Back to all

Easy Miles ? Do Batavia Driving Conditions Affect Service Intervals?

February 18, 2019

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 Batavia 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 Batavia area are less than four miles, you should be using the severe service maintenance schedule. Changing your oil more frequently at Tuffy Tire & Auto Service Batavia in Batavia will help prevent the formation of sludge.

Most of us Batavia drivers think of severe Illinois weather conditions when we think of severe driving conditions. And we're right. Cold Illinois 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 Batavia 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 Illinois weather means your cooling system has to work harder to keep your engine from getting too hot.

So, in the end, most of us Batavia auto owners drive under severe conditions some of the time. Smart Batavia 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 Tire & Auto Service Batavia
301 S. Randall Rd
Batavia, Illinois 60510
630-879-9941

 

More articles from Tuffy Batavia

Avoiding Exhaustion (EGR Valve Replacement)

June 9, 2025

No, ERG isnt the sound a pirate makes. Its a part in your vehicle that recirculates exhaust gas to reduce certain gases and pollutants in the atmosphere. In fact, ERG stands for Exhaust Gas Recirculation. One gas our vehicles may make when they burn fuel is nitric oxide, which can play a big ro... More

Keeping Your Cool (Coolant System)

June 2, 2025

No matter what the weather is like outside, your internal combustion engine expects to keep its cool all the time, even when it's really cold. That's because engines create the power that moves you to your destination by a series of tiny explosions of a fuel and air mixture. In turn, that genera... More

Easy on the Wheel (Power Steering)

May 25, 2025

Steering a vehicle these days doesn't take much effort, but if you got behind the wheel back before power steering was invented, you'd need to practically have the strength of Hercules to turn the wheel. The first power steering systems widely available changed everything. Chrysler introduced... More