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One of the great mysteries about automobiles is how to maintain a motor-home engine or an engine in a car that is very low on mileage because it only gets driven once a week. It is a valid question since one may get the idea that low mileage and not being driven very much equates into less maintenance.

We bring up this subject because many people have to make the call to GotEngines.com and develop an engine replacement strategy with their experts for these exact reasons.

Forget it. It is actually more critical to maintain the engine and surrounding components on a vehicle that gets driven on rare occasions or is very low mileage.

Reason one is that if you drive a vehicle less often than the average, for instance if you go to the grocery store and church once a week, that means that your car only gets to move from the spot it is in one or two times a week. In reference to motor-homes it is possible that it may sit for months at a time between start ups and moving it. The point here is that not moving and starting your up your car allows the parts in the engine to lose the coating of oil on the internal parts, which, over a period of time can rust and corrode internal engine parts and cause leaks from the oil seals not being bathed in the engine oil regularly.

Note: This applies to the transmission and rear differential too.

Reason two is another critical reason cars and trucks that are not driven enough and have not reached running temperature for 30-45 minutes have a tendency to build up condensation in the oil. This is because in the process of combustion contaminants get in the oil, and water is one of them. If your car is driven at least once a week for 30 to 45 minutes it has become hot enough for a long enough period of time to burn out all of the condensation in the engine oil.

At least when a motor-home goes for a ride it gets driven a long way, therefore getting hot enough to burn the condensation out of the engine, transmission and other types of fluids that attract water.

So this is sort of a double edged sword. You can get the motor-home hot enough, but not on a regular basis. You drive the grocery getter once a week, but it does not get hot enough to burn out condensation unless you drive it on the highway for 30 to 45 minutes insuring it gets hot enough at least once a month.

Simply put, if you fall into either category, you should take my advise. Start the engine and move your motor-home once a month and let it run for 30 minutes. If you just go for a short 3 to 5 mile ride to the grocery store, than go for a good half hour ride every month to get your engine up to temperature long enough to burn the condensation out of the engine oil and transmission fluid.

This little nugget of information is not a well known fact. This is why we have the GotEngines.com Blog for you. To answer some of the little know questions and help you prevent unnecessary problems from not knowing about these un-talked about issues.