Oil Change San Carlos, CA - Toole's Garage

The Importance of Oil Changes

Posted on 8/24/2017

Hey All,

Yes, I am writing about an Oil Change. Why? I will tell you. This is me hopping on my soapbox. Engine oil is the life blood of your engine. Technology has changes, engines are getting more precision, lighter, physically smaller, etc. Oil has gotten better as well. Here is where the problem starts. Manufacturers are recommending oil changes due to driving styles, measured by analytics.

This is not actually measuring the actual oil in the car. Many of you out there have changed your own oil, many of you have not. You will see that new oil looks lovely, like a nice olive oil. During its lifespan, it somehow turns into a dark staining black substance that seems thicker than it went in. How does that happen? Imagine a campfire, and you add a piece of wood that maybe had a little paint on it. It creates a nasty soot burning off of it. Inside your engine, the gasoline that is igniting is creating soot as well. The cheaper the gas, the more the soot. This soot goes out the tailpipe, but also mixes with the oil via the cylinder walls. This soot is carbon and a little unburned fuel. This is consistently mixing with your oil. The longer it is in there, the more it has absorbed. Well, oil itself is not really flammable, but after having mixed with carbon and fuel for 5,000 miles or so, it is actually quite combustible. This is when oil consumption starts to occur. This soot does cause other damage as well. Think of the permanent metal wear happening between the cylinder walls and piston rings and oil quantity loss, this will never fix itself. However, the burning portion runs out the tailpipe passing by components like the Oxygen sensors, Lean Air Fuel Ratio sensors, and Catalytic Converters. These were not designed to have the soot and tar creation that occurs on them. Unlike your engine, you can more easily replace these items, but at anywhere between $500 - $3,000 when needed, it still hurts the pocket book. Not only that cost, but the new one(s) you just installed, will not last as long either. Same problem, soot and tar. Hope this was helpful. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

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San Carlos & Valley Springs Auto Repair

The Importance of Oil Changes

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