Everyone knows a car engine needs oil. But you may not know why your car needs oil, and if you don’t know, it becomes easier to put it off. After all, the thought is you’ll get around to it sooner or later. A little later may not hurt your car – too much. But again, there are good reasons to take your car’s oil needs very seriously.
Your oil keeps your engine working smoothly. At Milex /Mr. Transmission we aren’t just talking figuratively but also literally. Your engine has a lot of metal parts that move and work in close proximity to each other, but they aren’t supposed to touch. In fact, the term bearing in an engine is not like a ball bearing that you are familiar with, it is a soft metal sleeve that precisely fits with a rotating assembly, like a crank shaft. Crank bearings keep the crank shaft running smoothly on a thin film of lubricant, but the parts never touch. When your car engine is properly lubricated, the metal against metal isn’t an issue. Everything works, and your car moves. Oil cleanliness and quantity are critical to a smooth-running engine. But without clean oil even with the proper level of oil those metal components would start to rub up against each other, create friction, heat and a lot of trouble. Things in your engine would break. This leads to your car having a breakdown and possibly leaving you stranded on the side of the road.
Your oil helps to keep your engine cool. You probably know that coolant in your radiator is important because it keeps your engine cool. Well, oil helps to keep your engine cool as well. Oil circulates on all sides of the combustion chamber buffering the heat that is created. It then circulates to its own radiator to dissipate some of the heat.
Clean oil gets rid of sludge. You’ve probably noticed that there are different kinds of oil for cars. The reason manufacturers offer different types of oils is that the more expensive types (that is, synthetic oils versus conventional oil) work on not just making sure the oil is keeping the engine lubricated, but that dirt particles and sludge are being removed. What’s with this “sludge” word, again? Your oil, as it gets old and worn, can actually turn into sludge, which is basically a consistency as thick as mud or tar. Obviously, having this thicker substance in your car’s engine will have a negative overall impact on the performance of your vehicle.
Keeping your oil clean keeps expensive repairs at bay. Not always, of course. You could get your oil changed every day, and yet a tire could blow out. But seriously, as you can imagine, sludge in a car can wear your car parts down and clog up important oil passages. Even if you’re lucky enough to avoid engine failure, allowing sludge to build up can mean you’re suddenly replacing a stretched timing chain or parts of the valve train. Not all hope is lost if your engine has a sludge problem. Specialty oil additives can reduce and eliminate any sludge that may have accumulated in your engine. Ask us at Milex /Mr. Transmission about engine restoration service.
We all know the proper amount and type of oil for your car is important. But now, maybe we know why it’s important. Making sure your car gets regular and timely oil changes is an critical part of ensuring both the short-term and long-term viability of your vehicle.