If you want your vehicle to last a long time, one of the major areas that you will need to spend time on is the engine. You need to make sure that this is looked after as well as possible, as if you are doing that it is going to mean good things for the future of your vehicle on the whole. But with so many different types of engines out there in so many different vehicles, how can you be sure that you are able to effectively care for your engine?
In this post, we will make it simpler and easier for you to ensure that you are caring for your engine as effectively as possible. Read on to find out more.
Clean It Regularly
A lot of people don’t realize that they need to clean their engine if it is to work properly and last a long time, but actually this is one of the most important things of all that you can do. If you have never cleaned your engine before, don’t worry – it is actually a very simple and straightforward thing to do, and yet the results of it are going to be profound and absolutely worth your while. So here is a quick rundown on how you can clean your engine properly.
First of all, pick a good day for it. Ideally you want a dry, sunny day. Warm weather will help dry the engine after cleaning, especially if the humidity is low. You’ll also want to pick a day when you don’t need the car, and you should make sure that you are doing this when the engine is cool, so if you have driven it, wait for it to cool first.
Once the engine is cool to the touch, it’s time to remove any plastic covers that you can see on the engine. You might also want to remove the negative terminal of the battery, just in case it gets wet when you are cleaning the engine, but you probably don’t need to go as far as removing the whole battery itself.
Then you’ll want to cover up any sensitive electrical parts that might be on display. You can do this with some plastic bags or anything plastic that can easily go over those parts. Pay particular attention to the battery, engine control unit, and any ignition wires you might see. You don’t want to put any of these parts at risk of being damaged.
After you’ve prepped all that, it’s time to start degreasing your engine. That is just a matter of spraying the whole engine compartment with degreaser, which can simply be a kitchen product if that is all you have to hand, it doesn’t really make a difference. Just make sure you do it thoroughly.
It is then time to scrub your engine all over, if you need to – it might not be quite dirty enough to require this. Generally you’ll just need to use a small brush to do this. But make sure not to use a metallic brush, as this will damage some of the parts on the outside of the engine.
Then it’s just time to rinse and then to let the engine dry out with the hood up. Replace everything you took out, and then you are good to go. Consider doing this every six months or so at least for the best results.
Know Your Engine
As well as giving it a thorough clean every now and then, you also need to make sure that you know your engine through and through. The more intimately you know it, the more likely it is that you can keep it working in perfect condition, so this is absolutely something that you will want to think about. For that, it can help to do some research, and you’ll need to make sure that you are looking up the specific engine that is in your car. Every engine has common problems that others might not have, so if you have a Chevy 6.0 make sure to look up Chevy 6.0 engine problems, for instance.
Getting to know your engine is essential if you want to make sure you know how to keep it in working order, and so you know what issues to look out for. But there is also the matter of working with your specific engine, not just the right make and model – and that’s something that is just going to come more and more easily over time, the more effort and time you put into it. So make sure that you are doing that as well. Getting your hands dirty is one of the best things you can do here.
Increase Performance
If you want to make the most of your engine, you might want to consider taking some steps to increase its performance. Now, this is not essential for being able to use the engine and ensure that it is functioning well – it’s just something that can help to get more out of it, and to enjoy driving your vehicle all the more. But it’s absolutely something that you might want to look into, and the good news is that there are numerous things you can do towards this end.
For instance, you might look at the ignition system and whether it might need upgrading, or consider taking a look at the compression and whether that can be tuned up a little. Playing around with these can be dangerous, so you should take care – but the result can often be that you have an engine that you are much prouder of, and that in turn might encourage you to take better care of it.
As you can see, there are a lot of things to think about when it comes to increasing the performance of your engine, and you should make sure that you are aware of all of these. Hopefully, you will be able to keep your engine going strong easily enough.