Driving Habits Effect on Engine Wear

[ElderJ]

New to the forums and to the Camaro. 2014 LT1 V6 Automatic w/47k miles that I inherited a few months ago from my son (we bought it for him used at 40k-42k I believe). Had a question on driving habits with regards to engine/tranny wear.


My tendency is to snail crawl through town/city, prob around 5 over the speed limit tops, coasting to stops whenever possible. I even throw it in neutral at long traffic lights.


Open roads/highways are a different story, as I like to give it a little juice (3000-4000 rpm maybe) to get up to speed and then hit 80-100 steady. My RPMs are low at that speed, and I only occasionally punch it when necessary. I figured this was perfectly acceptable for the Camaro as far as engine wear, but figured it wouldn't hurt to get a mechanic's advice.


Thanks.

[ChibiBlackSheep]

No need to throw it into neutral.

Just keep on top of oil changes, use a full synthetic around 5,000 miles, and check the level frequently. Nothing sounds wrong with the driving habits, cars are meant to be driven.

[ElderJ]

Bear in mind I'm going from a 2014 Camry to a 2014 Camaro, so you could probably understand my reservations. But when I take this thing on the highway, it hits high speed with ease. I just wanted to make sure it could actually handle it.


Also, I think I saw it in a Scotty Kilmer video (don't quote me on that) about the tranny getting overheated in stop/go traffic. I believe it had to do with a state law recently being passed that outlawed any additional construction of fast food drive throughs. Anyway, it was mentioned that throwing it in neutral would prolong the tranny or something.

[Vegas Bound]

All driving effects engine wear.

[ElderJ]

Originally Posted by Vegas Bound

All driving effects engine wear.

Ha! Point taken. For you exacting folk:


"Do the above driving habits have a detrimental effect on Camaro engines outside of the normal and/or expected wear and tear, and if so, how much of an impact would it have?"


How's that?

[silversleeper]

The only time I think it's worth it to put it in N at a light is if driving in very heavy stopped traffic at 100F+. Trying to drive down the Las Vegas strip in summertime.
Less load on the engine and transmission should help slightly in generating less heat. That's only when you are on the verge of overheating and not something I'd do regularly. The extra minimal wear it puts on your transmission and shift linkage wouldn't be worth it to me to always do that. Also are you coasting in N? The automatic transmissions are not made to do that and damage can occur.

Shutting off your engine at each light is a similar concept, the engine can't circulate fluids so don't do that in overheating in most cases at a stoplight.


edit: In manual trans cars extra shifting puts more wear on the throwout bearing, and clutch surfaces and synchros, more harm than good.
If you want to look up more on coasting with auto in N, you can google: Dyno Operator fails, putting the trans in N on coast down. Trans lubrication in N, overspeeding trans in N, and can I tow my car (coast) in N.
Here are just a couple links referencing that:
https://www.jimjenningstransmissions...best-practice/
https://www.edmunds.com/car-buying/w...ind-an-rv.html

[granatl]

Short trips are the worst. The moisture doesn't boil out of the oil as was intended. Otherwise, provided there's respectable oil pressure (and volume) all should be fine. I don't have the specs in front of me, but I think GM calls for an absolute min of 15 PSI. Most of these cars should be hot idling above 30 PSI.

[ElderJ]

Originally Posted by silversleeper

Also are you coasting in N?

No, just letting off the gas well in advance...to the great dismay of those behind me.

[Russell James]

Best thing you can do for that V6's longevity is use top quality full synthetic oil, and change it earlier than 0%. I prefer 3 - 5k miles, but that's me and I do it myself. That V6 is an overhead cam VVT engine, quite complex and it does a whole lot better on fresh oil. Letting old oil lose their additives is tough on that whole cam chain system.

Your driving is fine, let it rip. If the trans ever did get too hot, you would see a warning light in the DIC. Doubt you will ever see that.

[mikeman]

Actually, I think putting it in neutral at stop lights is worse for the transmission on automatic cars.

Also, coasting in neutral consumes more gas (more wear on engine?) because in modern cars, they have a fuel cutoff when coasting in gear.

Babying a car when driving it is not going to appreciably protect it from wear and tear. The only way to do that is to leave it parked in a climate controlled garage drained of all fluids and never drive it.

[Sstevo11]

My tuner at Vengeance racing said the best thing you can do to curb exessive internal wear is to not do over 2500 rpm,s until your oil reaches 140 degrees. Also send your oil off for analysis each time you change your oil. I use Blackstone labs. They send you a kit and instructions then you send it back with $28 and they e mail you results on viscosity breakdown,any metal or water in the oil,etc.. Also use a quality oil ,for my l99 motor with with just external mods and 78000 miles, i use Driven racing ls30 with an AC delco filter. I have oil can drained every oil change. This lets you know whats progressing or eegressing over a few changes. Hope this helps. Definately gives you peace of mind

[lemontwist]

i am a fan of the ITALIAN tune after i get it up to opt temp i put the hammer down and do at least 6k pull went roads permit.....i just love this freaking car!!!!!!!

[Danial]

Drive it like you stole it. The end and net result will be the same.

[Mr_Draco]

Originally Posted by ElderJ

I even throw it in neutral at long traffic lights.

Doing this will cause excessive wear on the transmission making it so you have to replace or rebuild it sooner. Plus really what's the point of doing it? You're going to sit there with your foot on the brake anyway so what's the point of putting it neutral.

Open roads/highways are a different story, as I like to give it a little juice (3000-4000 rpm maybe) to get up to speed and then hit 80-100 steady.

Depending on how far you have to drive to get to the highway, this can either be fine or very bad. If you have to drive 4-5 miles before you reach the highway then it's fine. The oil, tranny fluid, and rear differential fluid should be at operating temp by then so they can protect the parts like they are suppose to. If you have to drive any closer than that to get to the highway then don't gun it like that. None of the fluids will be up to temp and lucubrating like they should.

Originally Posted by Danial

Drive it like you stole it. The end and net result will be the same.

true but the question becomes how much sooner? Do you want your engine and drive train to last 200k or even longer or you ok with having to replace it at 150k or maybe even sooner?