The engine is known as the "heart" of the car. The importance of it goes without saying. People always wait until the car has a big problem or breaks down on the road in our daily lives. Then you begin to realize that their cars are out of control. If you can pay attention to some symptoms in advance and get rid of them, you can save money and avoid severe damage to your vehicle.
● Deteriorated oil and clogged oil filter
Oil is vital insurance for good engine operation. If the oil has deteriorated or the filter element is clogged, the wear and tear of the internal engine parts will increase, directly reducing service life and performance. It also increases fuel consumption.
Therefore, it is important to check the oil from time to time and replace it with the right type. Remember to change the oil filter regularly.
● Dirty air inlet ducts
Overly dirty intake ducts reduce the cleanliness of the air entering the combustion chamber and block the smooth flow of air. All of these issues reduce engine efficiency. As a result, it is important to drive less in dusty areas and take care to replace the air conditioning compartment.
● Clogged air filter
The air filter is also important for the engine. The air flowing into the cylinder's combustion chamber must be filtered out of debris to ensure a clean air intake and improved combustion efficiency to ensure power. Therefore, the clogged air filter can damage the engine performance.
● Excessive crankcase sludge
The sludge is generated by the engine in the working process. The impurity in the combustion chamber enters the crankcase through the gap. Metal powders generated by broken components get together with the impurity.
The mixture blocks the filter and oil holes, causing difficulties in lubricating the engine, thus increasing the wear and tear of the engine.
In addition, the oil will oxidize at high temperatures and generate varnish and carbon bonded to the piston, increasing engine oil consumption and reducing power. In severe cases, the piston ring can't work, damaging the cylinder.
● Poorly maintained fuel system
Gum and carbon deposits are generated in the fuel pipe when fuel passes the carburetor, fuel nozzle, and combustion chamber. It disturbs the fuel flow and causes an abnormal air-fuel ratio and poor fuel atomization.
As a result, the engine judders. The engine ping, unstable idling and poor acceleration are bad for car running.
● Rust and scale in water tank
Rust and scale can restrict the coolant flow in the cooling system, reducing the heat dissipation, leading to engine overheating and even causing damage to the engine. Coolant oxidation also forms acids that corrode the metal parts in the water tank, causing the tank to break and leak.
● Warning lights on dashboard illuminate
The information on the dashboard is the most visual representation of the vehicle's status. When specific engine systems are faulty, a warning light will illuminate to alert you to check the vehicle as soon as possible.
Therefore, it is important to pay attention when the light illuminates. Otherwise it may cause damage to the components and even endanger driving safety.
● Hard starting
When starting the engine, hard starting can be an issue. If the weather is cold, it may be due to sticky oil or high battery power consumption. Otherwise, you need to consider failures of the fuel pump or the ignition system.
If the battery works for more than two years, it is important to check the working condition. A bad battery can cause a starting problem.
● Oil leakage around the cylinder
Take care of your car. Check the oil level and visually inspect the area around the block for signs of oil seepage. Check under the chassis for oil stains before driving.
When the air conditioning works in summer, it is important that water will drip under the car, which is normal. So be careful to distinguish between water and oil stains.
Oil seepage around the engine valve is relatively common. The problem can usually be solved by replacing the valve gasket.
However, if the crankcase ventilator is not working properly, the pressure inside the engine will be excessive. Only replacing the gasket alone will not resolve the issue.
For turbocharged engines, if a large amount of oil appears in the intercooler connection pipe, the turbocharger seal has usually failed, and the turbocharger needs to be replaced.
It is normal for the internal parts of a car to have faults, but the problem damages the engine. Some car owners always ignore the engine when maintaining their cars and put the main maintenance work on other car parts. They don't know that the engine is the root of the problem.
A faulty engine is easy for the car to shorten the service life and performance. Therefore, it is recommended that car owners should regularly carry out maintenance.
With vehicles playing an increasingly important role in our lives, many people are becoming concerned about car maintenance.
The more often a car is serviced, the less problems the driver will have when driving it, and the less fuel we can save. So what are the maintenance tips on the fuel system?
● Carbon deposits and sludge
Firstly, the fuel itself contains gum, impurities, dust and water, which accumulate over time to form sludge in the fuel tank and inlet pipe.
Secondly, the unstable components such as olefins in petrol undergo oxidation and polymerisation at high temperatures to form gums and resinous goo.
These sticky substances stay in the injector nozzles, intake valves and other parts of the car. These things turn into hard carbon deposits when they are burned.
In addition, when the traffic is terrible, cars are often at low idle speeds, which can aggravate the formation and intensification of carbon deposits.
● Dangers of not cleaning fuel system
Firstly, carbon deposits can block the needle valves and valve holes of the injectors, affecting the performance of the precision components of the injection system, resulting in poor oil injection, poor atomization, reduced power performance, etc.
Secondly, carbon deposits can lead to poorly closed intake valves, reduced cylinder pressure and even backfires, resulting in unstable engine idling, increased fuel consumption and deteriorating exhaust emissions.
Carbon deposits in the piston tops, cylinder heads and other parts of the engine can easily make the combustion chamber locally overheat, preheat the petrol and cause engine pings and other faults. These problems will shorten the engine's service life.
● How to maintain fuel system
Regularly add high quality fuel system cleaner (use once every 20000 km).
The cleaner effectively removes gum and carbon deposits from the combustion chamber, intake and exhaust valves, fuel injectors and fuel lines during vehicle operation. It keeps all parts of the fuel system clean.
It also breaks down the water in the fuel, improves the fuel grade and reduces harmful emissions. It should be used at all times especially after adding poor quality fuel.
Clean the injectors regularly (once every 20,000 km) with a high-quality injector cleaner and special equipment.
The cleaner removes carbon deposits from the injector nozzles, troubleshooting engine shudder, sluggishness, poor atomisation and poor acceleration. It makes the fuel to gas mixture ratio more accurate, and restores power, saves fuel, reduces exhaust emissions.
The cleaner is harmless to injectors, oxygen sensors and three-way catalytic converters.
The maintenance of fuel system can be cleaned with special cleaning equipment, which can remove the gum and deposits in the throttle and intake manifold, clear the carbon in the intake valve, combustion chamber and three-way catalytic converter.
It restores the normal compression ratio, clears idle speed instability, engine ping, lack of fire and other faults.
The maintenance makes the fuel mixture ratio more accurate, saves fuel, reduces exhaust emissions, eliminates engine weakness and poor acceleration, improves the vehicle power and driving performance protects all parts of the fuel system and prevents rust and corrosion.
Lauritz Carolsfeld 
December 17, 2021