The cost of bad maintenance

Maintenance – we’ve all heard it before, usually it means an expense; time and money… More cost! In the good old days, we got by on the ageless principle, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!’ However, Progress always intervenes with such ideology, and things change. Things get better. Things improve. Efficiency needs to increase. The essence is to reduce cost, both time and money. Every industry is looking for ways to become more efficient, to save time, to reduce cost. This is particularly true for the Automobile Industry, including passenger cars, trucks, farm equipment, and all other commercial and heavy vehicles.

Extended oil change intervals. A true cost reduction?

A major component of vehicle maintenance (this includes all types of vehicles/machines) is the oil change program where the engine oil is replaced after either a certain distance or time has elapsed. Vehicle and oil manufacturers have extended these parameters significantly in recent years in the guise of reducing maintenance costs. In many aspects modern oils certainly do perform much better than those in the past. Synthetic oils have so much the advantage over conventional mineral oils. However, problems continue to arise, particularly with oil contamination, made worse it seems by extended oil change intervals. Even with modern oils, harmful particulates continue to be produced and contaminants continue to make their way into the oil, and exacerbated by the extended oil change recommendations, costly engine problems are often the result.

If extended oil change intervals are here to stay, as well as the problems they bring, what is the solution? Before we answer that, let’s first look at the problem. The problem is recurring contaminants in the engine oil. Not just the contaminants we can see because the oil is obviously dirty, or the ones we can feel because the oil feels gritty, but it is especially the microscopic particles we never consider. Yep, those virtually invisible particles can wreak high-cost havoc on any engine, from the smallest to the very largest. There is an adage in the professional maintenance industry that goes something like this, “Ten times cleaner oil results in 50 times longer machine life”. While it seems a bit far-fetched, in reality, it is ostensibly true.

Pro-active Maintenance™. Significantly extend long term reliability and reduce costs.

So, what does that mean? It means the key to long term dependability and expected performance from engines requires a new outlook, a change in thinking, a change in how we do things. It is called Pro-active Maintenance. Does that just mean we should expect performance levels to deteriorate at a level prescribed by the manufacturer and then be actively ready to accommodate the predicted failure at the prescribed time?

No, Pro-active Maintenance means to do things ‘now’, to significantly extend the reliability and long-term performance well beyond the limits formally experienced. It means being active now to mitigate problems later. It means the ability to reduce overall long-term costs and maintain performance and efficiency levels that are higher than usually expected.

The main objective of Pro-active Maintenance is extending the long-term reliability and serviceability of an engine, or any component for that matter. Pro-active Maintenance is NOT a program of trying to catch and control “unusually high” contamination levels. Rather, Pro-active Maintenance is evidenced in a managed state of “unusually low” contamination levels. That single concept is the real key behind Pro-active Maintenance, especially when it comes to particulate contamination that usually causes component failure.

Fix it now or pay the cost.

Lubrication break-down is the No. 1 cause of component wear and failure. Fix the lubrication situation now, and you don’t have to fix the engine later. Sadly it seems out-of-sight means out-of-mind until it is too late. We seem to be complacent with the mistaken thought that engine oil retains its complete effectiveness throughout its life, extended drain schedule or not. We often take no thought of the oil’s condition or quality once the hood is closed.

Experience tells a vastly different story. Engine oil deteriorates greatly during its operational life caused primarily by these 2 factors –

  • Temperature – engine temperature ranges a lot during operation. Water vapor, produced during the combustion process, enters the lubricating system, and until the oil reaches at least operating temperature (or at least 212°F, 100°C), the vapor mixes with sulfur to create acids that not only degrade the oil, but also damage engine components, particularly bearings. Low oil temperature also causes excessive frictional drag on the bearings and cylinder walls, reducing power, and increasing wear, and consequently, the production of abrasive wear particles in the oil. On the other hand, when the engine oil is very hot, the oil’s inherent additives are depleted much sooner, altering the oil’s chemistry and preventing it from lubricating, cooling and cleaning as designed, and damaging sludge is soon formed within the lubricating system.
  • Contamination – many contaminants are introduced from component wear, and abrasive carbon and soot particulates accumulate as a result of the engine’s combustion process. External impurities like dust and water vapor mix into the oil also. This combination of elements builds up over time. They clump together, bake onto components, and also form engine-destroying sludge. They remain in the lubrication system regardless of changing the oil. When new oil is introduced at the time of an oil change, these remaining deposits immediately contaminate the new, clean oil, and the cycle begins again, this time only worse because there are far more harmful residual, left-over contaminants still in the system. It doesn’t have to be that way…

The solution.Sludge in oil pan

So, how do we use Pro-active Maintenance to overcome this potentially very costly problem? The answer is we change the way we do things! We become pro-active…

Here’s how –

  • Effectively and completely remove all existing contaminants from the entire lubrication system. Restore total cleanliness to all oil-wetted components.
  • Reduce ongoing wear particles from being created during operation.
  • Reduce destructive, oil degrading operational heat within the engine.
  • Increase combustion efficiency so that far less abrasive carbon and soot is created during the combustion process.
  • Repeat…
  1. Use Flushing Oil Concentrate at EVERY oil change. When used as recommended, it is the safest and most remarkably effective treatment in removing harmful and performance draining sludge, hard carbon and other contaminants and deposits from oil-wetted engine components. Not only does it safely restore full cleanliness to the entire crankcase, removing all engine sludge, but it also frees up stuck or blocked piston rings, restoring compression and oil control. It is entirely safe to use, it contains no corrosive or abrasive solvents. The engine oil stays cleaner and effective much, much longer because residual contaminants are no longer in the lubricating system.
  2. Add AW10 Antiwear to the new engine oil. This exceptional product carries a much higher load than the oil itself is capable of, making every lubricated part more protected, efficient and wear resistant. The high load carrying ability ensures far superior protection against abrasive and adhesive wear than oil alone gives. Significantly less wear particles are created, resulting in less oil contamination. Component heat is reduced considerably, reducing oil degradation, and prolonging the oil’s effective life.
  3. Add FTC Decarbonizer to the fuel, either gasoline or diesel, to substantially reduce the amount of combustion by-products, such as soot and carbon. FTC Decarbonizer is truly unique, it acts as a true combustion catalyst to ignite and combust fuel much more easily, cleanly and effectively. It also literally burns off carbon from combustion and exhaust spaces at much lower temperatures than otherwise possible.

The cost of bad maintenance practices is much more than the price of these extremely effective products. Extend the life of your engine and reduce ongoing operational costs. It’s better to spend affordable dollars now on preventative maintenance, than unaffordable dollars later as a result of major component failure. Food for thought…