Owning a car is a good thing as it allows you mobility. However, wear and tear, time and other factors will degrade the quality of your car to the point that you soon notice that it breaks down more than it is usable. Most of the time, when the engine is the one that is causing issues, repairing it can be more expensive than the actual value of the car and it may be best to simply hand it to an auto salvage yard for disposal. Here are some of the known car engine issues you need to know about.
How do you know if the engine is involved and not some other issue? Here are some symptoms that are directly related to engine problems.
- White, black or blue smoke coming out from the exhaust
- Overheating engine
- Engine frequently stalls
- Engine turns over but fails to start
- Presence or rattling noise coming from the engine
- Oil leaks dripping to the ground coming from the engine
- Coolant leak
Rod Knock
If you hear an ominous sound similar to the whacking of hammers coming from your engine, that is called a rod knock. More often than not it is accompanied by low oil pressure warning coming and going.
Causes
If your engine is starved for oil, excessive play occurs in connecting the rod bearings. In effect the metal bearings grind away at the crankshaft until they become loose. Usual causes of rod knock include a defective oil pump, bad engine oil maintenance, and allowing your car to run out of oil.
Repair Costs
Expensive is the one word to describe repairing rod knock issues. The engine needs to be stripped down to the block so as to correctly inspect all components affected. Costs are in the range of one to five thousand dollars.
Overheating Engine
There are many causes to an engine overheat such as faulty thermostat, coolant leak, plugged radiator that restricts coolant flow, faulty water pump and a head gasket leak or cracked engine block. While a faulty thermostat or plugged radiator and faulty water pump are considered minor, cracked engine block or cracked cylinder head gaskets are major issues that can mean the death of your car.
Have any of the issues above? Speak to a junk my car specialist like Max Cash for Junk Cars today to know about your options.