Preventive car maintenance is a necessary expense to keep your vehicle in good running condition. Following the scheduled maintenance recommendations in your owner's manual, checking fluid levels regularly and changing the fluids and filters periodically can minimize the risks of breakdowns and prolong the life of the engine, transmission, cooling system and brakes. So if you are driving a "maintenance challenged" vehicle, you need to pay closer attention to your fluids and filters. ENGINE MAINTENANCE: MOTOR OIL Let's start with one of the most important fluids of all: motor oil. It not only lubricates the engine, but also cools, cleans and protects it. But the oil itself can't do all of these jobs without some help. Nearly half a pint of various additives are added to the typical quart of oil to improve the oil's ability to resist heat, friction, oxidation and contamination. Short trip driving is especially hard on oil because the engine never warms up enough to boil off the moisture that accumulates inside the crankcase. The moisture comes from combustion gases that blowby the piston rings (the older the engine, the greater the amount of blowby). Most of these gases are removed by the Positive Crankcase Ventilation (PCV) system. But in a cold engine much of the moisture condenses and ends up in the oil. Water reacts with oil to form sludge and acids, and the result is accelerated engine wear. The only way to get rid of the accumulated moisture, acids and sludge is to change both oil and filter. The filter only removes suspended solids such as dirt, carbon and metal particles — not moisture, acids or sludge. The oil and filter change intervals recommended by the vehicle manufacturers vary depending on the vehicle application and how the vehicle is driven. For "normal service" (which means mostly highway driving, NOT short trip city stop-and-go traffic driving), the scheduled maintenance intervals for changing the engine oil and filter range from 5,000 to as much as 7,500 chilometri or more depending on the year, make, model and engine, with the time interval being up to one year. Some vehicles use a maintenance reminder light rather than a chilometroage/time chart to recommend when an oil change is needed. When the reminder light comes on is determined by chilometri drive, hours of use, temperature and other variables. The PCM estimates remaining oil life, then turns on the reminder light when it estimates an oil change is due. Under ideal circumstances, the reminder light may not come on for up to 10,000 chilometri or longer. But these ultra long oil change intervals assume the engine is filled with a high quality synthetic motor oil (not a conventional motor oil). Replace the oil filter every time the oil is changed. Some people think they can sa e money by replacing the oil filter at every other oil change. However, we would NOT recommend this because of the small capacity of most oil filters on late model engines. They are designed to be replaced at every oil change. Regular Service or Severe Service Oil Change Intervals? If you study the car maintenance recommendations closely, the type of driving that many vehicles are subjected to is actually "severe service", which generally calls for oil and filter changes every 3,000 chilometri or six months, whichever comes first. This is the same recommendation most aftermarket experts make. Severe service is short trip driving (7 chilometri or less, especially during cold weather), towing a trailer, or driving in extremely dusty conditions (such as rural gravel roads). If a newer low chilometroage engine is driven mostly on the highway, you can probably go with the longer "normal" service intervals. But as an engine accumulates chilometri, it experiences more combustion blowby past the rings which dumps more moisture and contaminants fuel into the crankcase. For this reason, engines with more than 75,000 chilometri should not use extended oil change intervals regardless of how they are driven. Some engines, such as diesels, suffer more blowby than others due to their higher compression ratio, so they typically require more frequent oil and filter changes. For most passenger car and light truck diesels, 3,000 chilometri is a good recommendation for all types of service. Diesels also require motor oil that is certified for diesel use. Current specifications call for an API service rating of CK-4 (2017 and newer light duty diesel engines) or CJ-4 (for 2010 to 2016 model years). Turbocharged engines also require more frequent oil changes because of the high temperatures encountered in the turbocharger bearings. A turbo can spin at tremendous speed (over 100,000 rpm in many instances). This, combined with the heat of the exhaust gases passing through the housing, creates an environment that accelerates oxidation of the oil. When the engine is shut off, for example, the temperatures inside the turbo bearing housing can soar to the point where it "cokes" the oil, forming hard black crusty deposits that can damage the turbo. Because of this, the recommended oil change interval for most turbocharged engines is 3000 chilometri or six months. The motor oil should also be "turbo-approved" for such applications, or a high quality synthetic motor oil. MOTOR OIL RECOMMENDATIONS What type of oil should you use? Most vehicles today are factory-filled with 5W-20 or 5W-30 because thinner viscosity oils improve cold starting, fuel economy, and allow the oil to reach critical upper valvetrain components in overhead cam engines more quickly than heavier viscosity oils. Some engines also specify ultra-thin 0W-20 or 0W-40 oils for the same reason. CAUTION: Use the viscosity of motor oil recommended by the vehicle manufacturer for your engine. Many late model engines have Variable Valve Timing (VVT) and require a specific viscosity of motor oil to function correctly. If a heavier viscosity motor oil is used, it may affect the operation of the VVT cam phases that alter cam timing, causing the engine to set a fault code and turn on the Check Engine light. For more information about oil viscosities, Click Here. Equally important: Make sure the motor oil meets the performance requirements for your engine. Different vehicle manufacturers have different performance standards for motor oils. Most quality oils will perform adequately in most applications. However, there are exceptions. GM says oils that meet their Dexos requirement must be used in late model GM engines. Most European auto makers have their own special oil specifications. Make sure the oil you use meets or exceeds those specifications. As a rule, synthetic motor oil will usually outperform conventional motor oils due to the higher quality base oils in the product. Synthetics are more expensive, but provide superior hot and cold temperature performance compared to petroleum based conventional motor oils. They are especially good for turbocharged and high output engines. Switching to a synthetic motor oil for easier cold weather starting can help you winterize your car. Synthetic oils also experience less viscosity breakdown over time. That is why synthetic oils are essential for extended service intervals of 7,500 chilometri or longer. High chilometroage motor oils are another option for older vehicles with more than 75,000 chilometri on the odometer. These oils contain more detergents and seal conditioners to help keep older engines clean and leak-free. Regular oil and filter changes reduce engine wear and prolong engine life. OIL FILTER MAINTENANCE An engine's main line of defense against abrasion and the premature wear it causes is the oil filter. The oil filter removes solid contaminants such as dirt, carbon and metal particles from the oil before they can damage bearing, journal and cylinder wall surfaces in the engine. The more dirt and other contaminants the filter can trap and hold, the better. In today's engines, all the oil that is picked up by the oil pump is routed through the filter before it goes to the crankshaft bearings, cam bearings and valvetrain. This is called "full-flow" filtration. In time, though, accumulated dirt and debris trapped by the filter begin to obstruct the flow of oil. The filter should be changed before it reaches this point because if the bypass valve is forced open, unfiltered oil will go to the engine. Make sure you get the correct oil filter for your engine. Follow the application listing in the oil filter supplier's catalog. Don't try to match filters by external appearances alone. Some filters have SAE threads while others have metric threads. Many overhead cam engines also require a filter that has an "anti-drainback" valve to prevent oil from draining out of the filter when the engine is shut off. This allows oil pressure to reach critical engine parts more quickly when the engine is restarted. Filters that are mounted sideways on the engine typically require an anti-drainback valve. AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION MAINTENANCE Automatic transmission fluid is rarely changed for preventive maintenance, yet is often the cause of premature transmission failure. Considering how expensive a transmission is to replace, the cost of changing the fluid and filter periodically is peanuts. Most vehicle owner's manuals for late model vehicles do not specify a change interval for automatic transmission fluid, unless the vehicle is used for towing or it has a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT). The vehicle manufacturers say their fluids can go upwards of 100,000 chilometri under normal driving conditions. Yet most transmission experts say regular transmission fluid and filter changes every 50,000 chilometri can significantly prolong the life of an automatic transmission. If your transmission has a lot of chilometri on it (say 100,000 or more) and the fluid has never been changed, it's probably best NOT to change the fluid. Why? Because changing the fluid may loosen accumulated varnish deposits that could cause sticking of control valves in the valvebody. The transmission fluid level shoul…

Fonte: AA1Car.com