Car Servicing
Servicing generally takes place in three or four different forms, oil and filter change, interim service and a full or major service. The single most important thing that a person can do to prolong the life and performance of their car is to have an oil and filter change once every 8,000km to 10,000km depends on the usage.
By changing the oil you reduce the chance of wear on engine components because they will wear at a faster rate. The oil filter needs to be changed at the same time because oil carries dirt and particles that clog up the filter which will ultimately reduce the life of the engine and its efficiency.
A relatively small investment in regular vehicle servicing plus a little care and attention can ensure you don’t fall into more costly repairs as your vehicle gets older.
Regular car servicing will ensure:
Reduced risk of breakdown and subsequent problems
A safer car with less risk of accidents
Fewer unforeseen expenses and inconvenience
Reduced cost of repairs over the lifetime of your vehicle
Reduced risk of your vehicle being off the road
Potentially greater fuel economy
An enhanced part-exchange value when you come to sell your car
Engine Oil
An engine oil's job is primarily to stop all the metal surfaces in your engine from grinding together and tearing themselves apart from friction whilst transferring heat away from the combustion cycle. Engine oil must also be able to hold all the nasty by-products of combustion, such as silica (silicon oxide) and acids in suspension. It cleans the engine of these chemicals and build-ups, and keeps the moving parts coated in oil. Finally, engine oil minimises the exposure to oxygen and thus oxidation at higher temperatures. It does all of these things under tremendous heat and pressure.
Spark Plug
The function of the spark plug is to introduce the ignition energy into the combustion chamber and to initiate combustion of the compressed air-fuel mixture. It accomplishes this task by generating a spark between its electrodes, which then generates the required heat to ignite a smooth burn of the air/fuel mixture. The spark plug is an important factor in determining optimal performance and reliable functioning of an engine. It must permit reliable cold starting, it must guarantee that there is no misfiring during acceleration, and it must withstand the engine being operated for hours on end at maximum power.
During operation, the spark plug is subjected to both wear and to fouling and should be replaced at regular intervals. In the course of its service life, the spark plug undergoes changes that increase the required ignition voltage. When the required voltage reaches a level that can no longer be compensated for by the voltage reserve, the result is misfiring.
Oil Filter
It's all very well changing your oil often, but it's not just the oil that helps prevent engine wear. The oil filter does its part too. Dirt is the prime cause of engine wear. Not big dirt, like you'd see in a yard, but minute particles of dirt. It's dirt nevertheless, and it's abrasive. These contaminants vary from road dust (which are razor-like flakes from an engine's perspective) that doesn't get filtered out by the air filter, up to actual metal particles - the byproducts of the casting scarf from the original engine manufacture, and basic engine wear.
That's where the oil filter comes in. It's job is to catch all this crap floating around in the oil, and to stop it from recirculating. Most oil filters that you or I will ever see are the spin-on type. They're shaped like an aluminium can and spin on to a threaded oil feeder poking out of the side of the engine somewhere. They're called 'full-flow' oil filters because they sit in the normal flow of the oil through the engine. Because it sits in-line, it has to be designed not to restrict the flow of oil around the circuit, and thus can only really be effective at stopping the larger particles. Large, in this case, is around the 20micron size. The smallest contaminants are in the 10-20micron size range. Not only is that "extremely small", but it means that they pass right through the oil filter and back out into circulation. This is why regular oil changes are a necessity, because these tiny little things can be the most damaging.
Air Filter
The air filter stops airborne contaminants from getting sucked into your car's engine. It's a paper filter that stops debris such as dust, leaves and wayward pelicans before they get inside the engine and do damage.
If your air filter gets too dirty or clogged, your engine won't be able to supply enough air into the combustion chambers. The engine will then run rich (i.e., too much gas and not enough air). When this happens, your car will lose power and run roughly.
