What Happens When You Skip an Oil Change?
Keeping a consistent maintenance schedule is the best way to keep your vehicle in good condition. This mostly entails consistent oil changes to keep your vehicle in its best shape. An oil change is needed every 3-4 months because the motor oil in your engine keeps the components of your engine lubricated and protected from rust or other damage.
When you schedule an oil change at the dealer or lube shop it can be nearly impossible to find a time that actually works for you, often times making you leave work early or having to skip dinner with your family. Going out for an oil change in Toronto can be a 2-3-hour process and as soon as something in your life comes up that oil change can be put on the back burner. This is not a specifically fatal mistake, but so long you make another appointment in a couple weeks your engine will only suffer a small amount. The most worrisome fact is that if you are leaving motor oil that has lost its ability to protect your engine in your vehicle an extra 2 weeks on each oil change that is 6-8 weeks a year. This then means you are damaging your engine for 11-15% of the year. When you think of it in this way you can see how changing your oil on time is so important.
Signs You Need an Oil Change
When you miss an oil change you won’t be able to see or feel the signs right away. We do recommend checking your dip stick when you fill up your gas tank to see the colour of the oil and to check the level.
When you check your dipstick the oil will be on the stick and that is a nice way to see the colour of your oil. Most motor oil is either an amber colour or a dark gold colour when it goes into the vehicle upon an oil change, so when you check it will often be darker than these colours but there are some specific things to look for. The colour can be dark, but when the motor oil is completely black you must change the oil as soon as possible. Sometimes the engine oil will be black with a tinge of that original colour in the light, and this means that the oil still has some life left in it.
If you are not inclined to checking your dipstick often then there are some other noticeable signs an oil change is needed. All of the following reasons mean that you need an immediate oil change because the vehicle is already feeling the affects of old motor old not being able to protect the engine.
The first sign you need an oil change is that the engine is louder than usual. The small parts of the engine can create louder noises when there is motor oil that isn’t protecting them, so this is most noticed when you start your engine. The vehicle will be very loud from these small engine parts touching without motor oil lubricating and the most severe version of this is when you can actually here some ticking in your engine.
The second sign is more difficult to notice as it will be in the rear view mirror. This is smoke from the tailpipe, since most vehicles will produce no smoke as it breaks carbon emission standards. When the tailpipe is spitting out smoke its time to book yourself an oil change.
A sputtering vehicle may also be a sign of a overdue oil change. This is caused by the oil filter being clogged and therefore the oil cannot filter through and creating much dirtier oil much faster. When your vehicle sputters while driving it means it’s time for an oil change.
Best Place for an Oil Change?
Rather than sitting in Toronto traffic on your way to the garage or oil change shop, download The Oil Change App on the App Store or Google Play and send out a live request for service anytime, anywhere. All oil changes are synthetic and include a OEM spec filter to keep your engine running smooth.