Thank you MikeM for the detailed explanation. Our regular drive home work is roughly 12.5 km. 66% of that portion is with a speed limit of 50km/hour and 33% (a couple of 2km stretches) when the speed is 90km/hour. Would this be labeled as a short trip?
I would say it's borderline during the arctic portion of the winter. In the summer, not at all.
A big factor has to do with how long the engine is warm enough to drive off moisture that can build up in the crankcase. This moisture is the byproduct of combustion and a tiny amount of it makes it's way past the rings into the crankcase. The vast majority of transfer of combustion gases to the crankcase happens with a cold engine because the pistons have not heat expanded to achieve tight sealing of the rings. All else being equal, the larger the cylinder bore, the greater the transfer of moisture laden gases.
A good drive at higher speeds and longer distances once a week can help mitigate this in two ways. The obvious way is that the time and distance allows enough heat to cause the water in the crankcase to turn to vapor and enough time for that vapor to be drawn off by the breather hose. Obviously this will reduce oil/water emulsification (it can actually reverse it).
Less obvious is the fact that engines seal better when they are periodically brought to full temperature and driven hard. Higher internal temperatures (the coolant temp will not rise) and higher rpm's keep piston rings cleaner and sealed tighter. Many cold starts and low power demand operation is not conducive to having clean piston rings (and valves that seal tightly). And this condition cannot be improved by more frequent servicing. So don't be afraid to periodically drive at high speed for a few minutes, accelerate into the upper rpm range and floor the accelerator 0-60 (after the engine is fully warm of course and taking safety into account). This is most beneficial when an engine has had a number of cold starts/short trips recently and could actually reduce your overall consumption of fuel.
While the common wisdom of driving moderately and avoiding jack rabbit starts and high speeds is generally good advice, it can (and often is) taken to an unfavorable extreme (particularly during spells of cold weather). Gentle driving is good, particularly when on longer drives but engines also need to work sometimes.
The best way to warm up a cold engine is to drive it with a gentle load on it. This is better than idling. In true arctic type weather (not simply a few degrees below freezing) it may be beneficial to let it idle for 60 seconds or so before driving off (a little longer if you will immediately need to enter fast traffic or step on the accelerator hard to merge into tight traffic). But under normal cold start conditions, gentle driving with your foot lightly on the accelerator not only warms the engine faster and saves fuel but it also creates a consistent combustion pressure that helps the rings seal more efficiently before the parts are fully heat expanded. This can reduce water in the crankcase but a heavy right foot during the first 1-4 minutes (depending upon how cold it is) can actually drive larger amounts of combustion moisture past the rings due to much higher combustion pressures of high throttle application. The good news is that pistons and rings seal up quite well very quickly (before the rest of the engine is at full operating temperature) due to their lightweight aluminum construction and their proximity to the combustion.
Probably more detail than you need but it's nice to know the reasons why virtually every manufacturer recommends driving off gently when the engine is still cold.
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