trips1

I really appreciate everyone on this forum for providing useful information.

I would be going out of country for approx 45 days and am planning to give my 2001 RX300 keys to a friend so that he can start the car at least every 10 days for 5 minutes.
- I am just wondering if that be enough or i need to do something else too.
- I am due for an oil change (I use Synthetic, every 5000 miles, 6-8 months) but i am thinking of getting it done only when i come back. For this i will be pushing the oil change by 500 miles and 3 months. Any suggestions against it?? Or it does not matter at all since my friend would be starting the car every 10 days.
- Since my friend would be starting the car every 10 days i hope the battery would be fine.
- Any other suggestion?

Thanks.
Trips.

code58

One man's opinion, but from a lifetime of working in automotive, DON'T DO WHAT YOU ARE PLANING. It is not a good idea to start a car every ten days to keep the battery charged. Running it for 5 min. will not get it warm enough, especially at idle, to burn the condensation off. Condensation in the cylinders and draining down into the oil will do far more damage than simply leaving it set. My suggestion, make sure the battery is fully charged (from driving if you don't have a battery charger), and either buy a float charger and leave that hooked up or disconnect the ground cable while you're gone and deal with whatever resets you have to when you hook back up. If the battery is in good shape it will not run down much in 45 days IF it is disconnected.
The oil change should wait til you come back either way. You are extremely conservative at 5k mi. oil changes anyway with synthetic. Do it then.
As an aside, I have seen used car dealers use the practice you are thinking about and end up having to pull the heads and have the valves driven out because the condensation eventually rusted the valve stems so bad they wouldn't move in the valve guides. Yours wouldn't do that in 4-5 starts and 5 min runs, but you get the idea about the dangers of condensation from not getting truly warmed up (like on the highway).

salimshah

If you plan to change oil, then drain it and fill with new oil and leave it parked (preferably do not run after new oil is added.... but not a biggie).

If the battery is strong then just disconnect it. Charge it when you come back with a charger for 4-5hrs. As code mentioned a float charger is another alternative [you may not like to do so as there is a very slight safety risk ... read very slight].

Check the air and if needed overinflate to 36psi [make sure you are below the max pressure stamped on the tire .. typically 45psi].

When you come back try brief start pulses ... intentionally short to prevent engine to catch ... the idea is to allow the oil pump to start circulating the oil without getting the rpms up. 2 - 3 times ought to be enough.

Last of all, try garaging the vehicle to prevent critters from nesting.

Salim

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

If the battery is good, I don't think you need to do anything. It certainly won't make any difference when you change your oil.

salimshah

Oil change issue:

As the engine runs, the engine oil absorbs the blow-bye byproducts of ignition. Over time the ph value changes. For a three week period it is not going to make a big difference. Now if the intention is to change oil immediately on return, then why not change it before.

Salim