Is it advisable to warm up the engine to three bars prior to changing the oil?
What are pros and cons?

 

I always change the oil cold, after being parked overnight. Starting the engine just pumps all the oil up away from the drain hole and it will take an hour for it all to get back.

My only guess regarding the recommendation to warm the engine before a change is to make draining easier in cold ambient temps. It makes little sense if you use multi-grade oil and the temperature is above freezing, just insuring you won

 

You want to warm up your engine (and oil) enough to let the oil flow out completely, but not too much as to burn yourself when changing the oil. My guess would be about 3 to 5 minutes. Wearing latex gloves will help with protect your hands from the hot oil.

 

I had always heard it was best to change it warm so as much oil as possible would drain out. I usually change it when I get home. I let it cool a few minutes. Open the drain. Go inside and do the usual stuff. Drink a few. Go outside and finish. By then the oil is dripping very slow. Engine is cooled off enough to handle the filter.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by NSXS:
[B]You want to warm up your engine (and oil) enough to let the oil flow out completely, but not too much as to burn yourself when changing the oil.

 

I always thought that you should warm the engine up completely for 2 reasons. First, warm oil flows better and will therefore drain faster(this is obviously more of a factor in cold climates). Second, whatever solids there are in the oil will tend to settle out when the oil sits for a time so running the engine picks up these solids and allows them to drain out with the oil. Both reasons come down to removing as much dirt and old oil as possible with dirt being the more important.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by laster:
[B], whatever solids there are in the oil will tend to settle out when the oil sits for a time so running the engine picks up these solids and allows them to drain out with the oil.

 

If your going to change the oil yourself, this is my suggestion:
Leave the engine cold. Drain the oil in the afternoon. If your worried about all the oil getting out, let it drain over night. Finish the change in the morning. Best to do over a Fri-Sat or Sat-Sun. My $.02

 

Thank you all guys! Your opinions are greatly appreciated.

 

My $.02. It doesn't matter, you're not going to get all the oil out either way. If cold, more oil is in the pan, but not all the oil will run out because it's thicker and will stick to the pan. If warm, you'll get more oil out of the pan, but there will be oil elsewhere throughout the engine. Only suggestion I have, is if you have to start the car prior to changing oil to move it or get it on ramps, then definitely warm it up all the way. My experience with the S2K is changing the oil with a hot engine is no big deal, you can stay away from the hot parts easily.