Why One Must Regularly Change Engine Oil
A survey by the Car Care Council found that 25% of vehicles on the road have either low or dirty oil. Driving with low or dirty oil can lead to performance problems and damage to your engine, which can have major cost implications in the future.
All of that can be avoided by regularly changing your vehicle’s oil. It costs around $180 to change your vehicle’s oil regularly over the course of the year (three oil changes). That’s a fraction of what it can cost to make significant repairs to your engine, as such engine repair bills can easily run into the thousands of dollars. Not changing your oil may save you a dollar in the present, but it may easily cost you significantly more in the future.
There are a number of reasons why maintaining a healthy level of high-functioning engine oil is important to your vehicle’s performance.
Why Regular Oil Changes are Crucial
An engine consists of a large number of moving parts, all of which need to be properly lubricated so that they don’t become damaged or wear down. Oil in the engine fulfills that protective, lubricating, function. In the course of driving, the oil begins to break down and become contaminated. Extremely cold and hot weather, dirt and debris, and other contaminants dilute and degrade the oil over time.
All of this causes the engine oil to lose its effectiveness and ability to properly lubricate; and when the oil can’t do its job, your vehicle’s performance suffers and the engine can be damaged and require costly repairs in the future. The following are the benefits good-quality oil provides to your car.
Lubricates the Engine
The pistons, valves, and other engine parts move at great speeds under the hood of the car for the entire time that you’re driving. The oil lubrication is critical in preventing all those moving parts from wearing down or breaking due to friction forces.
It’s important to check your owner’s manual to see what grade and weight of engine oil your vehicle needs, as some vehicles operate best at certain grades and weights. Also, you should make sure to confirm that your oil is kept at its optimal level, as having too little oil can be even more detrimental to your engine than depleted or contaminated oil.
Cools the Engine
One of the massive byproducts of all the work your engine is doing is a large quantity of waste heat. Excessive heat can warp engine components and generally put stress on the engine, and, over time, can cause significant damage.
The lubrication oil provides helps keep the heat down, as the main cause of heat is the friction of engine parts making contact with one another. As oil becomes dirtier and breaks down, it loses its ability to lubricate the engine, causing excess heat.
Pulls Debris and Dirt from the Engine
Dirt and debris particles are particularly bad for engines. If allowed to accumulate over time, they can cause corrosion and dramatically decrease the lifespan of your engine.
Something that happens over time with oil is that, as it circulates, it combines with that debris and dirt and forms a sludge-like substance. This decreases the performance of the oil as it breaks down, but it also sweeps that contamination out of the engine itself. It’s important to cycle out that dirty oil with regular changes. In doing so, the oil acts as a cleaning agent in removing the dirt and debris.
Increases Gas Mileage
When an engine is poorly lubricated, it can’t consume fuel as efficiently. As a result, when you’re driving a vehicle in need of new oil, you’re consuming more fuel than you need to be.
According to estimates from the US Department of Energy, if the average person uses the right kind of oil and changes their oil regularly, their gas mileage can improve by 1-2% over the long haul. That doesn’t sound all that impressive, but work that figure out over the lifetime of a vehicle, and suddenly those gallons start to add up. At that rate, you might be saving the equivalent of a full gallon of gas between oil changes, which goes a long way toward offsetting the cost of changing your oil right there.
Enhances the Longevity of Your Vehicle
When oil is dirty or depleted, your vehicle works harder. It’s just that simple. From worse fuel economy to decreased engine power, everything takes a greater toll on the vehicle. Over time, that extra work has the effect of increasing the wear on your vehicle.
This trickles down to increased problems with the vehicle in the future, costing you extra money and decreasing the life of your engine, and effectively reduces the life of your car. Eventually, you reach a point where you need to get rid of your current vehicle and get a new one no matter what, but changing the oil regularly and having routine maintenance will help make sure that date is as far from the present as possible.
It’s also worth considering that regular maintenance can increase the resale value of a vehicle. If you want to maximize your profit when the time comes to trade in or sell your car, regularly changing your oil is a good move. Consider that many buyers of used cars will ask for service records.
A Regular Maintenance Schedule
We recommend that you establish a routine for checking and maintaining your vehicle. By holding to a pre-planned schedule for both monitoring the well-being of your vehicle and getting it maintained professionally, you ensure that you stay on top of any problems that might be developing, as well as keeping other problems from developing in the first place.
Check Your Oil
It’s a good idea to check your oil anywhere from once a week to once every few weeks. Monitoring the oil level in your vehicle’s engine is important for two reasons. First, if your oil levels start to fall noticeably, it’s often an indicator that your vehicle has some kind of problem that needs immediate attention, an oil leak or otherwise. Checking your oil acts as a first line of defense when making sure your vehicle is running smoothly.
Second, and going hand in hand with the first reason, is that it’s incredibly bad for your vehicle to be running on oil below a certain threshold. Even dirty oil is better than little to no oil in that regard. Operating with below minimum oil levels can cause serious damage to your engine, very quickly.
Create a Routine for Changing Your Oil
In addition to checking your oil levels regularly, you’ll want to come up with a timetable for when to change your oil. Deciding on a mileage interval should be done by a combination of taking a look at the interval recommended by your vehicle’s manufacturer and considering some other factors that might affect that interval.
Once you’ve chosen a schedule, it’s up to you to make sure to keep that schedule and change the oil on that routine. You have two options in terms of changing the oil. You can change the oil personally. This is the most economical option, though it’s somewhat of a hassle, especially when it comes to disposing the waste oil. Please keep in mind that waste oil must be disposed in a lawful manner, usually at a facility equipped and willing to take waste oil.
Alternatively, you can have your oil changed by an experienced professional, which tends to cost slightly more than buying and changing your own oil, but offering convenience and the knowledge that the process is being done correctly. You’ll find that Budget Auto Repair & Transmission is a very reputable business in Moreno Valley and we offer fast, convenient, and professional oil changing services. You can also build changing your oil into a schedule of other routine vehicle maintenance services, such as tire rotation and periodic brake inspection.
Picking the Right Oil
Once you’ve decided to change your oil, the next step is deciding what type of oil to use. If you’re changing your own oil, this is a critical step because you’ll need to make the determination for yourself. If you’re using our professional oil changing service, we’ll be able to help you select the best oil for your situation that also adheres to your vehicle manufacturer’s specifications.
The first thing to do is check your owner’s manual. Your vehicle manufacturer will have a recommended engine oil type, either conventional oil or synthetic oil. Keep in mind that the manufacturer recommendations are for the vehicle in its new state. As your vehicle accumulates mileage, you may end up wanting or needing to go with another option to extend the life of your vehicle, such as a “High-Mileage” engine oil formula.
There are four basic types of oil:
- Conventional Motor oil – The most commonly used type of oil. It’s most suitable for new and low mileage vehicles, and low/light use vehicles.
- Full Synthetic Motor oil – The choice for vehicles where peak performance is necessary. Better in almost every way than conventional oil, but correspondingly more expensive.
- Synthetic Blend Motor oil – A middle ground between conventional and full synthetic. Synthetic blend has many of the added attributes of full synthetic oil, with a cost closer to conventional oil.
- High Mileage Motor oil – Specifically designed for vehicles with more than 75,000 miles. Engineered for older engines, and can prevent leakage and reduce smoke and emissions.
When the car is newer, you can probably follow the manufacturer recommendation, as long as the driving conditions you’re operating under aren’t extreme. As the vehicle ages, or if you’re going to be driving in a challenging environment, you may want to consider synthetic or synthetic blend. And once the car starts to get up there in mileage, opting for high mileage oil can extend the lifespan of the vehicle.
Choosing a Timetable for Changing your Oil
Adhering to your vehicle manufacturer’s recommended oil changes intervals is wise. However, driving styles and conditions vary and, with that in mind, sometimes there’s no definitive rule or timetable you can follow to know how frequently your oil should be changed, as there are a number of factors that go into when the oil needs to be changed. Here are some things to keep in mind.
Manufacturer’s Recommended Intervals
The recommended intervals between oil changes that your manufacturer specifies don’t always apply to your individual situation. For one thing, they are based on ideal driving conditions, and the real world is very rarely ideal. As such, we suggest you treat those manufacturer-recommended intervals as the maximum distances between oil changes, and keep the following in mind.
Adverse Conditions
A number of driving conditions and automobile usage patterns can affect how frequently you need to change your oil. Any of the following can require you to change oil more frequently than the manufacturer’s recommended intervals.
- If you regularly drive in dirty or dusty conditions, you should be changing your oil more regularly, and topping it up at least weekly.
- If you’re an aggressive driver or make lots of quick starts and stops, you’ll almost certainly need to change your oil more frequently.
- If you tow heavy loads regularly, you’ll need to change your oil more often.
- If your regular commutes are mostly stop and start driving, that will cause you to need to change your oil more often.
- If you drive your vehicle in extreme heat or cold, this can speed up the timetable for needing to change your oil.
- If you tend to drive your car on short trips of five miles or fewer, this tends to be harder on the oil, and will necessitate more frequent changes.
- Finally, note that even if you don’t drive your vehicle frequently, the oil still may become contaminated. If the vehicle is mostly stationary for a long period of time, it’s a good idea to change the oil.
Any of the above conditions, or some combination of them, may require you to change your oil more often than the recommended intervals. Look at it this way – the cost of simple preventative care is a fraction of what it would cost if you suffer significant engine damage requiring expensive repairs.
If you’re unsure as to whether the conditions in which you drive might mean you need to change your oil more frequently, you can speak with our professionals who can give you an informed opinion on what your conditions dictate.
To sum it up, making sure that your engine oil is at high performance levels has major effects on your vehicle, and the consequences of letting that slip can be severe. Like with all routine vehicle maintenance, performing regular oil changes is part of being a responsible car owner and making sure your vehicle performs as well as it can for as long as it can.