Poor Oil Health Affects Your Vehicle in Several Different Ways

Oil Health and the Signs of When It’s Failing

Foreign vehicles are often synonymous with performance vehicles. If you’re choosing a foreign make, it’s probably because you’ve researched what sets it apart from other companies, and you want that extra boost of performance. Well, extra comes with extra wear and tear, and that means you need regular oil changes. For performance vehicles and foreign makes, your engine is finely tuned, and that means there are delicate mechanisms that can’t be given excess stress. Your oil is important for the engine to keep it cool and to lubricate those moving parts to keep them from damaging each other. Over time, your oil collects debris from the engine parts and picks up from the road itself. What starts out as runny, almond-colored oil turns into thicker, darker oil over time.

The easiest way to keep track of your oil health is through regular visual checks using the Dipstick under the hood. You can check for the correct consistency of oil and also make sure the levels are high enough to maintain oil pressure.

Your vehicle also has a method of letting you know if something is wrong with the oil. The Dashboard Oil Light will blink on if your engine detects any issues with the oil level, the temperature, or the system itself. While it isn’t specific, it’s enough to let you know to get to a mechanic for an inspection, and with a foreign vehicle, the sooner, the better.

More common in older vehicles, oil leaks require immediate attention before they cause further damage. Even a small oil leak can affect your oil pressure in a short time. Your oil pressure is how the oil travels through the engine to keep it cool. If your oil pressure is low, your oil will not circulate and not effectively cool your vital engine parts.

There are a couple of different reasons why your vehicle could be smoking, but the most likely culprit is the oil. Your oil is in your engine to help keep it cool, which means it is absorbing an insane amount of heat that’s being produced through gasoline combustion. New, runny, clean oil is very effective at absorbing heat. Oil, sludgy, dark oil cannot absorb as much heat and is more likely to catch fire. If you experience any smoke from under your hood, pull over immediately so the engine can start cooling down. Investigate safely, if you can, or call a factory-trained technician for a tow and inspection.

If nothing else, know that your oil health is important, and if you see any of the above signs, have your vehicle inspected to prevent further damage to your foreign vehicle. Or it could lead to an engine failure that leaves you stranded on the side of the road.