A friend and me got into an interesting conversation earlier about whether oil should be left at the house inside room temp or if its ok to leave it out in the car (trunk obviously) for emergencies despite the inconsistent temperatures it might encounter. What are the differences in oil as it relates to winter temperatures and is synthetic oil really better than regular oil in winter time or not? Leave it in the car or keep it in the house? Does it really matter?
Oil viscosity in winter time
- Thread starter pencero
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Obviously a can of oil left at home cannot help you when the OIL light goes on far from home. So the oil is going to be in the trunk, and cold. The only thing I notice about cold oil is that it is thicker and takes some time to drain completely, but when you are in a bad situation who cares if you don't get the last few drops? After all, by the time the OIL light comes on, you will need more than one quart, so there should be plenty in the trunk anyway. As for oil stored at home, I leave it in my cold garage, and if I am planning an oil change I take the required amount inside to warm up the night before. That just makes the oil flow easier and I spend less time out in the cold waiting for it to all flow out. What I have read about synthetic oil is that no matter how cold it gets, it will flow. That can be a big concern when the temps are around 0º.
thanks for stirring up memories......if you have a can of oil in the trunk make sure you have one of these..
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