3 Tips For Proper Diesel Engine Care

Posted on: 18 February 2018

Driving a vehicle with a diesel engine allows you to take advantage of the maximum gas mileage per gallon these vehicles can offer. Diesel fuel is often more affordable than traditional gasoline, so making the switch to a diesel-powered vehicle can be good for your pocketbook. In order to ensure that your new car or truck runs properly, you need to know how to maintain a diesel engine.

The following three tips will help you discover how to better care for your diesel engine to maximize performance in the future.

1. Carefully monitor engine gaskets.

Temperatures within your diesel engine can reach extreme highs when your vehicle is in operation. These high temperature can cause serious damage to the gaskets in your engine over time. Gaskets play a critical role in securing bolts within your engine in place.

To prevent serious leaks caused by loose bolts, you need to monitor your engine gaskets and have your diesel engine re-torqued on a regular schedule. This re-torquing will ensure gaskets remain operational at all times, protecting your diesel engine against serious damage.

2. Add an air filter indicator.

Diesel engines utilize a lot of air during operation. Proper airflow is critical to the performance of your diesel car or truck, so you need to have a clean air filter installed at all times. Monitoring your air filter can seem like a challenge, but installing an air filter indicator is a simple and effective way to keep tabs on the performance of the filter.

The indicator is a plastic attachment that is mounted to the air filter. As the filter becomes dirty, the attachment changes color. You can keep a fresh filter installed to ensure maximum diesel performance.

3. Install a coolant filter.

If your diesel-powered vehicle didn't come from the factory with a coolant filter, you should seriously consider installing one. Coolant plays an important role in the day-to-day operation of a diesel engine. Quality coolant is needed to help dispel the heat generated by the engine and lubricate its many moving parts.

A coolant filter will eliminate any potentially dangerous and corrosive particles from your engine's coolant supply and help to keep the coolant within the proper pH range. Coolant filters can also treat your engine's coolant supply with a chemical additive that coats the surface of metallic engine components to guard them against warping and corrosion over the life of your vehicle. Contact a shop, like Scotty's Automotive Center, for more help.

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