With another McHenry winter setting in, it's important to remember to change your oil.

Changing the oil in your car, truck or SUV is important any time of the year, whether a McHenry summer, winter or in between. But there are reasons to ensure that you stay up on oil changes in the winter.

As we all know, when you go out to your McHenry garage or driveway to start the car, truck or SUV, you’re counting on the oil to provide essential lubrication. Without that oil, metal will rub against metal causing extreme friction and heat.

Consider that, idle (when the engine is running without depressing the gas pedal) for most cars is between 600 and 1,000 rpms. That means, every minute, the crankshaft rotates 600 to 1,000 times. The pistons go up and down in the cylinders 600 to 1,000 times. When you start driving, that number will probably move into the 3,000-rpm range. 

When accelerating, you could increase the rpm to the 5,000-rpm range.

At 600 rpm, the piston goes up and down in the cylinder 10 times per second. At 3,000 rpm, each piston goes up and down in the cylinder 50 times per second. At 5,000 rpm, the piston goes up and down more than 83 times per second. Even at 10 times per second, you’re talking about the potential for a lot of friction and a lot of heat. In other words, oil is absolutely essential in your car, truck or SUV’s engine.

The problem in winter is that the oil gets thicker when the temperature drops. It takes longer for the oil to warm up and move up through the passages that carry it to the cylinders and other moving parts. If the oil is old, this condition is exacerbated. 

If it’s 30-degrees below zero outside this McHenry winter, once it’s running, the engine doesn’t care much; the temperature in the engine will soon reach the point where you can cook eggs on the surface. 

During the time that it’s running without sufficient oil, the friction is scoring parts that are in contact where one or both are moving. The longer it takes for the oil to get there, the more damage is liable to occur. 

When you consider that thicker oil also makes it harder for the starter to turn the engine over so it can start, there’s really no good reason not to change the oil in your car, truck or SUV this McHenry winter.