How to Tell if Something Is Wrong With Your Diesel Engine

The average American spends about $400 on car repairs each year. That includes routine maintenance and anything that goes wrong.

However, if you have a diesel engine, and something goes wrong with the engine, you may be looking at some more costly repairs. That’s why knowing what engine problems look like is important so that you can have the engine repairs done without causing more damage.

If you feel that you have a problem with your engine, here are a few tell-tale signs to look out for.

Oil Sludge

If you feel that you have an engine problem and look under the hood, the first place you will want to look is the dipstick and the fill cap. If you notice that there is an accumulation of oil sludge, then you may have an issue with your truck engine.

This oil sludge of sorts usually comes from wasted oil, grime that gets into the oil, or coolant issues. If you notice sludge, this means that the engine is not properly lubricated. This can cause a lot of damage to your engine if you do not have it checked out right away.

Metal Shavings in the Oil

The last thing you want is anything in your oil, but if you notice that you have metal shavings in your oil, that is a very big problem. Most of the time, this is due to a lack of proper lubrication, which provides friction, and ultimately, causing shavings to fall off.

When the metal shavings sit in your oil, the oil will carry the shavings through the engine. This will cause a lot of damage and potentially even more problems with the engine.

Engine Runaway

If you haven’t heard this term before, it’s most likely a good thing. It means that you haven’t had to deal with engine problems before—or this one specifically.

However, if you do have engine runaway, you’ll want to know what it is.

Engine runaway is when you turn the car off, but the engine still keeps running. If this happens, you will need to have the engine looked at right away as this can be dangerous. The engine itself is then running on excess fuel in the chambers.

This most likely also means that the fumes are escaping where they should not be. These fumes have to be taken care of, as well as any other damaged parts that may be causing the engine runway in the first place.

Increased Consumption of Oil or Coolant

If you check your dipstick or your coolant, and you notice that there is a lot less than you think there should be, there may be an issue with the engine.

If the engine is using more coolant or oil, you may have worn-out piston rings. However, if that is not the case, then you may be experiencing an oil or coolant link, faulty o-rings, or worn-out cylinder liners.

To figure out which one of these issues you are having, if you are losing oil or coolant quickly, it is best to take it to a professional that can figure out the problem.

A Rough Idle

Have you ever been sitting at a red light or at a stop sign and noticed your car is bouncing a bit and your whole body seems to be vibrating? If so, you may be familiar with the idea of a rough idle due to engine issues.

If not, consider yourself lucky!

However, if you do notice this rough idle, it may be a sign to take your car in to have the engine serviced. There are many reasons that the rough idle could be taking place, so figuring that out as soon as possible is vital to ensure no more damage is done to the car.

The Car Won’t Start

If your car is not starting, this is a sure sign of something wrong with the vehicle. And it may be your engine.

If this happens and it is due to your engine, this is because it may have low compression. Diesel engines rely on compression to start and stay running. Without it, it won’t run or start properly.

This can happen because of a fluke or because of the age of your vehicle.

Additionally, the car not starting could be due to problems with the pistons, rings, cylinders, or valves rather than the compression. If you believe that this may be the issue, a mechanic can run a compression test to see if this is the culprit causing the issue.

You See Blue Smoke

You usually don’t want to see smoke come from your car, but you really don’t want to see blue smoke.

This means that your engine may be burning oil somewhere that it should not be burning it. Typically, this happens with older engines.