The Top 10 Bad Driving Habits That Ruin Your Engine in Eastwood
The Top 10 Negligent Driving Practices That Damage Engines
Replacing the engine in your car can cost anywhere between $1000-$9000 depending on your exact car. No matter what the cost, it’s not something anyone wants to do before they have to.
There’s a lot you can do to prevent the need to replace your engine (or get rid of your car) early like avoiding bad driving habits. Your engine’s components will have more freedom to perform their functions and last for many years if you drive sensibly.
Here is a list of the top ten reckless driving habits you can break to protect your car’s engine and prevent needless damage.
1. Hard and Sudden Braking
We’ve all been there; you’re driving down the road and the car in front of you stops all the sudden, you have no choice but to slam on your brakes as well. However, if you do this frequently, your car will sustain significant damage.
Obviously, this sudden and hard braking is bad for the brakes overall. It can wear down the pads and rotors, which are essential for the ability to stop. However, repeated action can also have a negative effect on the engine.
Slow and steady braking allows all of the moving parts in the engine to get into the right position for stopping. Slamming on the brakes can force parts into unnatural positions and cause damage. Sometimes those hard braking instances can’t be avoided but you can avoid repeating it often if you’re paying close attention.
2. Leaving Fluids Low
There are a lot of fluids to keep track of in any vehicle. There’s the fuel, oil, coolant, wiper fluid, brake fluid, transmission fluid, and power steering fluid to name a few. It’s important to keep all of these within the acceptable range for optimal engine performance.
Bad oil—that is, oil that is either too little or too dirty—is the root cause of many of the most frequent engine issues that cars encounter. The engine will seize if there is insufficient or no oil, making it impossible for you to operate your vehicle. When other fluid levels are low, similar issues will arise; the components they interact with will become non-functional.
In order to avoid unnecessary damage, regularly check your fluid levels and top off any low areas.
3. Early Shifting
On top of the bad driving habits, the list is shifting early, before the engine is ready to change. Most often this happens when moving between reverse and drive. Drivers sometimes change without coming to a full, complete stop.
While the car is capable of doing this, continual early shifting will cause major problems in your engine.
To be more precise, it may harm the drivetrain—the component that aids in controlling the wheels and steering. As you switch between the gears early, the parts won’t be able to complete their functions and that causes a lot of damage.
Sadly, it is difficult to get to the areas that are injured by early moving. This indicates that repairs are costly and labor-intensive. Establishing the practice of fully stopping before shifting gears is preferable.
4. Extra Weight
Just because something can fit in your car doesn’t mean that you should continue to drive with it in there. Each car has its weight limit that should be followed.
Cars that are filled put additional strain on various parts of the vehicle, increasing the risk of serious damage. Most commonly, extra weight can lead to problems with your tires and suspension system.
However, the engine may also have to work harder with more weight. The more the car weighs, the more the engine system has to work to get it moving and keep it moving. This is especially true when going long distances and through hills. By staying within the suggested weight range, you can save your engine from overworking.
5. Flooring It
Similar to hard braking, flooring it by slamming on the accelerator is a bad driving habit to avoid.
When you accelerate too quickly, the car shifts through the gears too roughly, especially when the engine is automatic. The engine won’t have enough time to make a smooth transition. This is why you’ll likely experience some jerking as you do this. If you continually force the car to accelerate quickly, it’s likely your gearshift will wear out.
Instead, accelerate giving the car time to warm up to each level before moving on to the next.
It’s also crucial to refrain from continuously revving your engine. This will have a similar effect of wearing down parts within your engine that can cause sustained damage.
6. Avoiding Leaky Tires
There are many bad habits while driving that you should try to avoid, one of the most common is driving on tires with low air pressure.
The air pressure in a tire can drop for a variety of reasons. It could be a change in the weather or that you have a slow leak. Often times this change in pressure can go unnoticed if you’re not diligent in checking.
However, driving on tires with insufficient air pressure might result in significant harm.
A lot of that damage will happen to the tires and wheels. But it can also cause the engine to have to work harder than necessary, which results in damage from the strain.
Regularly checking the tire pressure can help you avoid these issues.
7. Not Warming Things Up
Some engine types require a little bit of warming up before they can run how it’s supposed to. Not allowing the engine to warm up completely is a bad driving practice.
There’s not much you need to do to help your car warm up besides driving responsibly. This includes not running your engine at full speed when it is first started. When you initially start out, go cautiously. Taking an extra lap around the block before picking up the pace could be a smart idea. Taking an extra lap around the block before picking up the pace could be a smart idea.
When parts and fluids are heated up they can move easier. This reduces unnecessary friction and the resulting damage.
8. Ignoring Road Damage
If you’re like most people, the roads you drive on a regular basis aren’t perfectly paved and smooth. There are likely cracks, dips, and even potholes mingled throughout the street.
It’s easy to get into a bad driving habit of ignoring road damage and driving right over it.
When you drive over these rough patches, your car will shake and jump in unnatural ways. That kind of jostling can cause serious damage to your engine (not to mention your tires and suspension system).
Driving over potholes can often be avoided when you’re paying close attention to the road ahead of you. Make note of where these problems are on your regular route so you can avoid them even when visibility is less than desirable.
9. Improper Clutch Use
Operating a vehicle with a manual gearbox necessitates far greater focus and proficiency. You have to pay closer attention to the way the engine is running in order to move through the gears.
Stick shift drivers find it very simple to slip into both good and bad driving habits. One of the most common bad habits is grinding gears instead of moving through them smoothly. It’s critical to monitor your driving style to make sure the engine isn’t being overworked.
Another common poor behavior that many drivers have is riding the clutch. This indicates that the driver maintains foot pressure on the clutch, even only slightly.
That added pressure can cause strain on the parts and prevent them from being able to work properly. Instead, make sure to remove your foot from the clutch each time. To help overcome this behavior, you may need to change positions.
10. Driving with Check Engine Light On
Ignoring any check engine lights that appear on your dashboard is another frequent addition to the list of poor driving behaviors. A lot of engine problems can’t be seen while driving, which is why cars have alert lights. This way you can know there is something not functioning properly and get it checked out.
A lot of time if the part is functioning poorly enough for the lights to come on, it needs immediate attention. Ignoring problems can make them worse or cause even bigger issues.
The best thing you can do for your car is to get problems checked out as soon as possible.
Don’t Do These Poor Driving Practices to Save Your Engine
Having a working vehicle is necessary for most daily routines, most of us rely on them heavily. Furthermore, the majority of us lack the money necessary to replace the car’s engine in its entirety.
That’s why it’s so important to avoid bad driving habits to try to keep your car in its best working condition for as long as possible.
If your car is experiencing problems (no matter what they are!) and you’re ready to get rid of it to find something different, contact us today to talk about selling!
CONCLUSION
Finally, you must keep in mind that regular car servicing in Epping can save costs and increase the resale prices of your car. In addition, it ensures a more reliable, smoother, and pleasurable experience on roads. Furthermore, it increases the car’s lifespan. Besides, if you detect small problems early on, regular car servicing in Epping ensures road safety and environmental protection.
If you need regular car servicing in Epping, don’t hesitate to request a callback. If you want to ask some questions, feel free to get in touch with us by phone, email, or social media. Please keep in mind that our mechanical services are not based in Epping. Nevertheless, we provide services to areas surrounding Epping.