What Happens If I Don't Change The Oil Frequently Enough In My Vehicle?

You've likely heard the conventional wisdom that you should change your car's oil every 3 months or 3,000 miles since the time you bought your first car. While this piece of car maintenance advice is well known, you might be wondering why it's so important if you are not familiar with the inner workings of cars. Not changing your oil is known to be "bad", but what specifically goes wrong inside the car when you don't change it frequently enough? Here's the details you need to know.

Dirt Can Wreak Havoc

Dirt slowly accumulates in your oil over time. Dirty oil is much thicker than clean oil, and it can be quite abrasive on your engine, causing much more wear and tear over time. Your oil filter will remove the dirt from your oil before it hits the engine. That's essentially it's main job, but over time, the dirt will overwhelm the filter and become clogged. When this happens, all of that dirt gets sent right into the engine without being filtered first, shortening the life of your engine.

Loss of Quality

Oil adds dirt over time, but it also loses many of the special additional substances that are put into most engine oil formulas today. Those extra detergents and rust blockers will no longer be able to provide the level of lubrication that your engine requires. Over time, this too can cause problems for your engine.

Poor Performance

As oil breaks down, carbon deposits are created. These deposits can slowly clog other areas besides the oil filter, including the valves that your engine uses for ventilation. This can result in an overall lower amount of engine power. This poor performance will affect everything from your car's acceleration to your miles per gallon.

Costly Repairs

If you don't change your oil for a long time, you will start to develop all of the problems mentioned above. If there are multiple clogs in play, from your oil filter to your engine's various valves, your engine could overheat and suffer serious damage. Asking your local auto repair shop to replace your engine is one of the most costly vehicle repairs that you can have. It's a much better idea to just get into the habit of taking your vehicle into that same shop for regular oil changes so that you don't have to worry about a costly repair in the future.

Everyone knows they need to change their oil, but some might be unaware of the specific damage that neglecting this maintenance can cause. Oil becomes dirty over time and this can cause a clog in anything from the oil filter to the engine itself. Don't end up in the auto repair shop with a costly repair, reach out to a local mechanic to get your oil changed today.

For more information, contact Central Body Co Inc. or a similar company.

Share