After years of driving your dream car, your family picks on you and says it’s time to replace it. You have no intentions of ever getting rid of this automobile. We get that here at West Omaha Auto Service, but we also want to caution you that there will come a time when you will need to replace the engine. Here are five signs that that time has arrived.
1. Constant Knocking
If your engine is knocking constantly, there is damage being caused underneath the hood. One thing that might be going on is what is called “rod knock.” What this means is that the rod bearings have worn down and your pistons are clanking against the cylinder walls in the crankshaft. This, naturally, not only damages the pistons but it also damages the cylinders. Even more devastating is a broken rod. If this happens, your vehicle will stop and you won’t be able to get the engine running at all.
2. Excessive Exhaust
Too much exhaust smoke flowing out of the tailpipe is also a sign that your engine needs to be replaced. When your engine is burning an extreme amount of fuel, it will release black exhaust via the tailpipe. This is a sign of a serious problem in the engine. Another sign of a serious engine problem is blue exhaust, which means oil is making its way into your dream car’s cylinders and being burned with the fuel and air. Finally, white exhaust means you have an engine coolant hemorrhage somewhere in the engine.
3. Metal Shavings
Another devastating thing that can happen in an old engine is metal shavings in the motor oil. The shavings not only damage the engine as they flow through it, but they are also a sign that the engine parts are literally disintegrating as the oil flows over them. Once you end up with metal shavings in the oil, your engine will only last a few hours, if that.
4. No Power
Another sign that you need to get a new engine is zero power. There may not be any one thing to which you can pinpoint the problem. No power just means that your engine has finally reached the end of its life and it needs to be replaced. Rebuilding the engine generally doesn’t do the trick if it isn’t generating power anymore.
5. Spewing Smoke
Finally, a cracked head gasket will cause smoke to flow out from underneath the hood but that isn’t the only thing that is going on. A cracked head gasket can make your engine overheat to the point that it cracks the engine block, and the only way to repair this is to replace the engine.
West Omaha Auto Service is the best auto repair shop in Omaha, NE, and we’d be happy to talk with you about vehicle engine replacement if you need one.