| Making Your Car Last...and Last...and Last | | | | running an engine cleaning test, clears up. |
| | | | Think of it as clearing the gunk out of the |
| Buying a car is a big investment. While in | | | | engine to make it run better. |
| inflation adjusted dollars, the cost of a new | | | | |
| car hasn't actually risen that much (due to | | | | Speaking of engine damage and damaging your |
| cheaper labor overseas, and efficiencies in | | | | car, it's pretty clear that anything that |
| manufacturing), for most people just starting | | | | makes your oil last longer is going to be |
| out, a new car is a substantial investment - | | | | beneficial to your car's health and |
| easily a year to half a year's take home | | | | operations. One of the big culprits in |
| income. Making that investment last is in | | | | engine damage, especially with new cars, is |
| your best interest as a car owner. | | | | the "break in" phase. Drive gently during |
| | | | the first 50-100 miles you own the car; and |
| Cars, in routine operations, run with | | | | vary your speed regularly over the first 500 |
| temperature extremes ranging from ambient air | | | | miles. What you're trying to do is give your |
| to three hundred degrees. While they're | | | | engine an opportunity to "work in" all the |
| designed to handle this range, that range of | | | | places where contact occurs; this is the time |
| temperatures, and the sheer amount of power | | | | when most of the internal particulate damage |
| involved in running a car, should give you | | | | to a car is done. By varying your speed for |
| some appreciation for the high quality | | | | the first 500 miles or so, you're helping to |
| engineering behind your car's engine, and | | | | ensure that proper seating of your piston |
| should give you some hints on what to do to | | | | rings takes please, which will help reduce |
| preserve the life of your car. | | | | oil consumption for the life of the car. |
| | | | Also, be sure to flush and change the oil |
| First of all, don't put off maintenance. | | | | after the first 1500 miles or so; this will |
| Routine maintenance of your car is just like | | | | eliminate microscopic bits of metal and grit |
| getting a physical every year from the | | | | that get shaken loose during the break in |
| doctor; it's not that you expect to find | | | | phase. |
| something wrong, but that you want to find | | | | |
| the small problems before they grow to become | | | | After changing the oil, be sure to replace it |
| large ones. In similar light, don't put off | | | | with a high quality synthetic motor oil. |
| changing the oil; remember when we talked | | | | Synthetics are formulated to maintain |
| about the wide range of temperatures your car | | | | viscosity over a wider range of temperatures, |
| undergoes in routine operations? Well, your | | | | and to avoid high temperature breakdowns and |
| oil is what protects the moving parts of your | | | | boil off. They produce fewer carbon |
| car when it runs. Motor oil is meant to coat | | | | deposits, and retain their viscosity for up |
| the parts of the car and lubricate them, and | | | | to three times longer, and offer generally |
| also transmits heat from friction and wear | | | | better protection throughout their cycle. |
| and tear. The "clinginess" of oil to engine | | | | |
| parts is its viscosity, and in general, | | | | The other place where routine work and |
| engines are built and tuned to run within a | | | | careful driving can greatly extend the life |
| certain range of engine oil viscosities and | | | | of your car is the transmission. Drive |
| weights. | | | | gently - avoid making sudden starts and |
| | | | stops. After you're done with the break-in |
| That lubrication effect from oil helps | | | | period, try to maintain a constant speed when |
| prevent the single biggest cause of engine | | | | you drive. It doesn't save any time to |
| damage: Grinding and wear from road grit, | | | | accelerate and break suddenly, but it does |
| metal particles ground off from inside the | | | | wear the engine out faster. Likewise, only |
| engine and more. The oil traps these | | | | change gears when you need to - this prevents |
| microscopic particles, and keeps them from | | | | wear and tear on the transmission. Like the |
| abrading the surfaces. These accumulated | | | | advice above about engine oil, use a high |
| particles, plus carbon that's "cooked out" of | | | | quality synthetic for your transmission |
| the oil in high temperature circumstances, | | | | fluid, and replace the transmission fluid |
| form engine oil sludge, which is one of the | | | | early on a new car, for the same reasons you |
| things that regularly changing the oil, and | | | | do your first oil change after 1500 miles. |