CK5
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Short trips kill vehicles!

It’s not just a condensation issue. Saw many at the dealership where batteries would be dead after a couple of months of short tripping as the engine isn’t run long enough for the alternator to recover the energy spent in the battery to crank the engine over. Factor in colder temps where partially charged batteries are more likely to to freeze and the issue just gets compounded.

But there’s something else about the engine never getting up to operating temp. It’s not optimal for sure. So the plan to run it to your work once a week is good on both fronts.
 
My gut tells me there are plenty of systems on modern cars that never "open up" until the engine reaches operating temps and those systems will clog up faster if they only ever get close to opening but never fully open. I'm just thinking about how many indicators flip on and off when you run an OBD2 diagnostic after a battery disconnect or code-clear. I'm kinda surprised we don't see warning indicators about it. I'm imagining the little lamp in my '02 reading out [BRR] to let me know the engine has not heated up in a while. :ROLFLMAO:
 
The original dash in my ‘66 K20 truck had a red idiot light with the word COLD in it and next to it a red idiot light that said HOT on it. I replaced it with gauges last century so my memory is a bit fuzzy. However I seem to recall the COLD light didn’t come on until it was at least below freezing if not lower and went off before the choke could be opened all the way.
 
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