Checklist to Tick Before You Change Your Vehicle Engine Oil

Changing engine oil for your vehicle is a regular maintenance job, but there are many car users who take this job with a lighter frame of mind, and the consequences they face for it, isn’t always a pleasant one. So what are the things you need t be careful about, when you change the engine or motor oil for your vehicle? 

An experienced mechanic who attended us when we visited the Chevrolet oil change service near Apple Valley, gave us a checklist to tick on when we go for next oil change. 

Frequency to Check the Oil Level

The first step towards changing your car engine oil is keeping a check on the oil levels. Usually the recommended interval between checking the oil level of your vehicle is at least once in a month. One should also be extra vigilant about any signs of a leak. But recent automotive engineering that is evolving and advancing very fast might suggest you otherwise. So, the best thing to do, is follow your owner’s manual and the recommendations mentioned by your automaker. 

What to Check

The color of the engine oil is the first thing you take notice of. Ideally, if the oil is still in its pure form, must look brown or black in color. But if you find it lighter in shade with some milky substance floating on it, it is usually indicative of the coolant being leaked into the engine. You also need to look carefully about any metal particles, to make sure that there isn’t any chance for an internal engine damage. Needless to say, that if you find any of these conditions, your car needs a proper diagnosis.

Frequency of Changing the Oil

As the old saying goes, engine oils have been recommended to be changed either in every 3,000 miles or once in every 3 months. But recent advancements in automotive industry is building engines that doesn’t need the above-said norm. Currently, the usual interval of oil-change is directed at 7,500 to 10,000 miles and once in every six or twelve months.

Even here, the best way to decide the interval is following the instructions of your owner’s manual, that will suggest what your car exactly will need. 

Buying the Right Oil for Your Car

The mechanics of the Apple Valley Chevrolet oil change service center concluded that even in this stage, all you have to do is follow only your owner’s manual, and nothing else. They further explained, that the make of the engine installed in a car, along with all other system components will not work in their usual pace and pattern, if wrong kind of motor oil is injected in it. 

Depending upon the engine format, and capacity, the temperature that is raised by the oil makes all the effect in a cascading order. So, if wrong oil is filled in, it will either overheat the engine or will not be able to heat it enough so, residues can start forming and block the way, in which it flows which will eventually lead to an untimely death of the engine. 

Johnson

As a mechanical engineer turned blogger, Charlie provides readers with a technical, yet accessible look into the world of automotive engineering and design. His insightful posts make complex car technologies understandable.