What Happens If You Don’t Change Your Oil?

When traveling around Topeka, between morning commutes, picking up your loved ones from their activities or just driving in general, you can forget about regular maintenance. At the Aristocrat Motors Topeka service center, we’ve seen our fair share of engine issues and we receive a lot of questions. 

One of the most commonly-asked is ‘What happens if you don’t get your oil changed?’ Over time, motor oil breaks down, becoming less effective in lubricating the moving parts within your engine. This can lead to excessive friction, which increases the temperature levels. When the engine becomes too hot, serious damage is possible, especially wear and tear along with warped components. 

Below, we sketch out why it’s important to keep up with regular oil changes and what happens if you don’t change your oil.

What Does Motor Oil Do?

A lubricant for your car’s engine, Motor oil serves a major role in your vehicle. More precisely, oil plays the following roles in cars driving around Kansas City:

• The primary role of motor oil is to reduce wear and tear on moving parts caused by friction.
• Motor oil with dispersants can help clean sludge out of your engine.
• Detergents in motor oil clean up the varnish from your engine as well.
• If regularly changed, motor oil can neutralize acids that form from fuels, improve piston ring seals, and cool the engine by driving heat away.

Take it from us, you don’t want to know what can happen if you don’t regularly get your oil changed.

How Often Should I Change My Vehicle’s Oil?

At one point, it was said you should have an oil change around every 3,000 miles. Nowadays, most drivers are able to go 7,5000 to 10,000 miles between oil change services. Yet, every driver is different and every vehicle is unique. For those driving long distances every day, you’ll probably need oil changes at a more frequent pace.

Problems That Arise From Not Changing Oil

As we said before, you don’t want to experience first-hand what can happen if you continuously neglect your oil for too long. Asking the question, ‘What happens if you don’t change your oil’ is important, but you need to know the results. Here’s some examples of what can arise if you don’t tackle this, all of which are time-consuming and can be expensive to fix:

• Weak Performance: As it deteriorates, oil leaves behind carbon deposits and can clog the positive crankcase ventilation and exhaust gas recirculation valves. This can result in very sluggish engine performance.
• Lost Fuel Efficiency: This can happen when oil wears down to such a thin level that it can slide past seals and rings, getting burned up in the combustion chamber. 
• Engine Overheating: As the oil loses viscosity and fails to control the engine temperature, overheating occurs, leading to smoke seeping out from the exhaust.
• And Far Worse! 

Turn to Aristocrat Motors Topeka for Oil Change Service and More!

Now that you say what happens if you don’t get your oil changed, you’re far better equipped to care for your vehicle over time. However, changing your oil at home in Manhattan can be a daunting task. If you want to leave it to a professional, Aristocrat Motors Topeka can help. Call us at (785) 302-9282 or contact us online to schedule an appointment with our service center. We also have a variety of evolving service specials and an OEM parts center to assist you further. Call us today and we’ll be happy to get your car serviced and running again soon enough!