5 Reasons to Keep Your Engine Looking Clean and Shiny
Most people know that they need to keep their car's engine maintained, but far fewer appreciate the importance of keeping the outside of the engine as clean as possible. When the car was new, its engine will have been shining and spotless; you might think that doing your best to keep it that way doesn't provide any real benefits, but you'd be wrong.
1. Heat Can Build Up
When a sediment of grease, oil, and dirt is allowed to accumulate across your engine, it's going to hurt the engine's ability to dissipate heat. As anyone with even a passing interest in automotive maintenance knows, you want your engine to run without suffering from excessive heat. Even if no major problems occur, it's possible for hot spots to develop across certain components, shortening their shelf-life as a result.
2. Problems Can Be Spotted Sooner
There isn't a car on the road that possesses an infallible engine. Problems can always occur, and you'll find them easier to spot and treat if your engine is clean. It might be that oil or grease has begun to leak. If this is the case, it will take you longer to notice, and you're likely to find it tricky to locate the exact spot where liquids are escaping if your engine is dirty.
3. Improve Curb Appeal
It might be a good few years until you expect to have to sell your vehicle, but by then your engine could have been dirtied beyond salvation. Even if the engine itself is as fit as a fiddle, buyers are going to be put off if it doesn't look the part, and that can really knock down the price that they're willing to pay. After all, why should they invest in a vehicle that doesn't look like it's been taken care of?
4. Make Your Engine More Enjoyable to Maintain
Sure, it seems cool at first to roll into the house with oil stains running up your hands and arms after working on your engine. After all, that's exactly how the movies have taught us you should look after taking care of your car. In reality, washing off all that gunk is tedious and sore, and you're likely to track it around the house. It's just nicer to work on an engine that is gleaming, so ditch the Hollywood image and clean her up.
5. Reduces the Likelihood of Corrosion
Heat isn't the only thing that can damage your dirty engine; it's also possible that some elements can cause damage all by themselves. Road salt, for example, can collect along with all the dirt and grease. If it accumulates over time, you could find that parts of the engine become corroded and unsafe.
For more information, contact an expert in car servicing.
