Transport is essential in everyday living. You need to move from one place to another, from home to work, grocery, pharmacy, and any other establishment you need to go to for essentials and other matters.
You can choose from various means of transport to make your journey easier. A usual transport type is to use your own vehicle to reach those places.
A car is a four-wheeled vehicle that runs on an engine and uses roads for movement. From the definition, it’s clear that an engine serves a crucial function in your car. Therefore, its efficiency is paramount. One of the surefire ways of ensuring this efficiency is by maintaining it.
How do you maintain your engine to ensure it serves you for a long time as a car owner? Read on to find the engine maintenance tips you should adopt for your car.
- Check The Spark Plugs
Spark plugs are essential in the running of your engine. They ignite the air and fuel in your engine’s combustion chamber to make it run. The spark plug will first generate a voltage at its tip, creating sparks that ignite your engine’s components. This spark plug is located at the head of your engine, making it an integral part that requires constant maintenance.
Over time, the spark plug tends to wear out, so it may need replacement. It’s often advisable to change this part after several miles. Because your engine is like the central processing unit of your car, ensure you use quality parts to cater to it. You may check a reliable vendor near you or here for any parts you may require.
- Change Your Engine Oil Regularly
Your engine is made of several components, some of which rotate. Like any other equipment, the rotating and moving parts require lubrication. For your engine, the engine oil serves this purpose. Once lubricated, there’s less probability for your engine to wear and tear, increasing its longevity and ensuring it runs adequately. Yet how do you go about the oil change?
First, you must identify the right oil for your engine. Frankly, no one type fits all. You can find this information from your car manufacturer. Aside from the type, they should also tell you the oil grade to use.
Next, it’s best to know the intervals at which you should change the engine oil. Again, this is information your car manufacturer can provide you. However, sticking to these intervals for an old car might not suffice for your engine.
With an old car, consider inspecting your engine oil every two weeks. You can use the oil’s dipstick to check the cleanness of the oil. If it is too dark, change your oil, and ensure you’re conscious of the engine’s minimum and maximum oil levels.
- Check The Coolant
Your engine generates heat as it runs. However, this heat shouldn’t be excessive; otherwise, your engine might malfunction. This shouldn’t worry you, though, because you can easily manage the heat with a coolant. As the name suggests, the coolant will cool the temperatures of your engine. However, you must check and change your coolant appropriately to ensure it serves your engine as it should.
You’ll find the coolant’s location easily because the component is well labeled. Start by inspecting to see if the coolant is clean enough for your engine. If it’s dark red or orange, please change it. With the coolant, it is recommended that you mix it with water, with a ratio of 1:1. It’s also advisable not to fill the tank more than or at the maximum level mark. You want to provide enough space for the coolant to prevent it from spilling over.
- Change The Air Filter
Your engine requires combustion to run. On the other hand, air is necessary for combustion to take place. This air comes from the atmosphere, so this air will likely have dust and other debris. Thus, a filter is essential to help your engine run smoothly.
Eventually, the air filter will likely get clogged with dust and dirt, inhibiting and reducing airflow into your engine. The result is that the combustion process will be challenging to achieve, straining your engine. To prevent this possibility, inspect the air filters of your car regularly. Change them if they’re already clogged and ensure you use the correct replacement size. A filter too small might inhibit adequate, continuous airflow, while a filter too big might allow debris and dust to pass through the filter and get into your engine’s system. Both situations will lead to inefficiencies in your car.
Conclusion
Maintaining your car’s engine isn’t as daunting as you might have imagined. This article has discussed maintenance tips you should adopt for this car part. Ensure you implement them to avoid any engine problems in the future.
