The engine is the heart of your car, hence you need to take very good care of it. There are signs that the engine shows before giving up completely. If you know these signs, you can save the engine from further damage. We are here to tell you about the 10 warning signs that you must be aware of when it comes to engine failure.
Funny noises
It is a known fact that any kind of noise coming from your car is something abnormal. It could either be a case of backfiring or knocking. Backfire is caused because the air-fuel mixture doesn’t combust in the engine chamber and combusts elsewhere in the car. Knocking is basically when the air-fuel mixture ignites before it is supposed to. Both of these scenarios are much more serious than they sound and cause extreme damage to your car’s engine.
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Smoke
Another sign of something seriously wrong with your car is when you see the smoke come out from the back of the car. The good part about this problem is that the issue can be determined by the quality or the colour of the smoke that is coming out. Black smoke can possibly mean that the car is running on a rich air fuel mixture. Also, it could be possible that the fuel system is pumping more fuel than required. A spark plug issue could also be a potential cause for smoke. Blue smoke clearly means that the engine is consuming engine oil and there could be a potential leak somewhere in the engine of the car.
Heavy Vibrations
Vibrations in the car for no apparent reason could also be an indicator of something being wrong in the car, especially when your car is idling. One obvious reason behind this could be weak engine moments. The mounts of the engine serve the purpose of preventing such vibrations to reach the passengers of the car under normal situations. If they fail, you will be able to experience the vibrations evidently. Also, if your engine is misfiring, it could lead to the cause of vibrations in your car.
Check Engine lamp
Nowadays cars are equipped with an accurate functioning of the engine lamp in your car. It is normal to go off when you start your car, however, if the sign doesn’t go away, its possible something is wrong with your engine. The purpose of the lamp is to detect a change in emissions. The exact problem of the engine cannot be purely identified through this lamp, it will only indicate that the car will be losing power and will release more emissions.
Engine overheating
This issue is related to maintaining the optimum engine temperature at all times. All engines are equipped with either a temperature gauge or a temperature lamp. The gauge is supposed to stay towards the centre while driving if it moves to the top, that means that the cooling system of your engine is not working properly and could severely damage your engine. If you face this issue, shut the car off for some time and allow it to cool. You should also get the radiator checked as soon as you can.
Low engine oil
If your car is running on low engine oil, you will get the low oil pressure lamp to indicate the same. Since the engine is made up of multiple parts, each part requires proper lubrication to function optimally. If the engine oil is low, it means that all these parts are not getting the lubrication that they need. If you drive your car for a long time with low engine oil, it could result in excessive damage and simultaneously burn a deep hole in your pocket.
Loss of power
Loss of power in your car can be experienced when you’re accelerating the car and not experiencing the kind of speed that you should. There are multiple reasons behind it. The most basic one is your engine is not getting the fuel that it needs to functions. There could be a chance that the fuel filter is clogged or there’s a problem with the pump or the injector. In case your car is turbocharged, it could be an issue with the turbo. It is also possible that the issue is that the exhaust gases are getting blocked by the catalytic converter.
Misfiring
A misfiring engine could also have multiple varying causes. There could potentially be a problem with the electricals (wiring/spark plug) or could purely be a miss in the timing by the driver. Misfiring could also be caused by loss of compression in the cylinders in the car.
Oily spark plug
This issue only pertains to petrol cars, where the spark plugs are placed to generate the spark so that the combustion in the engine can take place. It could so happen that the engine oil leaked and reached the spark plug resulting in the combustion not taking place properly.
Weak engine braking
Engine braking is basically when the driver of the car downshifts to a lower gear to get the car to stop without putting an effort to apply the brakes. This is a common practice for drivers driving downhill to prevent the brakes of the car from overheating. It is caused with the help of the compression generated by the engine in the combustion chamber when the accelerator is not applied. If there is an evident reduction in engine braking, it means that it unable to generate enough combustion, which is a clear indicator of some problem in your engine.
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