Your car’s engine is its heartbeat. A contemporary automotive engine may survive hundreds of thousands of kilometres without breaking down if properly maintained and cared for.
To prevent having to use a tow truck to bring your car to a repair shop, keep an eye out for indicators of engine failure. Here are five signs that your engine is deteriorating and that you may need to rebuild it.
- Excessive oil consumption
Increased oil consumption and low oil pressure are not only warning indications but also clues as to where the problem is. The clearances between the parts in your engine are usually the cause of these issues. As the parts wear down, the clearances between them widen, enabling oil to leak into your engine and be burnt off. This is usually seen as bluish smoke coming from your exhaust.
Worn piston rings, broken valve guides and aged bearings are the main culprits for high oil consumption and low oil pressure.
- Engine performance issues
In a manual transmission, if the clutch and gas pedals are not engaged at the right speed, your car may stall and require a restart—a stressful and unpleasant experience, especially in traffic. Automatic transmissions don’t have issues as frequently as manual transmissions, but when they do, it’s a sign that something is amiss with an engine component. It is mainly caused by an air/fuel mixture in the intake stroke or a lack of sufficient spark. Irrespective of what your transmission is, if it is stalling, have it looked at by a professional as soon as possible.
- Increased exhaust smoke
Smoke coming from the front of your car is obviously not a good sign, but it’s too late to take preventative measures at this point. Smoke can also come from your car’s tailpipe and if it’s very thick or discoloured, it could be a sign that something is wrong with your engine.
Blue smoke – indicates that oil has escaped its surroundings in the engine crankcase and is mixing with fuel and being burned. If you observe blue smoke coming from your tailpipe, pull over immediately and have your car towed to a car service nearby — or risk serious engine damage.
White smoke indicates that antifreeze or water condensation has gotten into your fuel supply, causing your coolant to be burned up and causing engine failure. You may mitigate this by adding coolant and antifreeze to your reservoir until you can get to a repair, but it should be checked out as soon as possible.
- Compression loss
If your automobile is misfiring, you could have a loss of compression, which can only be fixed by rebuilding the engine. Misfiring is annoying, not only it causes you to be late but also harm your engine’s performance. As a result, keep an eye out for any indicators of misfiring while starting up. You can use a technique known as ‘leak down testing’ to figure out what the problem is. You’ll use a leak down tester to determine the state of your engine.
A compression test is also an option. To test the engine’s cylinders, use a compression gauge. Ascertain that the pressures in each cylinder are comparable. If they differ significantly, you may have a problem.
- Noises
It’s natural for your automobile to create some additional noise, especially as it ages. However, be aware of any strange or potentially dangerous noises. Loud clicking, popping and grinding noises, for example. Any odd noises should be reported to your mechanic.
Popping and clanking noises can be caused by premature detonation of your car’s engine block, which can shatter pistons and cause your engine to explode in rare cases. Grinding noises when shifting gears might indicate a worn or broken gearbox while grinding noises while starting could suggest a malfunctioning starter motor.
Noises may arise if the combustion flow is irregular. They may be as innocuous as a slipping fan belt, but they could also indicate that your engine is about to break catastrophically. If you hear strange noises from the engine, it is time to schedule an engine service immediately.
To wrap up
It’s important to seek assistance as soon as you discover a problem with your engine. Engine repairs can be intimidating because they are often more costly than other types of repairs. Remember the sooner you get maintenance work done to fix damage to your engine, the less money you’ll have to spend on repairs later. It is usually more expensive to replace your entire engine than to rectify a minor engine problem now.
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