4 Things That Cause Major Car Engine Damage

Some parts of a car require regular maintenance and minor repairs from time to time. These things are part of car ownership. However, you cannot afford any significant damage to the most critical part of your car: the engine. The same goes with delaying the repair once the engine gets damaged. Otherwise, it would lead to more catastrophic damages that might eventually render your car useless in no time.

From not changing the engine oil to overheating, these are the common car engine damages and their causes that you want to prevent.

Car engine damages to avoid

1) Insufficient oil

Whether you are using synthetic oil or any oil for that matter, inadequate car engine oil downright destroys the car in a matter of minutes to a few hours, not days or weeks. This is because the oil provides lubrication as you use the vehicle, and without it, the metal parts would grind and thus, scrape one another due to friction and heat.

This is also the reason why owners must replace engine oil regularly. Failure to do an old change will definitely cause overheating due to the continuous burning of oil. Does it is best to check oil levels regularly

2) Excessive oil

If you think overfilling your engine with engine oil is the answer, you’re wrong—overfilling can also lead to engine damage. A small amount is ok, but there is too much oil, the moving parts of the engine will be submerged to it. 

This oil gets aerated and frothy or foamy. In addition, this oil tends to be heavier, so it won’t flow properly in the engine. It leads to the same damages caused by lower levels of engine oil. So it is best to use only the recommended amount of oil.

3) Misfire

An engine misfire occurs when combustion takes place outside the cylinders. Also called a backfire, it means that the cylinders are not producing enough power for the car. This damages different components in the intake and exhaust parts of the engine, including the catalytic converter.

An engine misfire can be caused by a dysfunctional spark plug, oxygen sensor, or fuel injector. When this happens, emissions increase due to the unburned gasoline going out of the car engine. As such, misfires, regardless of how intermittent they are, are a clear sign that some components need replacement or repair. Left unfixed, it will cause severe damage to the car. So fix it immediately.

4) Hydrolocking

Hydrolock occurs when a high volume of liquid enters the cylinder. It means there is a greater amount of liquid compared with the volume of the cylinder at a minimum. This mostly happens when the car fords its way through floodwater. The water gets sucked into the engine through the ports. 

Since there’s an excessive amount of water that takes too long to dry it, can cause problems. The reason is that the water in the engine cannot be compressed since it was designed to compress a combination of fuel and air. Hydrolock also explains why there are holes in your car’s engine. 

Fixing a hydrolocked engine can be expensive because the engine needs cranking over to remove any excess water that may be obstructing the proper functioning of the entire engine system. That’s why you should fix the problem as soon as possible because the water may corrode the parts if it is not cleaned out soon enough.

A damaged car engine is both inconvenient and expensive. Fortunately, you can avoid any major car engine damage, but only if you pay attention to what’s happening to your car while also doing regular checkups and fixing any minor damages before they escalate into bigger car engine problems.