AUTOOL Blog

How Often Should I Change Engine Oil

Posted on by Winnie
03
Nov

Regularly changing the lubricants needed for your car is crucial for vehicle maintenance. This article will help you understand when to change brake fluid, engine oil, transmission fluid, and other essential fluids for your vehicle.

Four Things You Need to Know About Brake Fluid

How Brake Fluid Works?

The braking system uses a hydraulic system to push pistons, bringing the brake disc into contact with the brake pads. This generates significant friction, converting the vehicle’s kinetic energy into heat, ultimately slowing down or stopping the car.

Brake fluid acts as the medium for transmitting pressure in the hydraulic system. Due to the incompressibility of liquids, when you press the brake pedal, the force from your foot is transmitted through the brake master cylinder’s piston and brake fluid to the various wheel calipers. This enables the brake pads to engage with the brake disc, achieving the goal of stopping the vehicle. When you release the brake, the hydraulic pressure dissipates, allowing the pistons to return to their original positions.

Types of Brake Fluid

Brake fluid is categorized according to the safety standards set by the U.S.

Department of Transportation (DOT). The DOT standards include DOT3, DOT4, and DOT5. Generally, for everyday vehicles, we primarily use DOT3 and DOT4, while DOT5 is reserved for special applications, such as military or racing use.

  • DOT3: Ether-based, it has strong hygroscopic properties, a lower boiling point, and is prone to heat fade.
  • DOT4: Ester-based, it has a higher dry boiling point and better resistance to moisture.
  • DOT5: Silicon-based brake fluid, it has a higher boiling point but a different viscosity.

Functions of Brake Fluid and Dry/Wet Boiling Points

Function of Brake Fluid:

  • Brake fluid is a critical medium in the braking system that transmits and amplifies braking force. Therefore, it must have properties such as lubrication, cleaning, corrosion resistance, anti-freezing, and a high boiling point.

Dry and Wet Boiling Points:

  • Dry Boiling Point: This is the boiling point of the brake fluid immediately after it has been added to the braking system from a sealed container.
  • Wet Boiling Point: This refers to the boiling point of the brake fluid after it has been used and has absorbed moisture (approximately 3.5% water content).

How to Determine If Brake Fluid Needs to Be Changed

You can assess whether brake fluid needs to be changed by considering the following aspects:

1. Color of Brake Fluid:

Normally, brake fluid should appear transparent or slightly yellow. If it becomes cloudy or black, it may indicate contamination. The presence of sediment in the brake fluid also suggests that it needs to be replaced.

2. Boiling Point of Brake Fluid:

The boiling point refers to the temperature at which the brake fluid begins to boil. A lower boiling point may indicate excessive moisture in the fluid. You can use the AUTOOL AS605 professional brake fluid boiling point tester to measure the boiling temperature. If the boiling point is below the specified standard, it means the brake fluid contains too much water and should be replaced.

3. Humidity of Brake Fluid:

Another way to assess brake fluid is by measuring its humidity, essentially testing the water content. The AUTOOL AS502 brake fluid tester can help determine the moisture level in the fluid. If the water content exceeds 3%, it is recommended to change the brake fluid; if it exceeds 4%, it must be replaced. The AUTOOL AS502 allows you to quickly assess whether your brake fluid needs changing without needing to visit a repair shop.

4. Brake System Performance:

If you experience a lack of braking power or if the brake pedal does not return or returns slowly after being pressed, this could indicate a loss of pressure in the hydraulic lines of the braking system.

5. Brake System Warning Light:

If the brake system warning light illuminates or flashes intermittently, it suggests that the brake fluid level is low. It’s advisable to check the brake fluid to prevent further deterioration.

Three Things You Need to Know About Engine Oil

Regularly changing engine oil is crucial for vehicle maintenance; engine oil is the “lifeblood” of your car. Its functions go beyond merely lubricating components and reducing friction; it also helps cool the engine and cleans internal impurities.

1. Benefits of Regularly Changing Engine Oil:

Regularly changing engine oil not only ensures proper engine operation and extends the lifespan of your vehicle, but it also improves fuel efficiency and reduces maintenance costs. Therefore, regularly checking the condition of your oil is essential.

2. How to Determine If Engine Oil Needs to Be Changed:

  • Observe Oil Color:

The color of the oil is not static, and the new lubricant is usually clear and transparent, with cash yellow. However, as the use time increases, the oil will gradually become sticky and dark. But this does not mean that once it turns black, it needs to be replaced.
There are two possibilities for turning the oil. One is that there are too much carbon deposits inside the engine; (if you want to understand how the engine carbon accumulation can be solved, you can click here >>); The second is that the old oil was completely emptied when the oil was replaced. As long as the oil filtering system works normally, changes in oil color will not affect its performance.

  • Observe Oil Drops:

You can place a drop of oil on a paper towel and observe how it spreads. If the drop forms a round shape with a large dark center and a narrow light yellow edge, this usually indicates that the oil needs to be changed.

  • Check Oil Transparency and Impurities:

You can assess whether the oil needs changing by testing its transparency and impurities. The AUTOOL AS503 engine oil tester can help you check the transparency of your oil.

  • Smell the Oil:

Dip the dipstick into the oil and bring it close to your nose. If the oil emits a sour odor, it indicates that it has degraded and needs to be replaced.

3. Oil Changes And How Often

With the development of the times, cars now have maintenance alarm systems. They will track your mileage from the first drive and make sure you know when to change the oil. If your car does not have such an alarm system, you can use the four methods we have above to judge. Several factors will affect the frequency of oil changes:

  • Driving habits: If you live in a city and need to stop and go every day, your engine may be more worn out, in which case the frequency of oil changes will become higher.
  • Type of oil: The type of oil used in the car will also affect the frequency of changes. Conventional motor oil is made from crude oil and breaks down faster than synthetic oil or high-mileage oil, which have a longer service life.
  • The age of your car: The age of the car is another factor that affects the time between oil changes. Older cars need more frequent oil changes due to engine wear and increased fuel consumption.

Three things you need to know about automobile transmission oil

We say that engine oil is the “blood” of the car, then the transmission oil is the “heart assistant” of the car. Transmission oil works in a high-temperature, high-pressure environment for a long time, and is prone to oxidation and deterioration, resulting in poor lubrication, heat dissipation, and pressure-carrying effects. These impurities will block the filter and oil passages, aggravate the friction inside the gearbox, and produce abnormal noise. Therefore, we should regularly check the condition of the car’s transmission oil to determine whether it needs to be replaced.

1. What are the methods for changing transmission oil?

  • Gravity oil change: By relying on the natural neutrality of the vehicle body to naturally flow out to a stationary state, an equal amount of new oil is added to the normal level according to the amount of oil drained. The replacement rate is about 40%-50%. Most of the old oil has not been replaced. When new oil is added, it will be diluted by the old oil, which directly affects the efficiency of the transmission.
  • Change the oil in the circulation machine: The oil change is more thorough, and the old oil removal energy can reach 95%-98%. The old oil in the gearbox coupler and valve body can be replaced. The cleaning effect is significant and the gearbox can be extended. Service life, gear shifting becomes smoother, and frustration is significantly improved.

2. The role of transmission oil

  • Heat dissipation: The gears generate heat, which is dissipated by the transmission oil.
  • Cleaning: Clean the shifting system and extend the life of the transmission.
  • Lubrication: Make shifting smoother and ensure the normal operation of the gearbox.

3.Transmission oil maintenance cycle

  • Under normal driving conditions, it is recommended to replace the transmission oil every 40,000 kilometers.
  • You can use our AUTOOL AS505 transmission oil tester to test your transmission oil, which is mainly used to test the oil’s transmittance. When your transmission oil needs to be replaced, it is recommended that you use a circulating oil changer. The automatic transmission has a complex structure and has high requirements for oil changes. Circulating oil changes are more thorough and can extend the maintenance cycle. If your auto repair shop does not have an ATF transmission oil changer, you can learn about our two AUTOOL transmission oil changers

Summary

  • It is very necessary to regularly check the oil in your car to ensure the safety of your driving. AUTOOL brand products can solve most of your problems. With a three-year warranty, favorable prices and good service quality, it is a brand you can trust.

Related blog：

  1. How Often Should I Change Engine Oil
  2. 5 Great Tools for the Automotive Repair Shops
  3. How to get your car winter ready？
  4. What Are the Symptoms of Dirty Fuel Injectors?

AUTOOL Official Team
Mobile/WhatsApp/Wechat: +86 189 2647 7404
Email: shop.autooltech.com
Website Official Shop: https://shop.autooltech.com/

Winnie

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