Why It’s Important to Maintain Your Engine
Your engine is the heart of your vehicle. If it isn’t working properly, you can be sure you will not be driving anywhere anytime soon. Proper and consistent engine maintenance ensures that your engine doesn’t overheat while on the highway, or cut out at an intersection. An improperly running engine is a huge safety issue when it comes to your vehicle and the safety of those inside.
While the engine may look like one giant car part, it is actually made up of several different components that work together to create and distribute energy throughout your vehicle. At Eccles Auto Service, we suggest regular engine maintenance, to prevent any unforeseeable problems.
- Keeping it Clean
Your engine does a lot of work for your vehicle. Being the main component, it’s important to keep your engine clean of debris, dust, and grime. Over time, the engine filters can become blocked, leaves and dirt blow under the hood, and insects find their way into your vehicle. Grease, which covers your engine, can trap heat making it difficult for your engine to cool down properly.
We recommend a degreaser to carefully clean the exterior of your engine. Secondly, a vacuum tool may also be used to remove the debris and dust from around the casing. Lastly, make sure to change your engine air filter! We recommend changing it every 50,000 km you drive.
- Spark Plug Service
To keep dirt and grime out of the combustion chamber, your spark plug should be periodically cleaned. To do this, our Eccles technician will remove the plug lead, clean the space around it, remove the plug, and use a special cleaner and brush to remove any build-up, dirt or dust. This is a smaller job, but it can do wonders in improving the overall performance of your engine.
- Proper Lubrication
There are so many moving parts in an engine, that it’s crucial to have proper lubrication always. Otherwise, the friction caused by many of these moving pieces will begin to rub and grind and cause damage. Sometimes, this damage can be irreparable and will result in the need for replacing one or more parts before your engine will function properly again. Ensure that your crankshaft, piston rings, and cylinder walls are properly lubricated to avoid friction and damage to your vehicle.
- Oil Change
An oil change can make all the difference to the performance of your engine, and the overall performance of your vehicle. Over time, your oil can become cloudy, murky, and sticky, and this doesn’t allow your engine to get the most from its lubrication system. Your oil should be checked and changed once every 3 to 4 months or 10,000 km to ensure that your vehicle is in tip-top shape, and your engine is getting the best from the oil it uses. Unsure about whether your oil needs changed? Call Eccles Auto Service for an oil check today!
If you notice an issue with your engine and you’re in Dundas Ontario, the best thing to do is book an appointment at Eccles Auto Service. The longer an engine problem goes unfixed, the more damage it will begin to cause. What might have been a simple fix could turn into the need to replace many different parts and pieces. Contact us today!