10 SYMPTOMS OF ENGINE FAILURE -

In this article, we’ll be talking about the symptoms of engine failure.

Every engine has its lifespan and eventually, it comes to an end.

If the exploitation is normal, the engine lasts several hundred thousand miles, if mistreated, it’s finished well before that.

When the engine is on its last legs, usually the next step is big repairs and expenses. Either that or the scrapyard.

Having this in mind, knowing the symptoms of engine failure will give you a heads-up on what lies ahead and what you can do.

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SYMPTOMS OF ENGINE FAILURE

1. LOSS OF ENGINE POWER

One of the first symptoms of engine failure that you’ll notice is a significant loss of engine power.

Whatever kind of tune-up and fix you do it just doesn’t feel the same. Simply, the car’s reaction to the gas pedal is sluggish all the time.

To paint a picture, the feeling much resembles towing a bigger trailer than the car can handle.

This gets drastically worse over time especially if the engine is on its last legs.

2. POOR FUEL ECONOMY

Besides a sluggish engine response, you’ll notice an increase in fuel consumption.

Again, it gets worse as the condition of the engine deteriorates.

As a loose estimate, at first, the fuel consumption may be 10 percent or higher, later it may climb to even 50 percent more than usual.

3. COLOR OF THE EXHAUST GASES

Next in line when talking about symptoms of engine failure is that the exhaust gases change color.

Instead of the gases being invisible or maybe having a bleak white color while the engine is still cold, the exhaust gases may become blue, very dark, or have a thick white color.

Any of these are not good signs and indicate things like oil consumption, coolant consumption, or else.

4. ENGINE OVERHEATING

You may also notice mild engine overheating.

Mild means that the car will not overheat totally but the temperature will always be a bit above normal.

If the engine is really failing, it will seriously overheat all the time and it will start to do so even after a shorter drive.

5. HIGH OIL CONSUMPTION

The oil consumption will seriously increase with a failing engine. If you have to add engine oil all the time that’s a bad sign.

For instance if over 10000 kilometers you add 1 liter of oil that’s tolerable. But if you have to add a liter every 1000 kilometers that’s a certain sign of engine failure.

6. COOLANT CONSUMPTION

Besides oil, if you notice a frequent loss of coolant and there are no leaks, heater core problems or else, you might have a failing engine.

Also, if you notice thick white smoke coming from the exhaust when the engine heats up, that’s also a sign of engine problems like a blown head gasket.

7. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT IS ON ALL THE TIME

On top of all this, you’ll constantly have the check engine problem. Not that this is a real problem, but whatever reset you do or action you take to remove it, it will return.

On a failing engine, the vital parameters constantly change and are not normal (like when there’s heavy oil consumption for instance )and this triggers the check engine light.

8. HARD CRANKING ALL THE TIME

This is one of the symptoms of engine failure that becomes very obvious during the winter season.

When it becomes cold outside and the engine is failing, you’re probably in for some hard and long cranking, especially with diesel engines.

As the engine becomes weaker this may also start to happen during warmer weather.

So, what you may encounter is long cranking without knowing if the engine will start at all. Also in the later phases of this problem, it doesn’t matter if the engine is cold or hot.

9. BLOWBY FROM THE ENGINE

One more definitive symptom is engine blowby.

The usual way to see this is if you open the oil cap while the engine is running.

If you see the cap jumping around like crazy and there’s a lot of pressure coming out, that’s a bad sign.

Another way is to pull the oil dipstick out and then start the engine. Again, if there’s pressure coming out of the dipstick sleeve, that is also a bad sign.

The usual causes of blowby are bad piston rings or damaged pistons. Both require serious engine repair and rebuild.

10. STRANGE NOISES FROM THE ENGINE

This is one of the symptoms of engine failure that is perhaps the most hair-raising. This appears when the engine starts seriously failing and it is near its end.

You may start to hear strange noises from the engine, like an in-depth knocking, squeaking, or even grinding while the engine is running.

It will be weak at first, later it becomes very noticeable and at the end, it is very loud.

After this, if you continue driving, the engine usually seizes and at that point, the engine is probably finished.

Of course, these sounds can be caused by various other things that can mimic these sounds (bad bearing, bad serpentine belt, loose panels, dual mass flywheel problems, etc).

With these symptoms, a thorough inspection is needed to conclude what’s causing the problem to avoid making unneeded repairs.

CONCLUSION

In the end one more important piece of advice.

Pay attention to a failing engine especially if you drive a car with higher mileage.

The moment you notice a serious loss of engine power, higher fuel consumption, and especially massive oil consumption, inspect what’s wrong.

Sometimes, in this phase, the engine can be repaired and rebuilt in quality. Sometimes it will not even cost that much.

Try not to run the engine to the ground as if it gets to the knocking and grinding part, it’s usually good only for the scrapyard. Either this or there will be a huge repair bill.

Definitely worth paying attention to in terms of saving money, time, and nerves.