Changing Your Oil Properly Depends On 3 Main Things
Most people don’t realize that you can basically set your car or truck up to last forever if you pay attention to few key elements. I’ve had vehicles last me a very long time and with little maintenance, but my track record wouldn’t be as keen as it is had I not paid close attention to these 3 things:
Air Filters
Rumor on the street has it that air intakes are the key to getting better fuel economy and increasing your engine’s horsepower. There is a ring of truth to this but the cost doesn’t justify the tiny reward. The most important filter on your car by far is your air filter. If you go cheap on air filtration to reduce intake pressure drop, chances are you’re letting noxious particles in to fly around your engine. This is where you’ll find abrasive dirt and grit. So focus on using a high quality paper filter that has a high filtration efficiency.
Oil Filters
The next filter in the hierarchy of importance is of course your oil filter. The oil filter is going to take care of any contaminants that make their way to your engine via the air or fuel intake by the oil trapping them and pushing them through the oil filter. A couple things to consider. You want your oil filter element to be constructed of materials that will not weaken with time. Internal end caps made of steel are preferable. Some end caps are made of cardboard. Another consideration would be the bypass valve. The initial start of your engine is going to find your oil thick and cool. The bypass valve is going to let the oil flow around until the element is heated up. If a bypass valve is cheaply made it is more likely to get caught up and stick wide open, allowing unfiltered oil to keep flowing into your engine regardless of how hot the element’s gotten (dangerous for piston rings!).
Motor Oil
Here’s the low down on motor oil; cheap oil has low detergency and didn’t have high filtering standards during production and is going to leave you with sludge, it doesn’t have what it takes to prevent internal engine damage. I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “oil is oil” and I hope you know that that saying doesn’t ring true at all. The time it takes to read up on oil quality and know what your looking for is well worth the lifetime of protection that results from it. By all means, don’t shop for oil for it’s price and if you come across a quart of oil that costs a buck, high tail it out of there.
Keeping your engine on the up and up means using quality products that are going to greatly increase your vehicle’s life span as well as save you both time and money in the long run when it comes to vehicle maintenance. It’s really worth the effort to track down a high quality air filter, a sturdy oil filter and a superior motor oil.
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