Back to all

Easy Miles ? Do Elyria Driving Conditions Affect Service Intervals?

October 24, 2021

Have you ever noticed that your vehicle has a schedule in your owner's manual for what is called “severe service” maintenance? Let's define what severe driving conditions aren't: The easiest driving a vehicle experiences is traveling on the interstate for 20 miles (32 kilometers) or more at a constant rate of 65 miles per hour (105 kilometers per hour) in 75°F (24°C) weather with only passengers on board. Change any one of those parameters and you are adding stress to your engine. Change them significantly and you are driving under severe conditions.

Let's look at the parameters one a time. First, the length of the trip. Short trips around Elyria are harder on an engine than longer ones. As your engine cools down, water in the air condenses onto the engine. When you heat the engine again, the water evaporates off. This is healthy. But on short trips, the engine doesn't stay hot enough long enough for all of the water to evaporate. So it starts to build up in the engine oil leading to sludge, which can clog up your engine and lead to serious engine damage. If most or all of your trips around the Elyria area are less than four miles, you should be using the severe service maintenance schedule. Changing your oil more frequently at Tuffy Elyria (Leona St) in Elyria will help prevent the formation of sludge.

Most of us Elyria drivers think of severe Ohio weather conditions when we think of severe driving conditions. And we're right. Cold Ohio weather takes its toll on the oil in your vehicle. Remember how water has to evaporate out of the oil to keep your engine healthy? It can take up to ten miles of driving for an engine to get hot enough to get rid of moisture in the oil when the weather is cold.

Hot Elyria weather is also bad for vehicles. When an engine runs, it gets hot. The longer it runs, the hotter it gets. If it gets too hot, it breaks down. So it has to be constantly cooled to keep running. Hot Ohio weather means your cooling system has to work harder to keep your engine from getting too hot.

So, in the end, most of us Elyria auto owners drive under severe conditions some of the time. Smart Elyria residents will ask themselves the question: "Should I follow the severe service maintenance schedule?" An honest evaluation of our driving habits is the best way to determine which schedule to follow.

Tuffy Elyria (Leona St)
649 Leona St.
Elyria, Ohio 44035
(440) 324-7484

 

Need Service?

Request an Appointment

More articles from Tuffy Elyria (Leona St.)

Timing is Everything (Timing Belt)

April 27, 2025

Talk about exquisite choreography; it happens under the hood of your vehicle every time you take a drive. Your engines many complex parts must work exactly together. One key is a part called a timing belt, which enables the synchronizing of two of your engines components, the camshaft, and the ... More

Flat Tire? Three?s the Charm (Tire Repair)

April 20, 2025

For most drivers, at some point youre going to have a flat tire. Depending on how it was damaged, it may have to be replaced. But sometimes, a repair will do the trick, as long as the puncture isnt on the sidewall and the hole is smaller than inch/6.35mm in diameter. Here are the three common w... More

The Best Book that's Not a Best-Seller

April 13, 2025

Sometimes the movie is better than the book, sometimes it's the other way around. But when it comes to your vehicle, the best book of all is the owner's manual. The plot is simple: Owner wants long life and dependable performance from the vehicle, manual has the way to achieve that long life and... More