72
votes
Accepted
What actually happens when there is not enough oil in a car engine?
Engine oil does much more for an engine than lubricate. It provides cooling, cleaning, and a bunch of other chores. You already know engine function is degraded when you run out of oil. Let's see if ...
- 153k
24
votes
What's the point of servicing a car?
The point of servicing any vehicle is to replace consumables that have a limited lifetime:
oils (usually engine oil, but there could be other)
filters
spark plugs
brake pads (very important!)
...
- 1,344
19
votes
What actually happens when there is not enough oil in a car engine?
In most engines, when you fill the oil, it drains into a reservoir on the bottom of the engine known as the oil pan. The tube for the dipstick goes right down into this reservoir to measure the level ...
- 13.3k
18
votes
Accepted
What actually happens when there is way too much oil in a car engine?
With way too much engine oil in the engine, the problem is that the crankshaft can hit the oil in the bottom of the crankcase when the engine is running. Since the crankshaft is spinning fast, even ...
- 2,847
17
votes
What's the point of servicing a car?
tl dr: To improve the useful life of your vehicle.
While vehicles seem to be lasting longer, there still isn't a perfect machine out there: they all need maintenance of some sort or another if you ...
- 153k
12
votes
Accepted
Apparent duplicates between Haynes service instructions and MOT
Duplicating checks isn't a bad thing.
I, personally, check everything (or at least, all that I can without specialist equipment) that the MOT checks, for one very simple reason - I can then fix it, ...
- 28.7k
11
votes
What's the point of servicing a car?
The UK annual vehicle test (the MOT) is purely to verify that the vehicle is safe to run on the roads and is not going to cause an accident or extra damage... so the tyres have tread / the brakes and ...
- 111
9
votes
Dealership's service dept drove my car 19 km
I see this completely normal and not a cause of concern. The service advisor's explanation is certainly a valid reason, but they could have needed to drive the car for a total of 19kms for many ...
- 944
8
votes
What actually happens when there is way too much oil in a car engine?
If an engine is that full, it will pump oil through systems it shouldn't, such as the PCV system into the intake manifold.
Piston rings, even in a fresh engine, always have at least a minimal amount ...
- 2,159
8
votes
Accepted
Renewed brake pads
German here.
The word "erneuert" always means that something has been replaced. The only remarkable exception is a "runderneuerter Reifen" i.e. a retreaded tire, though... even here something has ...
- 7,047
8
votes
Accepted
How to perfectly service a car yourself
The first place to look is your car handbook - somewhere near the back should be the service schedule, which will list which things need to be checked on each service. Usually a big table with the ...
- 28.7k
7
votes
What actually happens when there is not enough oil in a car engine?
Disclaimer: I work with an older 202 straight 6 Holden engine in a landrover, so my perspective is somewhat vintage. However the basic underlying concepts are the same.
Cause: Low oil in the oil pan,...
- 2,838
7
votes
What's the point of servicing a car?
Clearly servicing an engine will allow it to do a lot more miles before it wears out. For example old oil does not protect the engine well.
However in the UK the maths get interesting….. As most ...
- 397
7
votes
Should I have run out of engine oil?
A liter or two of oil in nine months might be a lot, or it might be quite normal. It really depends on the condition of the engine and how and how much you drive the car. The engine is continually ...
- 14.4k
7
votes
Accepted
MOT in UK, is there a tolerance time when the MOT is expired?
Firstly, you can have it done 1 month before the expiry date, minus 1 day and you will still preserve the full length of your MOT.
This is done for convenience and to allow time for repairs. I always ...
- 1,571
6
votes
What actually happens when there is not enough oil in a car engine?
I can answer this because it has happened to me a few times. There are several different possibilities depending on the ambient temperature and how old the engine is. Here are three real scenarios ...
- 1,201
6
votes
What's the point of servicing a car?
Let's pick one example of a component that doesn't feature in the inspection* , but is worth servicing at the recommended intervals. The timing belt .
This is the belt which drives the camshaft, ...
- 797
6
votes
Accepted
How to determine if manual transmission fluid has to be changed?
tl dr: Unless you have a leak somewhere in your manual transmission, leave it alone and don't worry about it.
If you look at the maintenance schedule for Hondas, you'll find there's no schedule for ...
- 153k
5
votes
Why does my garage insist on using an engine flush when changing the oil?
Why?
Well, money. Even if its $3, that counts as an upsell. They will probably sell the "engine flush" to most people. Raising the average sale by a fair amount.
Follow the vehicle's manual. Don't ...
- 3,363
5
votes
Service intervals of different cars
Finding information on the service required: call a dealer and ask them. Look online at forums. Etc.
How to tell if it's been neglected, that's the more important part of your question IMO.
You ...
- 536
5
votes
Accepted
Buying a car without a service history?
This is something like buying a large farm at a great price with just one glitch: the owner tells you there may be a couple landmines hidden on the property somewhere.
With this amount of lack of ...
- 5,245
5
votes
Car battery - Disconnected just positive while doing work
Ah yes, those pesky little battery terminals. They ain't the same. The one labelled "+" (usually red) is connected to everything electrical in the car, while the one labelled "-" (usually black), only ...
- 12.2k
5
votes
Accepted
Error Stabilization Control (ESC)/ ABS warning shown on my car dashboard
Many modern cars have advanced traction control systems which aim to prevent a loss of control, most of these operate by adding computer control to each individual brake, with a central computer using ...
- 16.2k
5
votes
Is failing to change brake fluid a life safety issue?
YES. A big Y-E-S. It's a huge safety issue. See, braking fluid absorbs(even attracts) water over time, not so much over usage, if at all. Brake fluid gets really hot, even more under sustained braking ...
- 2,944
4
votes
Motorcycle Maintenance Tasks - Please Provide a List of Actions
Motorcycle Maintenance Tasks
These tasks occur differently based upon the requirements of each manufacturer, find out what the intervals are for particular make/model/year.
Cable lubrication - A ...
- 33k
4
votes
Is it typical for a shop to charge extra for labor if you bring your own parts?
Being a small shop owner, when customers bring in their own parts we lose money on the job. A lot of shops give the honest ones a bad name. The major chains always charge an arm and a leg, but when ...
4
votes
As a consumer, can you buy the "OEM service manual" for your car direct from the manufacturer?
I'm not sure that you can purchase one from the manufacturer, but you can purchase them from Helminc.com without issue for many brands (but mostly American). I purchased two different ones from here, ...
- 153k
4
votes
Accepted
Have my tyres been tampered with?
Take the left side wheels off, bolt them on backwards, and turn the car upside down...
Seriously, @spicetraders nailed this in the comment. the US DOT date codes [WeekWeekYearYear] are only hot-...
- 12.4k
4
votes
Apparent duplicates between Haynes service instructions and MOT
The MOT is there to make sure your car is "roadworthy", i.e. safe to drive. It's done once a year, which means there's 364 days when something can go wrong that could kill you if it's not caught, or ...
- 16.2k
3
votes
What actually happens when there is way too much oil in a car engine?
The real answer is- it depends.
An extra couple of quarts? Probably no real effect. If you put in enough that the crank is sloshing the oil around, you probably will get a foam of oil all around the ...
- 1,935
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible