Transportation has been one of the early problems that have been stuck with humanity since the stone age. First, there were initial problems when men kind tried to cover great distances on foot. Many of the travelers were harmed or collapsed just by walking.
Because human minds are designed in a manner that seeks solutions to the problems that are in our way. Humans first thought that riding animals would be easier. Still, the question was which one would be suitable as the danger of war was always on their heads, so they had to choose an animal that would be fast and strong and, most importantly, that could be controllable.
The car has many mechanical and electrical components among which the heart of the car is its engine and the lifeblood of the engine is its oil. The oil is responsible for the lubrication of ring pistons and the rods inside them.
Adding oil does not get rid of the old, filthy oil if there is an oil leak or if your car is burning oil. It just adds a tiny bit of clean oil to the crankcase’s remaining oil. The car will age more quickly if the oil is never changed and only new is added. You should also change the filter frequently. On the other hand, getting an oil change means removing the old oil and replacing it with clean, new oil.
An engine runs on three fundamental components it needs a spark, air, and fuel which are combusted together by the movement of rods which depends on the condition of motor oil.
Read on to know more about this topic.
The Invention of Cars
After some serious arguments over time, Carl Benz invented a motor that generated power and dragged itself, which meant no labor was required for transportation. This was the point where the revolution of cars started.
First, he introduced the three-wheel version, and then came the four-wheel version. The cars were so popular that every king had more than one.
But the maintenance and the cost involved in the making of cars were much higher than they were listed in the market, so the engineers joined their heads in order to lower the cost.
Is Adding More Oil Fine Or Should It Be Replaced Completely?
The most important part of the car is its engine, and the most important thing for an engine is oil as it lubricates the ring pistons, which are moving at a relative speed to the speed of your car. The pistons mix the oil, air, and fuel which causes the combustion inside the head of the car.
The oil, when it is new, creates a synthetic relation with the walls and rods present inside the combustion chamber. As the mileage of the car increases, the oil, because of the exothermic reactions, starts to burn, which makes it thick, dark, less grippe, and hard.
As a result of bad fuel economy and if it is not dealt with, the owner might experience a head gasket leak which will make your car engine weak over time and causes it to create white or black smoke which is not only bad for humans but also for the environment. An early oil change is also not beneficial because you are just wasting your money.
Every oil has a certain meter reading or mileage, depending on the grade you have bought. An average mileage recommended by oil companies is changing your engine oil every five thousand kilometers or every three thousand miles. A timely oil change keeps your engine healthy and keeps your fuel consumption as low as possible.
Common Misunderstanding of Most People
Most people question if they just add new fresh oil without draining the old thick oil, would it be healthy for their engines? People think that it will save their money to only top up the oil as it is clear from the word itself that a person is topping up means that he is just adding fresh new oil on the old contaminated burned oil.
This is just a temporary and much more expensive alternative that people think that it saves them money.
But in the long term, the mixture of new and old oil is not healthy, and you have to constantly change and add more oil which will exceed the cost of the oil change in just a few weeks.
To learn about the differences between 5W-30 and 10W-30 engine oil, check out my other article that covers everything you need to know.
Distinguishing Features Between Adding More Oil and Changing the Entire Oil
| Features | Changing the oil | Adding more oil |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Changing the engine oil means draining the old oil out of your car engine and filling it with the recommended grade synthetic oil. The cost depends on the shop, whether you are getting it changed from the dealership, which will add more cost, but if you are a customer of a local shop, that will save you service charges. | Adding more oil means that you are not draining the old thick and burnt oil and just adding the fresh oil that you have bought and saving the rest within the can. This might look like you can save the cost but you are killing your car engine, and other components are going to be problematic. This will exceed your cost more than the oil change. |
| Oil filtration | When you take your car for an annual car service, the mechanic will always change the oil by draining the old one and filling the engine with the new one. In this process, the oil filter is changed, which is also a mandatory component for the engine. | When one is topping up their car with fresh oil, and by not draining the old one, the topping up process does not include any sort of cheek age of any leaking components or change of oil filter. |
| Lubrication | When a car is exposed to a complete oil change, the performance of your gets better and better. This happens because when your oil thickens out, your pistons are not moving very easily as the slippery lubricants of your oils are now expired, and the residue is left, which results in the dragging of the car. The new synthetic oil gives piston a new life from which they receive and comes back to their actual rotating speed. | When the engine oil is just topped off for a very long time, and the previous oil is not draining from your engine, what happens is that a mixture forms between the old and new oil, and the lubrication from the new oil gets soaked by the old oil which leaves nothing for the pistons to absorb. This will create bigger issues in your engine, and the performance is absolutely decreased. |
Need for Oil Change
A daily driven car requires maintenance that many owners run from. This maintenance requires the owner to check the oil dip to see if your oil is up to the marked position. Your radiator coolant and other fluids. Among every other thing, the most important thing is to see your engine oil condition.
There are many laboratories that require a sample of your oil, and they send you a report telling the condition of your engine. When a car is driven over the limit of the oil, then the main hint you will get related to your oil change is that you will hear knocking sounds.
Some people just add more oil to the existing one, which is fine for one time. If you are very low in oil and cannot even go to your nearest oil change, then you can adopt this method but continuously not changing the oil is not healthy for your car.
Conclusion
- Some people want to just add more oil on top of the old used oil. This method is an alternative to getting your oil changed by a dealership.
- Topping off with new oil can be okay if it is just for a few miles, but after some time, you should get your oil changed as the mixture of new and old oil is very harmful to your car.
- It may look like you are saving some cost by not changing the oil of your car but what you are actually doing is that you are ruining the engine of your car, and in the long term, your engine parts might start to collapse.
- It is better and recommended that you change the oil of your car. Topping is alright only when your engine oil is leaking and is reducing at a fast speed; then, you can top it off with some oil to get to the mechanic.