An oil change is a vital part of most car service deals, and many people don’t understand the importance. Many drivers simply hop in their cars and drive without thinking about their fluid levels, but oil is essential to keep your car running. Some drivers will check their oil and top it up when it goes below the minimum, but they don’t think about changing the oil at all. The oil in our cars is used to lubricate the moving parts, and it also helps to carry heat away from the engine and keep it running cool. Let’s take a closer look at why oil is so essential for our cars.
The Purpose of Oil
As we briefly mentioned above, oil is used to carry away the heat from the engine, but there is a downside to this function. During its circulatory journey, the oil will gather up tiny pieces of dirt and debris from other parts of the engine. The primary purpose of oil is to provide lubrication to moving parts to reduce the friction. The oil can only fulfil this purpose if the viscosity is sufficient to provide the needed lubrication. As the oil gradually becomes dirtier, it will be less viscous, and it will be less able to provide sufficient lubrication. The components that are not designed to come into contact with each other will start to touch, and this will create friction. Of course, friction creates heat and heat will warp and damage the components in your engine. Eventually, this will lead to an expensive repair bill, and many parts may need to be replaced entirely.
Clean vs. Dirty Oil
This concept is easiest to understand if you actually look at or even touch clean and dirty oil. If you top up your oil regularly you may notice that the oil is clean, it’s thick and viscous and it has a pale amber colour. Now, if you’ve not changed your oil in a while, take a look at the oil on the end of your dipstick. It’s probably black, thin, runny and dirty looking because it’s old and it needs to be drained and replaced.
What Happen Next?
The old oil will eventually lose its inherent ability to provide lubrication as it becomes increasingly dirty and it will form into sludge. This material typically gathers in the sump where it actually begins to damage your engine. As you can imagine drawing thick sludgy tar-like material through your car’s engine will have a detrimental effect on the components in your car. Eventually, the engine will literally seize up entirely because it will not be able to move the sludge-like oil and the components may even fuse together without lubrication. At this point a repair is out of the question, the engine may need to be replaced entirely and/or the car may even be written off because it’s not economical to repair.
Changing The Oil
Changing the oil in your car is a dirty job, and it may be best left to your local AHG Auto & Tyre Service centre.
