The Secrets to Enhancing Engine Life and Performance
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Many people don’t understand the machinery inside their cars.
Some people look at the engine and see only a complex network of pipes, cables, and plugs. Trying to comprehend what all these parts do can be intimidating for most people.
This leads to too many people neglecting their car’s engine, or not properly maintaining it, which can be detrimental to the engine’s life and its performance.
Not everyone needs to be an expert, but even a basic understanding of the nuts and bolts is essential to the life of the car’s engine. This article will let you in on some of the secrets to enhancing your car engine’s life and performance.
The first secret to enhancing your engine’s life is to regularly check its oil. Regularly checking the oil is very important, because the oil lubricates many of the moving parts of the car.
To check the engine’s oil, locate the dipstick inside the car. For most cars, this will be a small coloured handle, and there is usually a small icon with an oil symbol on the stick. Pull out the dipstick and check the oil levels. Make sure the oil is not dirty or discoloured.
For optimal engine longevity and performance, it is recommended that you check your car’s oil at least once a month, topping it off whenever it gets low. Keep in mind there are different types of car oil. Your car’s manual should tell you which one your car requires. The quality of the engine oil you buy will also matter.
The coolant helps moderate the temperatures of the engine and stop it from overheating. The car coolant is not water, but a special chemical specifically used for cooling. Much like the oil, the car’s coolant tank is usually marked with a brightly coloured cap or by an easy-to-read symbol. If you have trouble finding the coolant reservoir check your car’s manual, or look it up online.
Make sure the coolant is clean and not discoloured. Make sure to fill up the coolant often, before it has a chance to become low. It’s suggested that you check the coolant at a minimum of every three weeks, or before you plan any long road trips.
A standard car will have four different filters: a cabin filter, an oil filter, a fuel filter, and an air filter. Although all four of these filters should be changed regularly, the latter of these filters (oil, fuel, air) are especially important for enhancing your engine’s life and performance. The oil, fuel, and air filters all stop contaminants or particulates from getting into the engine or doing any damage.
It is recommended that you check or replace your car’s filters every 5,000km to 10,000km or every six months.
For those who may be interested in taking their vehicle off-roading, or those who expect to drive through any amount of water, you should consider getting a snorkel installation to protect your engine. Before off-roading people often think about their tyres, their suspension, or even the power of the car, but not many people will consider the impact off-roading can have on the life and performance of the engine.
A car snorkel allows the engine to take air from above the car, rather than the sides. This will allow the engine to still breathe or take in cleaner air, even if it becomes partially submerged in water. Car snorkels can sometimes be universal, so one kind will fit most makes and models of cars.
Don’t ignore the lights and signs on your dashboard – especially if one turns on or begins blinking. We hear this advice all the time, and yet so many of us will ignore these lights anyway. But the car has those indicators and signs for very good reasons. Many of the lights on the dashboard are very important to the life and performance of your car’s engine. Ignoring them can sometimes be catastrophic.
It would also be a good idea to flip through the car’s manual and figure out what these symbols mean. If you are in some way unsure of what to do or don’t know what a blinking light means, take it to a professional.
Is it consuming more fuel than it used to? Or going through more fluids than it should? Is it overheating quicker? It is important to keep an eye out for such changes and catch them early.
Enhancing the life of your engine and its performance boils down to careful observation, regular inspections, and timely maintenance. It is also important to intervene with small problems early.
While you are keeping an eye out for other changes to your car, make sure to listen to your engine as well. Listen to your car carefully: Is it making a strange rattle? Is there a grinding noise? Has the sound of the engine changed?
This secret might seem overly simplistic, but it can be extremely useful. The sound the engine makes can be a very good indicator of its performance, or whether something inside of it has started to go wrong.
This is the last secret in this article, but it is probably also the most important.
You must take your car in for regular servicing, even if your car still seems to be running fine, or if you do everything mentioned above in this article. This article has tried to cover some of the basics, but the engine of the car is very complicated.
Most people don’t take their car for professional servicing until after a problem has already escalated, or their car has broken down – and by this point it can sometimes be too late.
You should take your car in for professional servicing every six months, or after every 10,000km, whichever comes first.
This piece of advice will be especially helpful if you are one of the people singled out at the beginning of the article and know very little about cars or mechanics. But even if you think you know a good amount about cars you should still take your car to be looked at by a professional.
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