That gunk under the cap is pretty harmless though. It's really not a big deal to leave most modern cars sitting for months at a time.

 

Yes, it IS a big deal. Because of parasite-drain on the electrical system to keep the computers up, batteries often go dead after a couple of weeks if the engine is not run, unlubricated seals.and gaskets can dry out and deteriorate, moisture and contaminants build up in the oil sitting in the crankcase, the moving parts in the engine don't get lubed so there is metal-to-metal contact when the engine finally is started again, the fuel pump and oil pump deteriorate from lack of use, and the uncirculated coolant sitting in the radiator deteriorates. Engines were built to run, not sit.

 

That looks like moisture in the oil and what if that's in every nook and cranny of the engine, good golly gee whiz what a mess.

Have you lost your marbles TangoRed???



 

A battery tender completely takes care of the electrical issue. As for your concerns over engine seals/gaskets and oil in the crankcase, it’s still not a big issue with modern cars. Porsches and Ferraris sit for several months at a time as the norm. My own family has several cars that stay parked at vacation homes for several months at a time and they haven’t suffered any undue issues. Things don’t deteriorate that fast. Even my 2002 ML500 didn’t move for a year when my cousin owned it and once it got a new battery and fluid changes, it went back into beater duty without issue.

Hehe I thought you were serious at first. If that was found elsewhere in the engine I’d be very concerned. The plastic cap though? Nah that’ll be fine after a long drive. My ML500 rarely goes more than 5-10 miles a day (most days zero) and has that crap under the oil cap almost constantly, especially in the winter. All is well on the rare day I take it out on a longer drive. The Mercedes forums are full of people being surprised by that at first.

 

My jeeps has sometimes sat for 4 months, zero issues and it doesn't have any sort of seal problems from it. My truck also only gets started every few months solely to bring everything up to temp and it's also totally fine but I has a tender and lives inside a controlled climate garage.

I have found that if cara are kept in a controlled climate space with sealed concrete below them plus a tender they do not degrade at all. Throw a cover over them to keep dust off as well if you like, and a set of wheel docks to keep tires round.

 

I knew a man who had a heavy duty truck fleet and did road contracts.
He told me one day when business was slow that his truck had been sitting and said it's not good.

I asked why and he said," that letting the 'iron' sit was was the fastest way to kill them".
This was while he was pointing to his trucks lined up like dominos.

These were heavy duty diesel trucks tho but he was very concerned about the damage caused by letting them sit for months.

I wouldn't be surprised at all.

I'd just have a heart attack instead. lol

But if you all say that the moisture only collects under the cap and doesn't get all thru the oil I'll go ahead and trust you on that.

 

100000%. In a car like an R129? The top needs to be cycled also. These cars also love to be driven, you can feel the passion that went into it. It's good for them to drive them. Just make sure you keep them in tip top shape or you'll pay.

Also 10000%, also glad you pointed out that it's the *oil* that's more important to warm up for future readers, etc. Most cars aren't fully warm when the coolant gauge reads otherwise, mine isn't. The oil catches up a little ways after the coolant.

1998 per that post and my 2002 aren't modern cars, not really. While I disagree and just would drive the car around as I said every 2-3 weeks or so, it is good to know your Mercedes drivetrain which is identical to mine is a "beater". I knew the M113 was pretty much Japanese bulletproof, just nice to read that. How many miles?

It's important for me personally to get all the fluids warmed up pistons going seals lubricated etc, like I said...then gun it a tad. Issue solved. I'll never let my Mercedes sit for more than a week without driving it. I used to not drive the LS430 for months but would always warm it up even though that car could sit through a nuclear bomb and then start right up. Now it's the most driven car of our fleet lol.

 

Does anyone find it weird that Lexus had no RWD or RWD biased electric SUVS with this reveal?
It's strange to me that the majority of pure EVs in the above pic are sedans, wagons, or 2 doors, all of which are declining in sales...


Don't get me wrong love a wagon but what happened to the LF-1 Limitless concept??? It would've competed nicely with the Model 3 and Mach E, certainly looks better than those options at least.

 

that's why i'm happy my dad's 2015 E-class has an oil temp readout... when the oil is still "cold" the font will be shown in blue, and when it's finally "warm" (about 180°F) the font will turn white

from using that display i can tell you that it takes anywhere from 15-20+ minutes to get the oil up to operating temperature, depending on things like how cold it is outside and the type of driving that's been done

 

Nice!! Yeah they swapped out the oil pressure gauge for oil temp for 1999, personally I'd rather have the oil pressure gauge because it's accurate. In LX570 the gauge is comically, comically conservative. I've never had nor seen one with a full pressure reading, or above half that I can remember. I think Toyota "splits" it, half is really full, etc so the typical Lexus buyer won't get nervous with a gauge reading extremely high no matter what it is other than gas.

 

saw this time capsule today

 

That looks like an old Mercury Sable wagon to me.
I saw lots of elderly people driving those back in the day.

 

I saw a Subaru Justy yesterday. Haven't seen one in years. Couldn't get a picture, unfortunately.

 

That Sable is in great shape!

 

I wonder which engine it has, the 3.0 or 3.8?

I have VERY fond memories of Grandparents and a 1988 blue Sable sedan.