Want Your Engine To Last Forever(ish)? - It Will If You Do This...
Summary
TLDRThis video provides key tips on how to prolong the lifespan of your car's engine through proper maintenance. It emphasizes regular oil changes, using the correct grade and formulation of oil, and developing mechanical sympathy, such as avoiding high RPMs on cold engines. The video also touches on the importance of observing manufacturer-recommended service intervals and identifying potential engine issues early. By following these practices, you can extend the reliability and life of your car's engine and avoid costly repairs.
Takeaways
- 🛠️ Regular maintenance, especially oil changes, is key to extending the life of your car’s engine.
- 🛢️ Use the correct grade and type of oil with the proper additive package to avoid engine damage and wear.
- 📅 Service intervals vary by manufacturer, but it’s often beneficial to change the oil more frequently than recommended, especially for short trips.
- 🚗 Avoid cold starts by warming up the engine gradually, and avoid hard acceleration when the engine is cold to reduce wear.
- 💡 Mechanical sympathy, such as choosing the right gear and avoiding low RPM under load, can prevent engine strain and damage.
- 🔥 Cooling down the engine after high-speed driving helps reduce stress from sudden temperature changes.
- 🔧 Keeping an eye on unusual sounds, smells, or fluid leaks helps catch problems early, before they escalate.
- 📊 Regularly use diagnostic tools like OBD2 to monitor and identify engine issues before they become major problems.
- 🔄 Varying the RPM range during driving is healthier for the engine than consistently running at low or high RPMs.
- 🚨 Manufacturers design engines to tolerate some driver abuse, but good driving habits can significantly extend engine life.
Q & A
What is the main reason people sell or trade their cars for newer models?
-The main reason people sell or trade their cars is due to the vehicle becoming unreliable, starting to break down, or accumulating high repair costs.
What is the key factor in prolonging the lifespan and reliability of a car engine?
-The key factor in prolonging the lifespan and reliability of a car engine is regular maintenance, especially frequent oil changes, and using the correct oil with the proper additive package.
Why is it important to use the correct grade of oil for your car?
-Using the correct grade of oil is important because modern engines are designed to work with specific formulations, and using the wrong oil can cause problems with components like the catalytic converter, particulate filter, and the general wear protection of the engine.
What are the two types of car services typically specified by manufacturers?
-Manufacturers typically specify two types of services: an oil service, which involves a basic oil change, and an inspection service, which is more thorough and includes checking filters and inspecting engine components.
Why is changing the oil frequently recommended even if the manufacturer's schedule suggests longer intervals?
-Changing the oil frequently is recommended because oil can degrade faster in certain driving conditions, such as short trips, leading to the buildup of wear metals in the engine. More frequent changes help reduce engine wear and prolong its life.
What should a driver do to prevent engine damage during cold starts?
-During cold starts, drivers should avoid putting stress on the engine by driving too hard before the engine has warmed up, as cold engines have metal components that haven’t reached optimal clearances, leading to risks like poor lubrication and piston slap.
What is the benefit of allowing the engine to cool down after driving on a fast road?
-Allowing the engine to cool down gradually after driving on a fast road helps avoid sudden temperature changes, which can cause stress on engine components. Reducing speed and using a higher gear towards the end of the journey can help with this.
How can driving sympathetically help extend the life of an engine?
-Driving sympathetically helps extend the life of an engine by avoiding unnecessary strain, such as lugging the engine at low RPMs or consistently driving at high RPMs. Varying the rev range and using the correct gear for the driving situation helps keep the engine healthy.
Why is it important to pay attention to unusual noises, smells, or fluids coming from the car?
-Paying attention to unusual noises, smells, or fluids is important because they can indicate potential problems with the engine or other components. Addressing issues early can prevent them from escalating into larger, more expensive repairs.
What should drivers do if they experience power surges, flat spots, or other performance issues?
-If drivers experience power surges, flat spots, or other performance issues, they should use a diagnostic tool to check the error codes from the car's OBD2 port. Identifying and fixing issues early helps maintain engine reliability and performance.
Outlines
🚗 How to Extend Your Car's Engine Life
The first paragraph addresses the unrealistic expectation of making a car engine last forever. However, many people strive to keep their car for as long as possible, with the main reason for selling usually being unreliability or high repair costs. The video focuses on methods car owners can use to extend the engine's lifespan. It emphasizes the importance of maintenance, specifically oil changes, and discusses how different cars have varied service intervals (6 to 24 months). Choosing the correct oil grade and additive package is crucial to avoid damage to modern engines. Various components, such as the catalyst and particulate filter, can suffer if the wrong oil is used. Additionally, each car's other fluids, like coolant and brake fluid, must also meet manufacturer specifications to prevent issues. The recommendation is to change oil more frequently than manufacturers suggest, especially if the car is used for short trips, which can lead to oil contamination and increased engine wear.
🛠️ Mechanical Sympathy and Driving Habits
The second paragraph focuses on the concept of 'mechanical sympathy'—driving habits that help prolong the life of the engine. It discusses how cold starts can cause engine wear if the car is driven too hard before reaching optimal temperatures. Proper warm-up routines are essential, and the driver should allow the engine to cool down after long or high-speed trips to avoid thermal stress. It also advises drivers of manual cars to use the correct gear to prevent engine strain, avoid low RPMs that could damage the engine, and avoid excessive high-RPM driving. The importance of monitoring for early warning signs, such as unusual noises, smells, or power surges, is also highlighted. Early detection and prompt action can prevent minor issues from becoming major problems, ensuring engine reliability. Finally, the video encourages viewers to check for error codes using diagnostic tools for deeper insights into potential engine problems.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Engine longevity
💡Oil changes
💡Mechanical sympathy
💡Service intervals
💡Oil degradation
💡Cold starts
💡Wear metals
💡Driving habits
💡Diagnostic tool
💡Manufacturer-specific formulations
Highlights
Realistic to expect that a car's engine won't last forever, but many people aim to keep their car for as long as possible.
The main motivation for selling a car is often its unreliability, frequent breakdowns, or increasing repair costs.
Regular maintenance, especially oil changes, is essential for prolonging a car's lifespan.
Servicing intervals vary by manufacturer, ranging from 6 months to up to 24 months, and include oil changes and more thorough inspections.
Using the correct grade of oil with the right additive package is crucial, as using the wrong oil can cause serious engine problems.
Manufacturers design oils very specifically for their engines to protect components like the catalyst, particulate filter, and engine materials.
Cheap oils or incorrect fluids can accelerate the deterioration of engine components and lead to costly repairs.
Many people find manufacturers' oil change intervals overly optimistic, especially for short journeys or heavy engine use.
Oil contamination, often shown through the presence of wear metals, can indicate engine wear and the need for more frequent oil changes.
Shortening oil change intervals to half of the manufacturer's recommendation can prevent potential engine issues.
Drivers should practice mechanical sympathy by warming up and cooling down the engine properly to reduce stress and wear.
Cold engines are vulnerable to issues like blow-by and piston slap, so it's important to avoid heavy use when the engine hasn't warmed up.
High RPM or lugging the engine at low RPM can strain the engine, so using the appropriate gear for the load is essential.
Drivers should stay aware of potential problems such as unusual noises or smells, and address them early to avoid bigger issues.
Using diagnostic tools to identify and fix engine issues early can help maintain the engine's reliability and avoid breakdowns.
Transcripts
so do you want your car's engine to last forever well it's realistic to expect that your engine is
not going to last forever but to a lot of people they want to hang on to their car as long as they
possibly can and the only real motivation to selling the car and trading up to a newer model
is because it's become unreliable it's started to break down or it's started to run up repair bills
and costs so in this video we're just going to look at some of the things that you can
do as a car owner to prolong the lifespan and the reliability of your cars so we're going to look at
few areas of keeping your car as an everlasting car or an eternal engine and it really involves
maintenance particularly oil changes there's a few things that we need to look out when it
comes to maintaining our car we're also going to look at Cold starts and other things that you as
a driver can do just to develop your mechanical sympathy to ensure that your engine lasts a lot
longer so first up we have servicing now every manufacturer specifies a service interval on the
car so in some cases that may be 6 months it may be 9 months it might be 12 it could even be 24
months we see a lot of Manufacturers recommending a long life service schedule within the service
regime there's often inspection services and oil services so the oil service is literally just a
change of oil and a quick once over the inspection service is a little more involved and involves
changing the other filters in the engine and inspecting more components to make sure everything
is running smoothly and it's not just a matter of servicing the car and changing the oil you need
to be using the correct grade of oil but also an oil that has the correct additive package if you
get that wrong in some of these modern engines you can cause all sorts of problems so I've got
lots of videos that go more in depth into oil the additives and the types of oil that you should
be using there's oils for high mileage engines there's turbocharged formulations so most of the
manufacturers Volkswagen Ford Nissan Honda they all have their own specific formulations and going
outside of those will often have Knock On effects on other components so typically your catalyst
your particulate filter the general protection inside the engine the wear and tear the corrosion
resistance would all be affected so manufacturers have selected oils very very specifically
depending on how the engine has been constructed the materials that have been used and the way the
engine works so it'd be foolish to just go out and buy a cheap oil thinking that that will keep the
car in good condition and all the other fluids that we put in the car the coolant even the brake
fluid everything the car uses needs to be correct for this specific car that you have otherwise you
are going to potentially run up repair bills due to accelerated deterioration of these components
now most people that have had oil analysis done have concluded that the manufacturers oil change
statistics or recommendations are very very optimistic in most cases where you're doing
short Journeys you're abusing the engine you're just using the car the oil has become contaminated
it started to pick up a lot of wear Metals which is an indicator of wear going on inside the engine
so the recommendation then really is to change the oil more frequently so it's very hard for
someone like me to just say you should change your oil every 3,000 miles because there's so
many different engines out there and we all use our cars completely differently so depending on
the use of your car will have a bearing on how quickly the oil you have in there degrades whether
the engine design itself lends itself to the problem of oil dilution we've done a video on that
problem recently and there's lots of other things to take into account so sending your oil off for
analysis really is the best way of telling but most people don't want to do that we just want an
indicator or a suggestion to keep our car reliable so in most cases we would half the manufacturer's
recommendations that would be perceived as cautious by most people people it's unlikely
to see problems developing in the engine oil if you've half the manufacturer's service schedules
so if the saying 12 months 12,000 mil you shorten that to 6 months 6,000 miles so I think now for
most of us we want to be somewhere between the two so we want to be between 6,000 and 12,000 if the
manufacturer specifies at 12,000 miles the key really to Long engine life is changing the oil
if that oil has started to degrade if it's built up wear metals from the engine itself is going
to lead to faster degradation of your engine and greater wear and tear over time so the next thing
that we should be doing as a driver is having a little bit of mechanical sympathy with our engine
so when the engine is cold if we use it too hard it's going to cause problems in the lifespan of
the car the metal components inside the ductility the elasticity the Pistons the clearances inside
haven't reached what the manufacturer said so we're gonna have problems with blow by poor
lubrication piston slap is also a risk on cold engines and an engine when it's cold if you put
a lot of stress into it is going to accelerate the wear and tear on the engine so observing a proper
warm-up routine I'm not going to go into too much detail here as to what a proper warm-up routine is
because I've done other videos on it so if that's something that you're curious about check out
those other videos they're based on a vast pool of knowledge that I've tapped into people have spoken
to my own experiences in the trade and and using cars myself over the years so as well as that
little warm up cycle we should allow the engine to cool down so in most cases it's good to just
allow the engine to cool down a little bit toward the end of our journey so if we were on a highway
freeway Motorway autobhan whatever we want to call these fast roads we may just want to get the speed
down to use a higher gear for the last part of the journey to just give the engine a chance
to properly cool down and that avoids the big temperature the big fast temperature differentials
that happen when a very hot engine is suddenly shut off so modern engine designs have come on a
long way the manufacturers have taken into account the abuse that the typical driver gives them but
we can do a little bit to extend the engine life of our precious motor so another thing we should
do is drive sympathetically if we using a manual in the UK there's still about 70% of cars on the
road at the moment that have a manual transmission use the right gear we want to avoid lugging the
engine putting a big load on the engine at very very low RPM figures we also want to
avoid excessive stress in the engine so we want to avoid high RPM driving all the time the key really
is to just vary it vary the Rev range that you use as you drive the car and just make sure the
engine is used as the manufacture intended don't fall into the Trap of thinking that low RPM equals
better fuel economy because most cars have a point in the RPM range which gives you the best fuel
economy and that's generally not at the lowest point you need to choose an appropriate gear and
appropriate gear takes into account the load if you're going uphill if you're towing if you're
trying to accelerate you'll need a different gear to if you were on the flat just maintaining a
steady constant speed so the last thing we want to do is just be conscious of potential problems as
they develop the earlier we can get to a problem the less chance it has to escalate into a big
problem so check out noises smells fluids coming from the engine underneath the car anything out of
the ordinary can indicate you've got a potential problem so you want to jump on that quite quickly
if you've noticed unusual power surges or blips or you're getting intermittent running flat spots
when you accelerate it's time to pull out the diagnostic tool plug it into your OBD2 port read
off the error codes and just see what is going on in inside the engine and spotting these problems
early on really does ensure that your engine is reliable it's less likely to let you down
if you've identified a weak spot and replaced it before that part has actually failed on you so
if you found this video useful please boot that like button that really does help us to get out
there if you've not subscribed to the channel yet please do so hate you to miss out on all
the great content we've got coming up to help you to get the best out of your car and maintain its
long-term reliability and I've lined this video up for you that you should find really interesting
if you want to get the best out of your car thanks for watching see you in this next video
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