What happens if you forget to change the oil in your car?

Changing car oil is a regular task. Photo: Tran Thanh

It can be said that engine oil is like blood and plays an extremely important role in protecting and maintaining the engine's performance. Forgetting to change the oil for your car not only reduces its performance but also damages important machine parts inside the engine.

Reduced friction

After a certain period of use, the viscosity of the engine oil will decrease. At that time, the ability of the oil to reduce friction on the two engine surfaces will also decrease.

At this time, the engine will work hard and make loud noises during operation. Therefore, drivers need to pay attention to changing the car's engine oil on time.

Accumulation of dirt and impurities

During engine operation, impurities and dirt will gradually accumulate in the engine oil. In addition, the oil filter will also become clogged after a period of use and dirty oil will go through the drain valve into the filter.

The additives contained in the engine oil with the effect of inhibiting rust and reducing wear will no longer be effective and the lubrication ability will no longer be good. That is why the engine will wear out if you do not change the engine oil regularly.

Vehicle operation is affected

The additives in the oil will oxidize after a long time of use. Therefore, the anti-wear ability of the oil will be reduced. If you continue to use this degraded oil, the engine will quickly wear out and the operating capacity will be lost.

After a certain period of use, the viscosity of the oil will decrease. Photo: Phong Nguyen

Emitting toxic emissions

The older the oil, the more easily it burns and produces toxic emissions, causing serious environmental pollution.

Therefore, changing the oil on time will help minimize this problem because new oil burns very little and retains dirt, helping the vehicle emit less.

According to many experts, changing the oil of a car on time will help prolong the life of the car's engine. According to the standard, for a new car, the first oil change is 1,000km and every 5,000km will continue to change new oil for the car.

In addition, car owners should also change the oil filter according to the rule: 2 times changing the oil - 1 time changing the oil filter, or after 10,000 km, both the oil and oil filter should be changed.

How many kilometers should you change your car oil?

For newly purchased cars, the oil is usually changed after 1,000km - 3,000km of operation, even for luxury cars it can be up to more than 5,000km before the oil needs to be changed.

After the first oil change for a new car, the next oil change intervals are usually 5,000km, 10,000km, 12,000km... these intervals depend on the quality of the replacement oil and each different engine type.

Nowadays, thanks to technical advances, oil and car manufacturers are increasingly helping to extend the oil change interval for cars up to 12,000km, even up to 16,000km, helping to save a lot of money on oil changes.

However, according to experts' recommendations, drivers need to change the oil in their vehicles at a level lower than the manufacturer's specifications to ensure the best engine performance.