEs, indeed they did recommend 6k/6 months at the time the car was made. Oils have evolved enormously since then. Use a synthetic and you can happily go 12 months/12,000 miles.

[bigbadjoe]

Don't worry mate. I live 4 miles away, and I have to warm my baby up every mornin!! Put the keys in for 0735 and will not set off untill at least 0740. Im parinoied about things like that.

[HDi fun]

Originally Posted by bigbadjoe

Don't worry mate. I live 4 miles away, and I have to warm my baby up every mornin!! Put the keys in for 0735 and will not set off untill at least 0740. Im parinoied about things like that.

It's never a bad idea to let any engine warm up for a short while. Especially in cold conditions.

[geraint13]

took my girl for a good drive yesterday, about 80 miles up to brecon beacons and back.

love it up there !!!!!!

[jarrus]

Never been there,

Is there nice driving roads round there?

[geraint13]

long straights and tight and twisty bends. gives the car a good workout all round !!!!!

youd love it up there maytee !!!

[jarrus]

Ha ha,

I need a bit of a holiday this year, maybe when I can the suspension on I will go for a look

[geraint13]

well worth it. you can cruise and enjoy the stunning views or go for it and be tested.