Why is an engine oil change essential?

Car maintenance is an essential aspect of safety when we travel. There are people who damn respect the checks of the vehicles and who do not avoid the technical services of the brands to do the maintenance, which generally results in a good condition of the car and not suffering too much with the normal depreciation that exists because of use. .

But not all are good drivers. We are not just talking about respecting the rules of the road, but about this procedure which consists in keeping the vehicle in good condition.

At this point, one of the most relevant aspects is related to engine oil. If you want to see what happens when we ignore this care, the YouTube channel “I Do Cars” has posted a video where you can see what a car’s engine looks like after 100,000 kilometers without an oil change. In the pictures you can see a 3.0 liter twin-turbo V6 taken from an Infiniti Q50 and when you see it you will think twice if you decide to postpone the engine change.

So how do you recognize a problem? The first thing is that we will see a warning light on the board that will warn us that there is not enough liquid in the system (in the best case). For this, the simplest test is with the gauge and thus check if that is the problem.

But the idea is not to reach that point where it can be difficult to come back. That’s why we spoke with Héctor Ignacio Flores Rocha, professor at the Duoc UC School of Engineering and Natural Resources, Maipú campus, who explained to us the relevance and importance of motor oil.

According to Flores, the first thing to keep in mind is that “changing a vehicle’s engine oil has benefits and will help keep the engine in top operating condition and durability. The oil and the oil filter will help you to work in perfect condition”.

But what role does engine oil play? The specialist specifies that “engine oil plays a fundamental and necessary role for the life of your vehicle, first of all it keeps the moving parts lubricated, preventing wear, thus helping to prolong the life of the engine. For all its capabilities to work properly, it must be changed periodically as indicated by the manufacturer, this is accompanied by its oil filter whose function is to retain the impurities that may be inside the engine, due to the chips due internal wear.

Taking what the teacher says, it is clear that in the event of driving our vehicle with oil in poor condition, a malfunction will occur which can range from engine noise to unnecessarily greater wear of internal parts. of the engine, which can end in the event of damage requiring the replacement of the entire engine block. And with that, a huge expense will affect the pocket.

Regarding the period that must elapse between one oil change and another, Flores comments that “it is best to be guided by the vehicle manufacturer, their recommendations, which we can find in the vehicle manual, will set guideline for oil changes. The main criteria followed when changing the oil are the kilometers traveled with the vehicle. We must also take into account the use we make of the vehicle, if we usually make short trips our engine will suffer more than if we use it more frequently for long road trips. As a reminder, the manufacturer’s recommendations should be followed, but as a general rule, a synthetic oil is changed every 10,000 km”.

If we are already aware of the need to keep the vehicle in perfect condition, with engine oil changes at the recommended times, we may find ourselves with another dilemma: what oil to use.

Without going into specific brands, Ignacio Flores specifies that “considering that additives are added to motor oils to improve their performance, synthetic oil can be found as a result of a chemical process where the molecules are more uniform than the other oils.With these characteristics it helps to reduce the number of impurities, with this factor we obtain better performance and withstand higher extreme temperatures such as high and low.Then comes the semi-synthetic oil which reaches greater resistance to oxidation (compared to mineral or conventional oil), offering excellent performance when working at low temperatures.Finally, mineral or conventional oil is the most common type of oil, after obtaining it, it has not undergone any additional treatment and we can find it in a wide range of viscosities and qualities.Its use is recommended in simpler engines or when its operation occurs under regular conditions, with temperatures sweet”.

You already know what this means and the importance of engine oil, so don’t neglect yourself and always carry out the maintenance indicated by the manufacturer, before incurring expenses which are never welcome.