Yes, oil changes will really extend the life of your automobile. Specifically, they can extend the life of the engine. It is important that you pay attention to the factory-scheduled services listed in your owner’s manual and have every service done at the correct mileage milestone. This includes oil changes every 3,000 miles. Without clean and viscous oil, the engine can break down in less than 30 minutes.
Protect
One reason why the engine can break down without clean and viscous oil is that the job of the motor oil is to protect the engine. One way to look at it is moisturizer for your skin. Without moisturizer, your skin dries up, cracks, and bleeds. The moisturizer creates a protective barrier over your skin to keep your skin soft and supple. The motor oil creates a protective barrier between your engine’s moving parts. This prevents them from wearing against each other and breaking each other down.
Lubricate
By providing a protective barrier, the motor oil is lubricating the engine parts. These metal parts would grind against each other and seize up very quickly if they did not have motor oil to lubricate them. Your engine needs constant lubrication in order to run smoothly and efficiently. In fact, a well-lubricated engine with plenty of clean and viscous motor oil in it can actually get better gas mileage. An oil change is not that expensive, whereas poor gas mileage can be quite costly.
Cool
Another thing that the lubrication does is prevent the parts from generating friction when they move together. As you know, friction causes heat. As such, the motor oil works together with the engine coolant to keep your engine’s temperature below 220 degrees Fahrenheit. This keeps the engine running within the normal range. This, too, is crucial. An overheating engine can crack the head gasket, the engine block, or the exhaust manifold.
Cleans
Finally, one last thing that the motor oil does is keep your engine clean, and this is one way that it extends the life of the engine. As an engine gets older, it produces more sludge. This sludge can cause the engine to break down. Clean and viscous motor oil circulates through the engine to remove the sludge. This helps the engine live longer.
We are here to help, so call us today to schedule an appointment for your automobile if you are due for an oil change. We cannot overstate the importance of oil changes.