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4 Essential Tips for Proper Diesel Engine Maintenance

4 Essential Tips for Proper Diesel Engine MaintenancePhoto by Markus Spiske

Originally Posted On: 4 Essential Tips for Proper Diesel Engine Maintenance | Diesel Performance Specialist (wefixdieseltrucks.com)

 

If you’re driving a vehicle with a diesel engine, there’s a good chance that you’re on the road a lot. And because of that, you want to make sure that your vehicle is at optimal performance, no matter where you end up going.

It’s always good to bring some useful tools along with you. That includes a fuel filter wrench, a fuel filter, DEF fluid, washer fluid, coolant, and extra oil. Just remember that when you’re changing fuel filters, you need to install the new filters full of diesel fuel.

Practicing proper diesel engine maintenance is crucial to extending the life of your engine and making sure that you’re always able to get where you’re going with little to no problems.

You should take some time in your busy schedule to make sure that your car or truck is getting the proper care and tune-ups that it needs. Let’s go over some of the most essential tips for proper diesel engine maintenance below.

1. Keep Your Vehicle and Engine Clean

Whether you’re driving across the country, down the coast, or just to the other side of town, soot, road grime, and dust can all help to make your truck fairly dirty. When you keep your vehicle clean, you and your service technician will be able to better spot any problems before they turn into serious concerns.

For example, on a clean truck, you’ll be able to easily spot new coolant leaks, broken hoses, and oil leaks. Also, dirty engine parts, such as intercoolers and radiators, are going to affect the engine’s performance.

So make sure that you take measures to keep your vehicle nice and clean.

2. Pay Attention to Your Fluids

If it wasn’t for engine oil, your truck would eventually stop moving completely. Engine oil is needed to lubricate the moving parts of the engine. However, it can become contaminated and acidic as time goes on.

Because of this, it needs to be regularly changed and replenished. If you don’t get regular oil changes, you’ll likely reduce your engine’s performance as well as its lifespan.

You also want to pay attention to the engine coolant, which is just as important as engine oil. Keeping your coolant full and balanced with the right chemicals is going to stop coolant freezing, engine overheating, and harmful electrolysis in your cylinder liners.

You can end up with holes in your cylinder liners and allow coolant to dump into your cylinders if you don’t practice proper coolant maintenance.

Finally, you need to remember your window washer fluid. If you go off-roading or have to drive through snowy or wet roads, it’s pretty easy to end up with a dirty windshield. And let’s not forget the summer bugs that get splattered all over the glass.

Dirty windshields can limit your field of vision and can increase your chances of getting into an accident. Make sure that you’re good on windshield wiper fluid so you can keep your windshield clean.

3. Regularly Change Filters

Not only does your truck need to be kept clean, but your truck’s fluids also need to be clean. And all of its filters are a vital part of proper diesel maintenance.

Fuel filters need to be replaced every so often. This is to ensure that you get good and clean fuel flow to the engine.

A dirty fuel filter will restrict or even prevent fuel flow to the engine. When your fuel flow gets reduced, your engine performance will also be diminished.

And if your filters are completely clogged up, you’ll end up with a diesel engine that won’t run or even start.

Clean oil filters are going to remove particles that could cause wear and tear on your engine. Each time you change the engine oil, you also want to change the oil filters.

A clean air filter will ensure that your engine is utilizing clean air. Air filters need to be changed out every so often. The frequency of air filter replacement is going to depend on the environment that you tend to drive in.

An air filter that’s clogged and dirty is going to restrict airflow and harm your engine’s performance.

Lastly, diesel particulate filters (DPF) also need to be maintained.

4. Regularly Change Your Oil

In order to keep your motor running well, you should consistently replace your oil. Giving a single interval for engine oil changes is difficult. Many factors come into play, such as engine workloads, the number of engine cold starts, and engine idle time.

If you need help figuring out a good engine oil change interval, you should check your specific engine manufacturer guidelines.

You also need to make sure that you’re using the proper oil for your vehicle. If you don’t know which kind of oil to use, then you should check your manual or have a diesel engine repair professional change your oil for you.

The Importance of Knowing About Proper Diesel Engine Maintenance

Hopefully, after reading the above article, you now have a better idea of how to practice proper diesel engine maintenance. As we can see, it’s important to practice preventative maintenance and take your car in for tune-ups regularly.

At Diesel Performance Specialist, our experienced mechanics work on small to medium duty vehicles. We provide engine services as well as services for brakes, electrical, transmissions, and more.

If you’re looking for help with your diesel vehicle, then contact us today and see what we can do for you!

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