Everyone knows that dangerous or careless driving increases the chances of an accident and is a good way to destroy your car. What about the lesser-known, but still common habits that can ruin your car?

If you've never heard of these very common habits, read on to make sure you're not doing any of these habits that could damage your car. Avoiding these mistakes at all costs is just like any other version of car insurance for your car, so make sure you pay attention or you'll have a broken-down car that needs fixing.

If these mistakes would be ignored then your might not longer be in running condition, however, if you have any damaged car you can sell it to Scrap Cars Removal Sydney.

Mistake 1: Driving hard with a cold engine

Your car's engine is obviously made of metal, and it expands and contracts as temperatures rise and fall. Fluids inside the engine (motor oil, transmission oil, etc.) must also reach operating temperatures to be viscous enough to circulate properly. When you drive too hard (i.e. accelerate hard), if the engine and fluids inside have not yet warmed up, you will put premature stress on the moving parts of your engine.

For a long time, it was believed that you should “warm up the engine” by idling for a few minutes, but that is no longer the recommendation. The recommendation is to let it idle for about 15 seconds to allow oil pressure to build, then drive keeping the revs in the lower third of the rev range. This is a helpful tip if you live where the winter weather drops below freezing.

Mistake #2 Driving with the wrong tire pressure

Your tires have a fixed pressure on them for a reason. They are at risk of bursting if they are over-inflated (especially on the road, in the most dangerous place). If they are underinflated it can cause a few different problems. When under-inflated, the sidewall of the tire doesn't look like it should and greatly increases friction (and heat), which can seriously degrade your tires. Under-inflated tires also do not perform as they should, which makes your car drive as it should and makes it more prone to crashes. Driving on flat tires will also increase rolling resistance and make the engine work harder to keep the car moving at the same speed as a car with properly inflated tires. This also results in a loss of gas mileage.

Always be sure to check the sidewall of your tire and read the specified tire pressure. Quickly check your tire pressure (by using a tire pressure gauge) once a month to make sure it's correct. This is especially important when the seasons change. A change in ambient temperature changes the pressure in your tires.

Mistake #3 Not changing the oil often enough

The rule of thumb was to change the engine oil every 3,000 km. The quality of motor oil has improved with recent technological advances and it is now recommended to change it between 5,000 and 7,000 miles (and even some very high-quality oils can last up to 15,000 miles!). No matter how rated your motor oil is, it's best to keep an eye on the odometer and take your vehicle in for an oil change when you reach your desired mileage. Some people don't understand the importance of an oil change and try to extend the mileage as much as possible, but this will certainly cause problems and is one of the most common ways to damage your car's engine.

Mistake #4 Using the wrong motor oil

If you've ever been to a gas station or auto parts store and looked down the motor oil aisle, chances are you've seen a lot of oils, each with a different number.

For example 5W-30 and 10W-40. The letter W stands for "winter" and indicates the viscosity of the oil in cold weather before the engine temperature (and oil temperature) rises. The next number represents the viscosity of the oil when it is at its intended operating temperature. Because every car is different and drives in different climates, choosing the right motor oil viscosity for you and the season you are using is very important. This does not mean that you should change your oil seasonally, make sure you use more. have an oil that will perform well in year-round temperatures.

Mistake #5: Keeping the engine revs too high

This is especially true for vehicles with a manual transmission. Cars with automatic transmissions almost always shift into a higher gear before your engine reaches the redline (or red line), which prevents you from overtaking it. This is called a "rev limiter".

Pushing the rev limiter too often means you are pushing the engine too hard and it will cause undue wear. However, your rev limiter only works to prevent your vehicle from going over the red line when accelerating. If you're in manual transmission and have to downshift too low, your engine revs are too high and your rev limiter won't be able to stop you. If this happens and you cross the red line, you will damage the internal parts of the engine and this is one of the ways to kill your car's engine.

Mistake #6: Riding the Clutch

This also applies to vehicles with a manual transmission only, but it's worth mentioning. "Putting in the clutch" happens when you're shifting gears and your left foot is depressing the clutch pedal, even slightly. When your vehicle is in gear, the clutch must be fully engaged to provide enough friction to prevent slippage. If you slip while in gear, the friction levels will not "grab" the plate and it will slip while driving. This causes your clutch to wear out much faster than it should and is one of those driving habits that will kill your vehicle's transmission too quickly.

Mistake #7: Using the wrong gear selection

This is more common on vehicles with manual transmissions but can be a problem on automatic vehicles with a failing transmission. Some people keep their car in a gear that keeps the RPM too low (they often think they use less gas while driving). But trying to rev too high (and RPM too low) may save you some gas, but it will cost you a lot more. in long-term engine maintenance. This is called "engine pulling" and it forces your engine to pull the car out of its ideal RPM range, overloading your engine and causing more wear than before. You can feel this happening at low rpm when you pull the "shoes" of the car, it is a very short burst of acceleration and then it feels like a loss of acceleration and this continues until the engine rpm reaches the optimal range.

Mistake #8: Driving your car on low fuel

Many of us repeat these habits that damage our cars. This is for two reasons. You may have mud in your gas tank (after all, no gas is perfectly clean), and keeping the gas level low will keep the relative dirt particle count higher than clean.

Also, the fuel pump is located inside the gas tank in most modern cars, If the fuel level is low, the pump may be above the fuel level and will not submerge to cool the pump properly. Driving low on fuel once in a while won't do much harm, but driving low on fuel regularly is one of the ways to break a car's fuel pump. It is best to try that the gas tank is always half full.

Mistake #9: Not changing filters often enough

Your car has four main filters: cabin filter, engine air filter, fuel filter, and oil filter. A filter is a thin membrane that filters contaminants from air, fuel, and oil to ensure that only clean air and oil enter your engine.

If you don't replace these filters regularly, they will become clogged and your engine will have to work harder to suck in air and fuel. Not only that, but when they become clogged they can lose their ability to effectively filter fuel and air, and these contaminants find their way into your engine. This will sabotage your engine's ability to function properly. Likewise, your cabin filter helps protect you and your passengers by filtering out airborne contaminants and pushing fresh air from your air conditioning and heating system into the vehicle.

Mistake #10: Ignoring the check engine light

It's never fun to start your car and see the check engine light on your dashboard. While ignoring this may seem like a temporary solution, it will definitely lead to bigger solutions. Your check engine light is connected to your car's computer, which has sensors throughout the car to make sure everything is working the way it should. If something isn't working, the sensor notifies the computer, which notifies you (via the check engine light) that something is wrong.