Coldfire, that’s what one of my manuals said. It was just an example of what manuals say, since no one here seems to read theirs. Otherwise we wouldn’t be answering this question. duh.
Again, the advice on this point depends on how cold it is outside when you start your car. Some mornings when I drive to work, the engine temperature gauge hasn’t budged even by the time I’m parking the car at the office, a trip of a couple of miles. This is very much a YMMV situation.
Those are considered the hardest miles on an engine, any gasoline engine at least-- those trips which don’t allow the engine to reach normal operating temperature. Modern engines warm up much quicker than engines of yore, to be sure, and with a lot less emissions too.
Muffler replacement is another classic-- old guys who hardly ever put any miles on their cars are always putting new mufflers on because the engine never warms up…, leaving all that condensation and vapor to corrode the muffler.
Essentially you end up with a mixture of water, unburned fuel, and combustion byproducts in the oil sump as well. This is a Bad Thing™ forming sludge and acids. Driving “normally” before the engine is at the correct operating temperature is stupid.
tedster, you say it’s stupid, but what are my options? I have to drive “normally,” to keep up to traffic - if I creep along at 5 or 10 km, I’ll get ticketed for driving too slow/creating a hazard, etc.
I offered my advice anecdotally, not with my Engineer’s Hat on. Every time a subject like this, or oil changing, or proper oil weight etc comes up, I’ve found it’s pointless to try and even recommend anything here. We have a mixture of half-remembered rules of thumb, 13-year olds posting from the standpoint of their “immense automotive experience”, and pure madmen and madwomen who pop in with potentially destructive one-liners that their neighbor Biff (who’s good with Commercial Loans, so he must know a lot about cars, as opposed to that crazy lesbo Engineer online) seem to make up on the fly.
Ultimately, handy had a good point about the owner’s manuals; it just needed to be expressed a little clearer to have an effect.
Now I must go over and fight ignorance again in the latest Torque vs. Horsepower thread. 
Well, I’m 19, but…
Coldfire True, but most oil is formulated so that the particles are ‘sticky’ enough to ‘cling’ to the engine after it’s cooled. IIRC an engine is really only ‘dry’ of oil if it’s been sitting idle for a week or so. I don’t know how often you change your coolant, but the fluid in the water jackets will be HOT for a LONG time after the engine is silent.
Also, the oil is picked up and circulated at the first tap of the ignition, so lack of oil isn’t really a big concern.
handy The 5.7l V8 in the new Corvettes’ oil change schedule was lengthened to 15000 miles in 2000 with use of Mobil 1 (stock full synthetic).
Diceman I can’t say I’m an authority, but I have a 3.1 V6 that gets oil every 5000 (in a perfect world) or so miles, at 140,000, and it burns zero oil. Yeah, it’s valves are mewling so it’s within 20,000 miles of me needing to rebuild the head(s), but still, that’s 160,000 miles with God knows how poor of service it received for the first 112,000.
barton is right in that a vehicle’s brake pads, rotors, and tires all need to be warm before they work. If your brakes feel smushy after they are warm, check the pads and then change the brake fluid. If they’re still smushy, make sure that the fluid is (was) bled right, and that the rubber lines from body > caliper aren’t worn.
wevets could you explain to me what a transmission-clutch solenoid is? Does it go after the radial-arm plug or behind the air speed converter? I think you mean TCC solenoid.
DVous I looked up Caminas, and while they vaguely resemble the J-body we have in America (one of which I own), I’m not sure yet if they had the same platform, maybe just the same designation. More information, I can see, must be sought.
handy what the hell type car do you drive? You say “Owner’s Manual” which means it came carburated stock. I don’t know if you notice, but new cars don’t have carburation. That information, then, is useless. The only cars these days with carburators are 1) old ones and 2) custom built ones.
Coldfire I may be wrong, but you can’t flood a fuel injected vehicle. If you look at the actual linkage, your fuel pedal ONLY connects to the throttle body butterfly. Pushing the throttle opens the butterfly further, allowing more airflow into the intake runners. It is the increased air flow, measured by the MAP or MAF (mass air pressure or mass air flow) sensors that increases the amount of fuel fed into the engine, as determined by the computer.
Modifications to my car, for instance, has doubled the idle speed (500 rpm to 1000 rpm) because I removed the intake-air heater system which warms intake air thereby decreasing its volume. With the tube removed, the air is much colder and therefore tells the MAP sensor I’m getting much more air and the idle speed is thereby increased.
Tedster could you explain how a mixture of “water, unburned fuel, and combustion byproducts” in the oil pan? During combustion, these remain in the cylinder or are removed via the exhaust (which is what this mixture essentially is) and at no point migrate outside the cylinder. I was under the impression that the vast majority of damage to oil is done by heat, pressure, and friction, and not accumulatives.
BTW, Anth, I put a 160* thermostat in last night. 
–Tim
Damn Homer, I’m automobilically illiterate, and going through hell right now with my car. We gotta talk.
Carburators are cool! 1.One of the major advantages in using the carburetors is in it’s throttle response 2. the carburetors need no intervention of ECU’s which can be both expensive and in most cases limited in adjustability 3.the carburetors can be adjusted for much wider variety of engine setups using the same unit for the most part. Since
the carburetor’s adjustment is in the jets alone, it can accommodate, high-comp, high-cam, uppper rpm or lower rpm, stroker,
etc…and almost anything you can imagine…as long as it’s normally aspirated. 4.The setup simply looks really nice!!! and it sounds mean!
Give me fuel injectors any day. No worry about the choke. It also seemed like carburetors don’t last all that long, and parts, such as the butterfly valve, get defective. Hey, this is the Age of Computers. Get with it!
Which is certainly no quicker than a fuel injected engine’s.
When they go bad, which is almost never.
A car’s ECU is infinately adjustable at any RPM range of the engine. It can run separate routines depending on engine speed, temp, air temp, etc. A car’s computer can have thousands of variables and scripts. You set a carburator once, and forget it. Which is more versatile?
See above. And it’s only for n/a engines, huh? Well, I’m sold. What about a computer controlled engine that not only can be turbo or supercharged, but also can be adjusted, automatically, for higher/lower boost at certain engine/vehicle speeds, conditions, etc., I guess that’s no good, huh? :rolleyes:
–Tim
I have a 2001 Honda Civic EX. We were told to get the first oil change at 7000 miles. I’m not sure what the interval is after that, but I know they switched 5W20 oil as the standard and that might last a while.
I have a '92 Honda Civic that has been driven several tens of thousands of miles without oil changes. It has 186,000 miles on it, and I doubt it’s had the oil changed more than 7 or 8 times.