The Importance of Changing Your Oil, Part 1

Have you ever wondered what happens to your vehicle if you don’t change your oil?

With life feeling so fast paced, and busy, it can be tempting to put off an oil change when it’s due, only to realize (sometimes months later) that your car is past due for this simple — yet incredibly important — maintenance.

So what exactly does happen if you don’t have your oil changed in a timely manner?

Let’s take a look, and also answer a couple of common questions …

WHAT DOES OIL DO, EXACTLY?

In a nutshell, motor oil reduces friction, as well as wear and tear, on some of your vehicle’s moving parts. It plays many roles including lubrication, cleaning, protecting, and cooling.

HOW OFTEN DOES OIL NEED TO BE CHANGED?

The short answer is, it depends. Although some manufacturers’ suggestions are for more than 5,000 miles between each oil change, we don’t recommend it. One of the ways auto companies make their maintenance costs look lower is by extending the gap between oil changes. This isn’t necessarily good, long-term, for your vehicle. At Top Tier, we recommend 3,000 miles as a benchmark — especially if you are prone to procrastinating in getting your oil changes done — and waiting no longer than 5,000 miles, even if the manufacturer suggests otherwise. Also, keep in mind that oil loses its lubricating abilities, in other words the oil breaks down, over TIME as well as MILEAGE, so just because you haven’t hit 3,000 miles yet, doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t change your oil. A good benchmark to follow is to get your oil changed every 3,000 miles OR every 3 months; or at the very latest every 5,000 miles OR every 6 months. Whichever comes first.

Ensuring the right type of oil is as important as being timely about changing it — so be sure that you or your mechanic is using what the car needs (IE: conventional, synthetic, synthetic blend or high-mileage motor oil).

In addition to older vehicles, sports cars with high-performance engines may need oil changes more often.

OK, let’s take a look at what can happen to your vehicle if you don’t change the oil …

1. ENGINE FAILURE

Yes, we’re starting off with the worst case scenario, but it’s important to know that this can happen if your vehicle goes long enough without an oil change.

Engine failure will occur over time when an engine’s moving parts start to come into contact with each other and friction of metal on metal continues to damage the engine until it becomes too severe to operate. In this instance, an engine is likely too damaged to repair, and would need to be replaced, which comes at premium cost.

2. SLUDGE ACCUMULATION

As motor oil cycles through an engine, over and over, it continues to pick up dirt, which eventually builds up to what looks like dirty slime — a thick, dark, sludgy substance that no longer posesses the lubricating qualities an engine needs to function well.

Sludge deposits are a tell-tale sign of lack of timely motor oil maintenance. The good news is, this can be easily remedied (as long as no damage has been caused already) by getting the oil changed regularly going forward.

3. EFFICIENCY WOES

The reason motor oil loses effectiveness over time is because the properties that allow it to reduce friction diminish over time — from simply wearing out, and from getting more and more dirty with every mile driven. And as the efficiency of lubrication drops in an engine, the issues we’ve mentioned above (as well as in Part 2 of this series) begin to occur.

Next up, in Part 2, we’ll be covering how failing to change your motor oil can cause engine wear, corrosion, and more.

GET IN TOUCH

Whether you’d like to schedule an oil change, or simply have questions, feel free to contact us anytime! In addition, you can schedule a service online by clicking on the “Request Appointment” button in the navigation above.