Blowing a seal on cold starts?

[awisniewski]

I've got this fear of starting my engine on a cold day (35* or below) and blowing some sort of rubber oil seal on the engine when driving up a steep hill as I leave my apartment complex.

I know the common thought is to start the car and drive away slowly while the engine warms up. Well here is my worry, where I live there is a steep hill on my route to work. If I start my car and drive off within 2 minutes I'll be pulling up to a stop sign, stopping , then going up a steep hill on a cold engine. My fear is that while going up this steep hill on a cold engine, I'll blow some silly $5 oil seal on the engine. I had the oil pump spaghetti seal blow last fall from oil age and brittleness. I'm fearing I might have a similar issue but from high oil pressure on another seal?

[RonR]

Oil pressure is provided by the oil pump and maintained by the gaps in the bearings.
So oil pressure is not based on engine "load", i.e. going up hill or down hill, it is based on revolutions of the oil pump, so engine RPM.

At 2,000 RPM oil pressure might be 25psi on a warm engine, 30psi on a cold engine(oil is thicker when cold)

Going up a hill in 2nd gear at 2,000 RPM or running on flat ground in 4th gear at 2,000 RPM would be the same oil pressure, it is RPM based.

As far as the oil itself, 10w-30 means the oil is 30 "weight"(viscosity) at 212deg F, normal engine operating temp.
At freezing temp a 10w-30 oil acts like 10 "weight" when cold, thinner than 30 "weight" would be at freezing temp but still thicker than 30 "weight" at 212deg F.
So oil is always thicker when cold, no way around that.

So to give yourself piece of mind run the correct multi-"weight" oil for your winter conditions/temps.
Toyota or oil makers provide the information for outside temp ranges and what oil is best.

You could also get a remote starter for your car, or a block heater, either would work to have the engine pre-heated before you start driving.

But I wouldn't worry about blowing a seal because the engine is cold, if it happens it would have another cause.

[awisniewski]

Thank you Ron, That sounds great. Thanks for the tip on the oil weight also. I'll feel a lot better going up that hill tomorrow morning, although I'll still take it easy its good to know a leak is no more likely to occur if I'm going up a hill or not. I'll be glad to put this fear to rest!

[CrystalMethod]

Driving away slowly is more for the transmission. When the engine/transmission is cold, it will take a longer time before it shifts (on an automatic). Also your overdrive will not kick in until the engine reaches a certain temperature. Seeing as you live in fairly southerly, this shouldn't take more than a few minutes.

[godot]

Use 0W- 20 oil, it will be nice and thin at 35 degrees and you won't build excessive oil pressure. Synthetic stays thin when cold but doesn't thin out when warm. The oil pump has a pressure regulator to prevent overpressure, but thinner oil doesn't hurt.