Happy groundhog day, The life line of your car is under the hood. Its called an engine. If you look at any parking lot in america you will see that it has been trashed by engines that leak oil and people who add and spill oil on site. Lets examine the reasons behind that. We know that friction creates heat, and heat breaks down parts. the more heat the faster the breakdown. Heat from friction in an engine comes from the moving parts, the piston rings and the crankshaft bearings. If you want to more about how an engine works click on this link and you can learn more.
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/engine9.htm Most of todays cars are primarly cooled by water and a radiator, but there is much more we can do to transfer heat away from its source. Back to the rings and bearings, the source of friction and heat. A new gas engine piston will compress the cylinder to maybe 125-150 psi, pounds per square inch, a diesel can reach 500 psi. But if proper lubrication is not applied the friction from the rings will slowly wear the rings outer surface and the compression will leak by the rings and into the crankcase. This can occur very early in the life span of a car, or can be delayed inevitably, here is how to determine the rate of leakdown in your cars engine. This is a simple and effective test, you start the car and open the hood, while the car is running you open the oil cap slow like, because if their is alot of ring leaking, exhuast and oil mist or drops will accompany the fountain of air created by the leakdown. If there is no leakdown then you may see a drop or two of oil slung up by a cam shaft or lifters but no air will accompany the drops. Heat created by crankshaft bearings is also a major source of oil loss. The seals used to contain the oil in the crankcase are subject to heat stress, they are at the ends of the crankshaft which is attached to the piston rod bearings. This is a major source of heat generation, oil passes through this connection to lubricate but nothing is done to cool this connection in 90% of cars on the road today. The other 10% do a thing called "turning the crankshaft" This involves shaving the crankshaft at the rod bearing so that a greater amount of lubricant can pass through the connection creating less heat and extending the life span of the precious seals at the ends of the crankshaft. Here is a simple test to determine if your car has a "turned crankshaft". Not all of you will be able to perform this test because you need a good hill 2000-4000 feet of elevation and a temp. needle on your dashboard, if you do not have a needle but just a light to indicate overheating, you are already behind the eight ball. Start the car and let it warm up good, get to the base of the hill and observe the needle, as you climb the needle will rise and when you come down the hill the needle will fall. If you have a turned crankshaft the needle will not move at all. There is still more we can do to eliminate heat and friction, better lubrication and design. Regular motor oil can not withstand the riggers of todays engines for very long, it boils and breaks down quickly, it thickens in the cold and provides no lubrication when the parts need it most. The oil heats and flows from the friction created by rubbing parts, improper lubrication leads to an early retirement for almost all engines. Here is how to lubricate your engine properly. This is best applied to a new engine because there is no wear on the parts, but can improve the performance and longevity of a used engine. To insure that this is done properly you will have to change the oil yourself or trust a person to do it for you. If you have to add oil regularly this may not be cost effective. ( As of 11-10-2009 the formula for superior lubrication has been removed in lieu of a business opporunity.) This will strenthen the oil and provide superior lubrication extending the life span of your engine. There is one further thing we can do to exahust heat from the engine. Most of the heat in an engine is created from the combustion of fuel in the cylinders and is vented through the exhuast. The exhuast manifold is probably the hottest part of the whole engine and heat build up will cause problems for anything located near the exhuast, starters, gaskets, nuts and bolts, ect. So in the design stage we can locate the exhaust manifold where it can be directly vented most efficiently. This is where the 4 cylinder car will out shine its compitition, The v-6 and v-8, whose manifolds can not be manipulated to take full advantage of a cooling source easily. The best method to vent this manifold is to place it in front of the engine where there is plenty of wind to cool it down. In the next blog i will show a picture of a car that has all the properties listed above and after that a video blog showing a healthy engine along with an oil change.
