You’re helping me so much to learn about the mechanics of cars rather than just blindly adding mods. Keep up the amazing work and I can’t wait to see your future!
people for some reason always ignore the air filter and spark plugs... it grinds my gears. like that's the most basic stuff. and people run their car to the junkyard or sell it because they don't know why their car is lacking power. agh. this video was helpful anyway
I just saw you on a GMC commercial and I wanted to comment and say congratulations but comments were disabled on that video so I came here, congratulations on all your progress! It's so cool to see how far you've made it.
My 3.4L V6 GM engine is more powerful today than it was back in 04. I changed out to Mobil 1 soon as I got it home. Been using it ever since. Changed out OE air filter to K&N. Changed out restrictive exhaust to dual exhaust with 1/2" larger pipes. Changed out to new OE plug wires. Bosch Iridium spark plugs. Change out AT fluid at 60000. Maintain the car all the time myself so I know the work is done correctly with the right fluids and oil. Changed to all LED lights, including dash light. Added performance tires and wheels which lets the vehicle roll easier (reduces road friction). Stuff like that.
Exactly. Ported throttle body, bigger and better injectors, exhaust, header, and mechanical fan delete and I'm making more than stock on my Jeep with almost 300k on it
Quite a comprehensive description there, and suggests many inexpensive solutions to maintaining power, much of which is manufacturer's recommended maintenance intervals...
I've got 600,000kms from a Land cruiser all original still running like new when I sold it. As well as getting hundreds of thousands of kilometers from other cars. My tips: 1) don't use the oil your manufacturer recommends, use synthetic oil according to your climate grade. For example, Toyota put 5w-30 in engines in Australia where it gets to over 40c and the engine starts burning the oil. I use 15w-50 2) Change your fuel filter annually and if you have a diesel with mechanical injection pumps, use a good quality fuel stabilising additive that conditions seals and rings while removing contaminants and algae. 3) Don't forget gearbox oil changes, and if you have a 4WD, transfer and diff oils too. Don't forget to grease all grease points in the drive line and suspension. 4) Flush out your radiator properly, I mean removing hoses, flushing the heater core, making sure no hoses crunch with rust when squeezed and use coolant that feels slippery and silky between your fingers.
@@AbduulG well he is kinda true, 5w30 is really thin (like water thin) at high temperatures (speed), so on the highway for example. 5w40 would give you a bit more oil pressure and less wear. Most manufacturers use thin oil (0w20 or 5w20) for achieving better mpg (less friction after cold start). But it doesn't mean it's better for durability! I know it from tractors too, some used to burn a lot of oil on 10w30 but with 15w40 there is not a single issue! 10000hours and still no problem, (no oil burning) with an average of 40mph that would be 400000 miles! :) (And that's a lot!)
I average 450,000 - 500,000 miles with my vehicles. Oil changes @ 3,000 miles - Wal-Mart SuperTech 10W-30 non synthetic oil - Bosch filters. At 100,000 mile mark - change manual trans & rear end gear oil - replace timing belt/components - check/replace spark plugs/vacuum hoses - flush cooling system - new shocks - check suspension - regrease front wheel bearings - and just look/see for anything needing attention. Got 482,000 miles with 1996 Rodeo 6 cyl - valve guide seals started leaking - engine smokes a little at start up but still runs fine - has 60 psi oil pressure. Plan to pull heads for repair. Just simple maintenance saves a lot of $$ - doing your own repairs even more. New car payments (and costly insurance) just flat out suck! I like having money in the bank. 😊
#1 is horrible advice. Heavier than recommended oil especially in a multi-valve or turbo engine is a no-no because you need the oil to penetrate through all those tiny spaces with ease. Also, the argument about Australia getting ‘too hot’ is BS. Ambient temperatures are always lower than engine operating temperatures…oils are designed to withstand engine temperature which is more than 100 degrees celcius unless Australia gets hotter than that, your ‘advice’ is bad. You should be thanking God for Toyota making an excellent engine that withstood your poor maintenance. LOL.
dirty fuel filter sometimes makes your fuel pump work harder so you might wanna check that too. besides this pressure on fuel pump may cause damage so replacing it might be a good idea
Although you are right about ring gap increasing over time it is the wear on cylinder crosshatching that adds the most noticeable blow-by which is why a hone is essential for an engine build; with a worn cylinder wall there would be very minimal compression
friend of our converted his truck to propane and we did a tear down of his engine and it looked bran new, another thing we hav noticed our engines once getting around 36k miles is when we noticed a increase in fuel mileage, people dont like to maintain or do mantaince until they have a problem this is key to follow up on follow thur with proper maintence and you will be fine, again my friend came down from canada we had same trucks but he gets almost 3x the fuel milage we get, the tech, is there and yes after he was here for 8 months the dealer said he had a recall on his fuel system, ha, he said he wasnt changing anything, and he didnt,
Some of these things can be easily fixed (e.g. replacing a single cheap part), some not. It would be great if you could have a video explaining what to do to diagnose and fix each of those possible issues.
A good example of that is the engine knock. It doesn't mean you just lose power it means your engine is going to catastrophically fail imminently and needs to be scrapped.
i had idle problems with my car, it was idling around 600rpm. after adjusting the spark plug gaps, at first start rpm went up around 2k and slowly fell down to perfect. its incredible how little things can cause big power losses.
yep, mechanic screwed it up while installing. i just wanted to point out that even adjusting the gaps made such a big difference. even some things that happen over time can be corrected with small adjustments that will made huge differences.
KOLT if your car is newer then 1995 it will tell you with a check engine light. Obd1 or anything newer then 1996 metallic rattling inside the cat or smell of exhaust changing with odometer increase can indicate a bad cat.
Once bought a van for $50 because a guy was movingnout of our apartment building and it wouldn't run. Pulled the cover off the motor found and replaced the $2 fuel filter. Shazam $52 van.
Funny, unless you're a car enthusiast/mechanic than a fuel filter is usually one of the most neglected maintenance items. I don't think I've ever gone to a quick lube place and been tried to be upsold a fuel filter.
And you never will. Car Engineers today had the brilliant idea of putting the fuel filter inside the gas tank. To change a fuel filter in most modern cars you have to drop the fuel tank. A $1000 fix (due to labor cost), unless you do it yourself.
Camshaft wear. I had an engine that was low on power. It ran just fine, quiet, smooth, started OK. It was the lowest power version fitted to this car so I thought it was normal. i decided to pep it up a bit with a performance cam, cylinder heads and headers. When i removed the cam it was so badly worn some valves must have been barely opening. Just replacing the cam with a new standard one would have given a substantial power increase. Once put back together the power increase with the performance parts was incredible!
I can simplify this for you... Ten reasons why an engine can lose power over time. Poor maintenance...Poor maintenance...Poor maintenance...Poor maintenance...Poor maintenance...Poor maintenance...Poor maintenance...Poor maintenance...Poor maintenance... Wear.
@ It depends on the engine build quality and design tbh, wear and conditions and environment the engine is used. Not all engines are created equal, take for example the 4G63 N/A SOHC, a legendary engine when properly used and maintained is just shy of immortal. This engine is so good and reliable the factory made it into DOHC Turbo (300+BHP) without taxing the reliability. Modders took it into more extreme tuning with many breaking the 1000+ BHP mark. Well if that engine can produce that power and reliably up to 700BHP, at the factory 115BHP it simply can never die with proper maintenance.
A lot of engines gain power as they "loosen-up" with some miles on them, then eventually lose power as they wear out many tens of thousand of miles later. I had 2 Coyote 5.0 Mustangs which gained 3-4 mph of 1/4 mile trap speed once past about 20,000 miles. They were making more power than new.
i dont know why people thumb down your videos. your probably the best person at expaining such scenarios, better than most i have come across. chrisfix is another goody . keep up the good work 👍🙋♂️
This autoTempest website is actually awesome its just direct comparisons to all my normal search places, thanks for the recommendation I plan to use this in the future a bunch
I like how you not only listed diagnostic information about each component, but also ways to keep each component working optimally, but I'm wondering how often you might need to make adjustments and/or replace each component due to just normal wear and tear. I know each car is probably different, and each component is also maybe different, but maybe like a basic guideline would be good... like the air filter usually should be changed with every other oil change, or maybe if you live in a particularly dusty part of the country more often than that... or Catalytic Converters usually last for ~150 thousand miles... (I dunno if thats true or not)...
Man the more i watch your videos the more I love my car for being a brilliant piece of engineering. I have a Mitsubishi Galant hatchback E33 92' has over 125,000miles on the odo, and since I did not ever need any sort of repairs apart from the 6 month oil change. Heck I didn't even need to change my spark plugs in over 2 years as they are in pristine condition (white) as the engine makes perfect combustion. No engine knocks and no oil burning (well maybe a just little bit as after 5000miles the oil gauge goes from high to low - i use mineral oil). I bought it 6 years ago for 1,000 Euro (yes I paid extra because it was in very good condition and was serviced at our garage so it was a customer's car). In 6 years my repair list was as following: 3 x Air filters, 1 set of spark plugs just because (they were in perfect condition), 4 new tyres, 1 antenna rod, 1 battery, 6 x fuel filters, 6 x oil filters, 1 water spray tank (took it from my other Galant an E32), 1 section of exhaust pipe, 1 AC gas conversion intake nozzle (new AC gas regulation needed it). In 6 years I spent next to nothing for its maintenance and its as comfortable as ever and spacious, not the most powerful car out there but it is adequate for daily commute. Range is about 230 miles/ 50litres city driving, 350miles/50litres mixed and once pushed it to almost 480 miles highway only, which is pretty solid for a 1992' car. The only problem the car has is some rattling on the driver's door striker on heavy left continuous cornering (right hand steering wheel). All electrics work perfectly, even the original radio cassette (apart from the up-seek button that got stuck). The only problem with the car is my wife, she hates it, because it looks old design
always check the basics....bought a 01 ram 1500 with a full plow setup for 2k...good shape..little rust and trans was rebuilt. ..seller said hard time starting when it was wet out and didnt have time to get into it....i took a chance and bought it. ..the plugs ,cap and rotor looked original and were worn down to nothing....gave her a tune up and she runs like new...75$ in parts 2 hours time.
The segment about Fuel Pumps is "partly" inaccurate. (For fuel-injected systems.) - It's not so much a reduction of "volume" of fuel flow. What is important is that a "weak" pump might-be pushing the volume, BUT... the greater question is: Is it creating the "PRESSURE" (PSI) needed on the injection-system? That PSI is important to push the correct volume of fuel through the injectors,... and it also affects the "atomization" of the fuel spray.
Another nice video on cars. The section on piston rings and valve wear could have mentioned heat from turbos and high rpm can cause floppy pistons and premature wear of metal and rubber seals, So, keeping heat and rpm low will definitely help engine parts and the longevity of your car. I rebuilt engines for years and this was the golden rule. Great Content. Mario
That old person will be the one fixing your car , most women know one thing how to start a car although they made it easy for them with push to Star button !
I thought this was an incredible video- very direct and to the point with such a clear explanation as to the importance of all of these factors. Thank you for posting- I really enjoyed it!
An important detail about "knock" (detonation).... Detonation comes from either of two sources; ignition or pre-ignition. All vehicles sold in the USA since 1996 must have OBDII, which effectively demands monitored knock sensors. If the detonation is the result of ignition, retarding the spark (the system kicks it back a *lot*) controls it. If you hear pinging, it means you have pre-ignition caused by hot spots. Ignition timing does not control pre-ignition.
Appreciate the video. Ideas for improving at least some of those problems? Changing spark plugs is obvious, but what about all of those other deposits inside the engine? Some way to dissolve or blow them out, with additives and/or driving style?
Running a full tank of high octane gas will help, Just fill up the entire tank from empty on the highest octane available and dont fill up on what you would normally use until your empty again.
@@ghosthawk3103 why is this? I thought higher octane only meant it would prevent pre-ignition. Are you saying it burns at a higher temperature thus ashing/dissolving the deposits away?
for us old timers, valve seat recession, Camshaft lobe wear (reduced valve lift), increased clearances in big end bearings , weakened valve springs, coked up piston crowns. Also for the newer ones, clogged or worn injectors.
So, basicly if you replace and rebuild all the parts you just mentioned, there is a possibility for the engine to run as new? A buddy of mine had an engine rebuild. He went from 10w40 to 5w50 over winter and 10w50 over summer (he does big milage). When he went to remap the ecu after the whole rebuild, the power at the crankshaft was showing ~10 hp less when the car was new (wow, you can read the brouchure). How would you explain that?
Man, my 98 Expedition just turned 240,000 and has none of these problems (that make it noticeable), save probably a need to adjust the throttle cable and I did replace the fuel pump (it was wearing out, FIXED). All fluids/filters get changed so that's not an issue. The thing runs, rides and drives like brand spankin new. If anything ever impressed me about it, this just did!
Expeditions are honestly the worst vehicle ever I used to have a 2000 Expedition took care of that more than I take care of my kids and 250, 000 miles the engine locked on and It gave out
you so excellent keep up the good work,my ford fiesta overheated and i bought all parts required but the car is shaking and loses power also my engine light flashes once and goes away what could it be?
Awesome video. Thats why im changing my semi engine oil every 4k miles, changing my plugs and air filter every 10k miles, usinv fuel injector cleaner and seafoam to clean my internal combustion carbon deposits and regularly scan my car ecu for faulty codes
Having a vehicle with the vintage AMC 242ci I6 engine, it very basic to remove the cylinder head and clean things up and reinstall the cylinder head. Every five years, on the anniversary of the purchase of my vehicle, I remove the single cylinder head, clean things up, check things out, replace valve springs, clean the top of cylinders, tighten loose rockers, check push rods, and put a new head gasket in. If needed, I also change the exhaust manifold gasket, timing cover gasket, and valve cover gasket also. Using this simple and primative method, my vehicle recently turned 401,000,000 miles and still running very strong. I bought my vehicle new in 1996. I have had it 23 years. I have two years, one month, twenty days left until my next disassembly and deep cleaning. I am sure I can get another 35 years of service out of my vintage beauty.
You talk about changing the air filter, but do not mention the fuel filter. Apart from that it is an excellent video. there are so many people out there that have no idea about what goes on under the hood, and end up getting ripped off when they take their vehicle in for maintenance/repairs.
Great Video... I've rebuilt the engine and clutch to my 95 Del sol and replaced a lot of parts to the engine and cleaned a lot and replaced Fuel filter, air filter, PCV Valve, all the radiator / heater hoses, Axles, wheel bearings, cleaned out the IACV, New Plugs and wires, New Catalytic converter 4 years ago, etc. etc... This pointed out a few things I didn't think of.... like the fuel pump... Seems to be working fine now but I'll look into it and see how much it costs to replace... The Car is running super smooth right now... but I am sure these things need to be replaced eventually...
I mean that's based on your connection and your device really. Everything runs fine for me, but that's because I'm using a good PC, have a wired connection and verizon fios.
I'll never run catless... it stinks when you come to a stop, and everyone behind you has to smell your exhaust. It's like being behind a diesel, but not as bad.
*Engineering Explained* It may not be legal, but some states (like NJ, where I am for example) are no longer doing emissions testing on normal vehicles 1995 or older as they do not have ODBII ports. So in a way, the car folk see this as making straight-pipes on older performance vehicles somewhat OK now, or at least "less-illegal" as the state is not proactively trying to enforce the legality of it. Those older cars ('95 and older) are now exempt from state inspections.
Hello Jason, quick question. How do you know you're injectors are getting clogged and how reliable are those cleaners you out in the fuel to open them. Or is it better just to change them after a certain period? The service manuels of my cars don't have info on this.
No easy way to tell at home without a tool. With a fuel pressure gauge and an injector pulse tool you can do a pressure drop test to see if they flow consistently. If you have a scan tool that shows fuel trim you could tell if they are ok if fuel trim is still within spec.
Gotta maintain yoyr car! With the current market and dealers jacking up prices to their liking, it’s not the best time to end up buying new or even used!
Thanks for the video. What do you prefer for cleaning valve deposit? Do you think see-foam is the best for valve deposit cleaning? I am also open any suggestion? Thanks
Ehm nope. Knock is a term for unwanted ignition of the air-fuel mixture before the piston hits top dead center. This happens if the temperatures in the cylinders are so high that the mixture ignites itself OR if the sparkplugs misfire.
Never heard of calling that knock before. In Europe that's called engine failure ;P. Btw you guys have your octane rated according to the AKI system right? That is short for Anti Knock Index, so I didn't assume it was a localization thing.
i already know the general answer to the questions or video topics but always click because it's just interesting to see how he approaches the explanation.
another common cause for ignition timing issues, as well as valve timing issues in older engines, (both of which cause power loss) is a worn or stretched timing chain.
Does the same rule apply to diesel engines, (perhaps worse)? I don't know, cars with petrol engines here depreciate like crazy, quite the opposite from the rest of the world I guess? And I always wonder if that power could be returned with some overhaul on the engine?
If you struggle with power loss in a diesel, I highly suggest you replace the fuel pump, as diesels run with higher fuel pressure and as a result, you'll have more wear on the fuel system over time.
Hmmm, some of my mechanic friends did told me that the Fuel system is the first thing to go wrong on a diesel engine. (not to mention that the engine that I have, Isuzu's 4JX,1 is quite problematic.) Well I guess I'll have to save up for a Subaru.
as my father thought me deposit is a high chance if you drive the car "carefully" personally i got a big very noticeable increase after i hooked the caravan behind my volvo 740 2,3L petrol and went on a weekend trip, high load over time means the engine basically cleans the deposit of it's own, also if deposit is stuck on the valves this will work fantastic. the exhaust system will also be allot hotter and will remove deposit of it's own.
Spark plugs are a big one. When my parents bought a new car and gave me the old one, it consumed lots of fuel and it struggled expecially at the low RPM range. I decided to take a spark plug out and look what's the matter, I found that they were so burned out that the gap was almost twice as wide as it should be. Bought and installed new spark plugs, fells like a brand new car. I had someone tell me that you have to change the sparkplugs every 30k kilometers. That, I think, should also prevent additional tar collecting.
