By lubricating the engine, the oil isn’t simply keeping things running smoothly, it also plays a vital role in protecting various components of the engine and preventing damage. It gets pumped around the engine from the sump, a reservoir of oil. The oil pump is very significant for the life of the engine. From the pump, the oil travels to the oil filter which removes minute particles and supplies clean oil to specific engine parts. The oil is the only thing preventing contact between metal surfaces of the engine.
Incompatible Oil
Some keep cars as a hobby but most only own one due to the necessity of using it as a transport and those are the ones who have, comparatively, much less information about which fluids are meant to be used within an engine. Under these circumstances, the wrong specification oil is often mistakenly opted to be used by many people. There are literally hundreds of different kinds of oils made by petroleum manufacturers for specific types of engines like petrol & diesel, and using oil that is not suited to your engine can lead to excessive consumption.
Excessive Wear
If you’re a bit of a rash driver and find yourself driving at those sweet-sounding high revs quite often, your engine could probably see some rough days. Driving at high RPMs means that your engine is operating at high temperatures for longer intervals of time. These high temperatures affect the oil in such a way that the petroleum in oil breaks down, leaving behind carbon deposits on the piston rings, and this leads to oil lessening or inefficient oil usage because of the oil entering the combustion chamber and being burned. If you’ve got blue colored smoke coming from the exhaust when you start your vehicle up, and before the catalytic converter warms up, then you probably have oi being consumed inside the engine.
Oil Leaks
In some cases, you may not have oil consumption issues, but oil leaks. This will require you to check the entire engine or components like gaskets, the turbo, valve covers, timing chain covers, oil pan cover, and sometimes even an oil drain plug. Some things in the engine that are exposed to high pressure are even more vulnerable, namely, oil pressure sensors, oil filters, crankshaft seals, and even head gaskets. Cracks in the oil sump can also be the reason behind a leak. As the engine ages, the rubber seals get harder and brittle over time and end up cracking or not functioning properly as seals. This also creates points for the engine oil to seep out when the car is parked overnight or for a couple of days.
Late oil change
One more important point to remember is that once the oil goes beyond its rated service life, it will be depleted of the additives put in to the oil. Once that happens, the oil will break down and evaporate quicker, which will also cause oil loss.
Engine design flaw
You also need to keep in mind that there are numerous engine designs in the market and some engines just use up more oil due to engine design or even defects in the engine design.
Conclusion
So to sum it all up, the best way to avoid engine oil consumption externally and internally is by simply changing the oil regularly before it gets dirty. Regular maintenance with quality oil and filter will make sure that there are no complications in the engine and will protect and preserve the heart of the car, the engine. Keeping it in the best running condition possible.
