Oil Sludge

Do you own a car? If so you might be interested to know that there is a good chance your engine is currently filled with thick oil sludge and contaminates that are actively deteriorating your engine’s performance. Surprised? So was I when I learnt about the intimate details of my car. Like you, I would drive around, fill up with petrol and service when I really had to. Like you, I was unaware of the thick soup of waste products building and clogging my engine. Talk about a recipe for disaster. So, let’s a step back to see how our cars get to this state.

Engine sludge is caused by contaminated or oxidised oil. Oil is imperative in the engine as it absorbs and protects from contaminates. However, once oil reaches its absorption capacity, it begins to deposit contaminates in the engine, rather than remove them. This ultimately creates a sludge which generates heat in the engine. There a few ways this process occurs:

1. Idling.
Picture this, it’s the midst of winter. You run your car for 10 minutes before you are scheduled to leave to turn on the heater and “warm up” the engine. When our cars idle, they are still working. So, when we are warming up the car or sitting in traffic, the engine is still turning over oil regardless of kilometres driven. Which leads us to our next cause of oil sludge;



2. Maintenance negligence
Stretching the time between services is never good for the health of your car. It’s especially bad when your car experiences excessive idling. Because services are often monitored on kilometres driven, rather than hours of engine use, the oil can be contaminated severely even when servicing on time. When services are postponed, the oil is forced to run for longer than intended which leads to contamination which in turn will lead to severe engine damage as the oil is unable to protect the internals of the engine due to the oils lubricating properties breaking down.



3. Incorrect oil
It is critical that the oil used is the one recommended by the manufacturer for your car and of high quality.



4. Low quality fuels
while everyone likes to get the best price, it doesn’t always mean the best quality. Cheaper fuels often contain higher amounts of sulphate which suffocate the engine and breaks down the oils lubricating properties.



So, think about the amount of time a taxi spends idling…..would you buy an old taxi as your next car? Probably not so don’t treat your 4 wheeler like a taxi that gets no love!

Article prepared by Liqui Moly Australia

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