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Car maintenance is essential for its use, from two points of view: on the one hand, it avoids unpleasant experiences, such as staying on foot, perhaps on a holiday or during a snowstorm; on the other hand, it guarantees a longer life to our beloved car, as well as a lower expense resulting from frequent replacements. How many times have we pretended to ignore the warning lights that come on on the dash, including the oil warning light? Probably at least once in a lifetime. Instead, you have to be careful: oil and filter changes must be done without delay. Let’s find out more about engine oil.
When to change the car’s oil
Engine oil is a fundamental component for the functioning of the car: thanks to its effect, it is first of all guaranteed that the engine temperature rises excessively, as well as keeping all the various components clean and preserving the life of the metal surfaces. That is why when the relevant light comes on, you need to pay attention right away. Even if some cars have particularly sensitive sensors that are activated at the slightest perception of insufficient oil pressure, when the warning light comes on it is a good idea to stop the car immediately or go to the nearest garage for a check.
But wanting to avoid waiting for the warning light to come alive, when is it advisable to change the engine oil, without exceeding the other side or replacing it too often incurring unnecessary costs? In the first place, we must take into consideration several factors, namely:
- The age of the car;
- The type of engine (diesel or petrol).
Let’s see the difference better.
The oil change according to the age of the car
Older cars require more frequent oil changes and more demanding maintenance in general. This is for a very simple reason, that is, the tolerance of the engine is lowered: in summary, the more time passes, the lower the tolerance level. A little like what happens to people! And the lower tolerance level requires higher engine oil consumption. New cars, on the other hand, have higher tolerance levels and require less frequent oil changes.
Sometimes we tend to think that the difference in consumption between old and new cars depends on how the engines are structured: in reality, the difference is minimal from this point of view. It is essentially a question of efficiency which, over time, tends to decrease.
The type of engine: how it affects the oil change
The frequency of the oil change is also partly determined by the type of engine fueling, ie diesel or petrol. Diesel engines require less frequent change due to their design from a technical point of view. The difference is not exactly small, as we will see shortly: it is in fact almost half the frequency of the diesel compared to the petrol engine.
Expert advice on oil change times
So let’s see in terms of kilometers how often it is necessary to carry out this type of maintenance.
In this regard, there are different opinions, which also vary by examining the two variables seen above. In summary:
- If the car is new enough, so it does not reach 10 years of life, the oil should be changed every 15,000 – 20,000 km. If the car runs on diesel, it can even reach 25,000 km;
- If our machine, on the other hand, begins to be more than ten years old, to prolong its use it would be better to change the oil every 10,000 km approximately.
The engine booklet is certainly authentic, on which the exact timing in terms of kilometers is marked, obviously. If you’ve lost your booklet or been sucked out of your car’s glove box, you can definitely find a version published online by the automaker.
Among other things, in 99% of cases, when you bring your machine to the workshop for a breakdown, a check or even the mandatory overhaul, as a rule the mechanic first checks the oil, so we can partially do reliance on professionals in the sector if we are in doubt.
Another clarification must be made regarding the filters: should they also be changed when oil is added? As a rule, yes, since the filter collects the waste produced during combustion. Having dirty or clogged filters does not allow for effective cleaning and could seriously affect the engine if the problem continues for a long time.
Sources of information:
Engine Oil Information – www.autoparti.it
The diesel engine: from birth to decline in photos – panorama.it
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