What Happens If a Car Is Not Maintained on Time?
3 Answers
Hazards of not maintaining a car on time: 1. Exterior: From the exterior perspective, the car's paint is prone to damage, especially in summer when the intense heat and UV rays can corrode the car's paint. 2. Air Filter: If the air filter is not replaced after the maintenance period, due to poor filtration, it becomes difficult to draw in air, leading to insufficient mixing of gasoline and air. This can easily cause carbon buildup and reduced power. 3. Engine Oil and Filter: Once the oil container is opened, oxidation may occur. 4. Long-term lack of maintenance can lead to carbon buildup in parts: The car engine often experiences carbon buildup. Carbon not only absorbs oil but also causes incomplete combustion of gasoline to turn into carbon deposits, severely damaging the engine and preventing it from functioning properly. 5. Oil Deterioration: Any high-quality oil will undergo changes in quality during use. After a certain mileage, its performance decreases, and increased carbon buildup can bring various problems to the engine.
Last time, my neighbor spent over 20,000 yuan on an engine overhaul for their SUV, all because they kept forgetting maintenance. When the engine oil turns into black sesame paste and you still push it, the engine is basically drinking sand water - piston and cylinder wall damage is inevitable. A clogged air filter leads to insufficient intake, making the car wheeze harder than climbing stairs. The worst I've seen was coolant unchanged for three years - the radiator rusted through and boiled over mid-drive. Brake fluid absorbing moisture makes pedals feel spongy, dangerously increasing stopping distance. If the timing belt snaps on the highway, the steering wheel locks instantly. Maintenance is like a health checkup - skip small expenses now, pay big later.
Having run an auto repair shop for over a decade, I've witnessed countless maintenance delay disasters. The most typical case is expired transmission fluid turning into sludge, clogging solenoid valves with metal shavings, making gear shifts as jerky as a rollercoaster. Prolonged neglect of brake fluid changes leads to caliper seizure - replacing four calipers costs as much as ten maintenance services. Engine carbon deposits can grow thick enough to scrape off and burn like coal, increasing fuel consumption by 30%. Don't even get me started on flood-damaged vehicles - just six months of delayed maintenance can completely rust through chassis bolts. There's solid reasoning behind manufacturers' 5,000-km oil change intervals - under extreme heat and pressure, oil degradation happens much faster than most people realize.
