Additional maintenance required for a vehicle that is hardly driven?
 

Greetings all,

I was just wondering what additional maintenance needs to be done on
vehicles that are hardly driven? I was just sitting here and thinking
about it and I believe I put 4,000 miles on one car and 3,000 miles on
the other car in one year's time.

On one vehicle, my Mustang, the miles were mostly long trips in excess
of 100 miles. On the other vehicle, my Civic, the miles were mostly
from short trips with an occasional 100+ mile trip. As the price of gas
went up, I left the Mustang at parked and started driving the 1997 Civic
more.

Regardless, I keep hearing that it is just as bad to not drive a car as
it is to drive a car and was wondering if I needed to do anything above
and beyond the regular maintenance that I perform on my cars now?

-Chris

Re: Additional maintenance required for a vehicle that is hardly driven?
 

"ChrisB" <ChrisB@somewhere.someplace.com> wrote in message
news:q7idnXKJ17itRnHVnZ2dnUVZ_tHinZ2d@giganews.com ...
> Greetings all,
>
> I was just wondering what additional maintenance needs to be done on
> vehicles that are hardly driven? I was just sitting here and thinking
> about it and I believe I put 4,000 miles on one car and 3,000 miles on the
> other car in one year's time.
>
> On one vehicle, my Mustang, the miles were mostly long trips in excess of
> 100 miles. On the other vehicle, my Civic, the miles were mostly from
> short trips with an occasional 100+ mile trip. As the price of gas went
> up, I left the Mustang at parked and started driving the 1997 Civic more.
>
> Regardless, I keep hearing that it is just as bad to not drive a car as it
> is to drive a car and was wondering if I needed to do anything above and
> beyond the regular maintenance that I perform on my cars now?
>
> -Chris

Aside from the, "use it or lose it" aspect of things needing to be
lubricated now and then, you will need to keep the battery charged or it
will go south on you. I have a motorcycle that I rarely use. The battery
goes dead. I tried a trickle charger but it does more than trickle and ends
up cooking the fluid out of it. I bought a "battery maintainer" and have had
good luck with that.

Re: Additional maintenance required for a vehicle that is hardly driven?
 

ChrisB <ChrisB@somewhere.someplace.com> wrote in
news:q7idnXKJ17itRnHVnZ2dnUVZ_tHinZ2d@giganews.com :

> Greetings all,
>
> I was just wondering what additional maintenance needs to be done on
> vehicles that are hardly driven? I was just sitting here and thinking
> about it and I believe I put 4,000 miles on one car and 3,000 miles on
> the other car in one year's time.
>
> On one vehicle, my Mustang, the miles were mostly long trips in excess
> of 100 miles. On the other vehicle, my Civic, the miles were mostly
> from short trips with an occasional 100+ mile trip. As the price of gas
> went up, I left the Mustang at parked and started driving the 1997 Civic
> more.
>
> Regardless, I keep hearing that it is just as bad to not drive a car as
> it is to drive a car and was wondering if I needed to do anything above
> and beyond the regular maintenance that I perform on my cars now?
>
> -Chris
>

WRT your Civic,you will find rubber seals drying out/becoming brittle from
lack of use. Rust will form on steel parts not kept lubricated by use and
then their abrasiveness will grind on other seals,making them fail sooner.

short trips don't "bake off" moisture that builds up in your oil,then you
get "mayonnaise" forming;a sort of white goop/sludge made of water and
oil.So,you need to change oil more frequently/use a synthetic oil,and drive
the car long enough to fully heat up the motor periodically.

brake fluid also absorbs water and then corrodes the cylinders and
pistons,making them more abrasive and wearing seals faster.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

Re: Additional maintenance required for a vehicle that is hardly driven?
 

Thus spake Jim Yanik <jyanik@abuse.gov> :

>ChrisB <ChrisB@somewhere.someplace.com> wrote in
>news:q7idnXKJ17itRnHVnZ2dnUVZ_tHinZ2d@giganews.co m:
>
>> Greetings all,
>>
>> I was just wondering what additional maintenance needs to be done on
>> vehicles that are hardly driven? I was just sitting here and thinking
>> about it and I believe I put 4,000 miles on one car and 3,000 miles on
>> the other car in one year's time.
>>
>> On one vehicle, my Mustang, the miles were mostly long trips in excess
>> of 100 miles. On the other vehicle, my Civic, the miles were mostly
>> from short trips with an occasional 100+ mile trip. As the price of gas
>> went up, I left the Mustang at parked and started driving the 1997 Civic
>> more.
>>
>> Regardless, I keep hearing that it is just as bad to not drive a car as
>> it is to drive a car and was wondering if I needed to do anything above
>> and beyond the regular maintenance that I perform on my cars now?
>>
>> -Chris
>>
>
>WRT your Civic,you will find rubber seals drying out/becoming brittle from
>lack of use. Rust will form on steel parts not kept lubricated by use and
>then their abrasiveness will grind on other seals,making them fail sooner.
>
>short trips don't "bake off" moisture that builds up in your oil,then you
>get "mayonnaise" forming;a sort of white goop/sludge made of water and
>oil.So,you need to change oil more frequently/use a synthetic oil,and drive
>the car long enough to fully heat up the motor periodically.
>
>brake fluid also absorbs water and then corrodes the cylinders and
>pistons,making them more abrasive and wearing seals faster.

My sister had to replace the muffler in her 90 CRX at about 40K
because it was 15 years old and her average commute is about 15
minutes. Which agrees with you comments. She did do the oil every
4-5 months, but she did that herself, so it wasn't too pricey. But
the muffler rusted through.

Re: Additional maintenance required for a vehicle that is hardlydriven?
 

Dillon Pyron wrote:
> Thus spake Jim Yanik <jyanik@abuse.gov> :
>
>> ChrisB <ChrisB@somewhere.someplace.com> wrote in
>> news:q7idnXKJ17itRnHVnZ2dnUVZ_tHinZ2d@giganews.com :
>>
>>> Greetings all,
>>>
>>> I was just wondering what additional maintenance needs to be done on
>>> vehicles that are hardly driven? I was just sitting here and thinking
>>> about it and I believe I put 4,000 miles on one car and 3,000 miles on
>>> the other car in one year's time.
>>>
>>> On one vehicle, my Mustang, the miles were mostly long trips in excess
>>> of 100 miles. On the other vehicle, my Civic, the miles were mostly
>>> from short trips with an occasional 100+ mile trip. As the price of gas
>>> went up, I left the Mustang at parked and started driving the 1997 Civic
>>> more.
>>>
>>> Regardless, I keep hearing that it is just as bad to not drive a car as
>>> it is to drive a car and was wondering if I needed to do anything above
>>> and beyond the regular maintenance that I perform on my cars now?
>>>
>>> -Chris
>>>
>> WRT your Civic,you will find rubber seals drying out/becoming brittle from
>> lack of use. Rust will form on steel parts not kept lubricated by use and
>> then their abrasiveness will grind on other seals,making them fail sooner.
>>
>> short trips don't "bake off" moisture that builds up in your oil,then you
>> get "mayonnaise" forming;a sort of white goop/sludge made of water and
>> oil.So,you need to change oil more frequently/use a synthetic oil,and drive
>> the car long enough to fully heat up the motor periodically.
>>
>> brake fluid also absorbs water and then corrodes the cylinders and
>> pistons,making them more abrasive and wearing seals faster.
>
> My sister had to replace the muffler in her 90 CRX at about 40K
> because it was 15 years old and her average commute is about 15
> minutes. Which agrees with you comments. She did do the oil every
> 4-5 months, but she did that herself, so it wasn't too pricey. But
> the muffler rusted through.

Two years ago, I had to have the tail pipe on the 1997 Civic going to
the muffler replaced because it rusted through where it bent right
before the muffler. A local muffler shop just cut the rusted section,
fabricated a new section, and welded it in.

The funny thing, even with a hole in the pipe the size of a quarter, my
car still didn't make as much noise as those Civics with the fart cannon
exhausts.

Re: Additional maintenance required for a vehicle that is hardly driven?
 

ChrisB wrote:

> Two years ago, I had to have the tail pipe on the 1997 Civic going to
> the muffler replaced because it rusted through where it bent right
> before the muffler. A local muffler shop just cut the rusted section,
> fabricated a new section, and welded it in.
>
> The funny thing, even with a hole in the pipe the size of a quarter, my
> car still didn't make as much noise as those Civics with the fart cannon
> exhausts.

But when the pipe that runs from the cat to the front of the car (sometimes
called the "A" pipe) goes bad, then it could get as noisy as a fart pipe.

Re: Additional maintenance required for a vehicle that is hardly driven?
 

ChrisB <ChrisB@somewhere.someplace.com> wrote in
news:u9Kdnbi3mol1jHPVnZ2dnUVZ_rjinZ2d@giganews.com :

> Dillon Pyron wrote:

>>> WRT your Civic,you will find rubber seals drying out/becoming
>>> brittle from lack of use. Rust will form on steel parts not kept
>>> lubricated by use and then their abrasiveness will grind on other
>>> seals,making them fail sooner.
>>>
>>> short trips don't "bake off" moisture that builds up in your
>>> oil,then you get "mayonnaise" forming;a sort of white goop/sludge
>>> made of water and oil.So,you need to change oil more frequently/use
>>> a synthetic oil,and drive the car long enough to fully heat up the
>>> motor periodically.
>>>
>>> brake fluid also absorbs water and then corrodes the cylinders and
>>> pistons,making them more abrasive and wearing seals faster.
>>
>> My sister had to replace the muffler in her 90 CRX at about 40K
>> because it was 15 years old and her average commute is about 15
>> minutes. Which agrees with you comments. She did do the oil every
>> 4-5 months, but she did that herself, so it wasn't too pricey. But
>> the muffler rusted through.
>
> Two years ago, I had to have the tail pipe on the 1997 Civic going to
> the muffler replaced because it rusted through where it bent right
> before the muffler. A local muffler shop just cut the rusted section,
> fabricated a new section, and welded it in.
>
> The funny thing, even with a hole in the pipe the size of a quarter,
> my car still didn't make as much noise as those Civics with the fart
> cannon exhausts.
>

the exhaust system on my 94 Integra GS-R lasted right up to when it was
stolen last year.(Florida...)

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

Re: Additional maintenance required for a vehicle that is hardly driven?
 

Thus spake Jim Yanik <jyanik@abuse.gov> :

>ChrisB <ChrisB@somewhere.someplace.com> wrote in
>news:u9Kdnbi3mol1jHPVnZ2dnUVZ_rjinZ2d@giganews.co m:
>
>> Dillon Pyron wrote:
>
>>>> WRT your Civic,you will find rubber seals drying out/becoming
>>>> brittle from lack of use. Rust will form on steel parts not kept
>>>> lubricated by use and then their abrasiveness will grind on other
>>>> seals,making them fail sooner.
>>>>
>>>> short trips don't "bake off" moisture that builds up in your
>>>> oil,then you get "mayonnaise" forming;a sort of white goop/sludge
>>>> made of water and oil.So,you need to change oil more frequently/use
>>>> a synthetic oil,and drive the car long enough to fully heat up the
>>>> motor periodically.
>>>>
>>>> brake fluid also absorbs water and then corrodes the cylinders and
>>>> pistons,making them more abrasive and wearing seals faster.
>>>
>>> My sister had to replace the muffler in her 90 CRX at about 40K
>>> because it was 15 years old and her average commute is about 15
>>> minutes. Which agrees with you comments. She did do the oil every
>>> 4-5 months, but she did that herself, so it wasn't too pricey. But
>>> the muffler rusted through.
>>
>> Two years ago, I had to have the tail pipe on the 1997 Civic going to
>> the muffler replaced because it rusted through where it bent right
>> before the muffler. A local muffler shop just cut the rusted section,
>> fabricated a new section, and welded it in.
>>
>> The funny thing, even with a hole in the pipe the size of a quarter,
>> my car still didn't make as much noise as those Civics with the fart
>> cannon exhausts.
>>
>
>the exhaust system on my 94 Integra GS-R lasted right up to when it was
>stolen last year.(Florida...)

How many miles did it have on it? If you drive it, you don't have
those sorts of problems. But when the driving consists of start it
up, drive 3 miles and park it, then condensation becomes an issue.