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Have you noticed a liquid puddling under the front of your car? If you have, then your motor oil might be leaking. With its engine leaking, no car will go far without developing serious engine problems. The following four signs of leaking motor oil should prompt a quick visit to your nearest Kia dealer to have the leak found and fixed. Plummeting Oil Pressure Gauge Modern Kia vehicles have over 70 sensors throughout the vehicle and 15 to 30 sensors in the engine alone. This provides an enormous amount of valuable real-time info as you drive. more One of these sensors detects motor oil pressure and displays it on your dashboard. When all is well, your oil pressure should be between 25 and 65 pounds per square inch (PSI) while the engine's running. If you see a sudden inexplicable drop in PSI, it's quite likely you have a leak. Motor Oil Pooling Under Your Car When suspecting a leak, check under your car for signs of leaking oil. You might have already noticed a little pool of oil on the driveway when you pulled away from parking. There are other fluids that might also cause a puddle. To check if the leaking liquid is motor oil, you can put some cardboard, newspaper, or plastic under the engine to catch the dripping liquid. Motor oil is amber when fresh, tan when older, and feels slippery and thin, rather like sunflower oil. It also has a distinctly chemical smell. Burning Oil Smell As motor oil leaks, it will often drip and sizzle onto heated engine parts. If this happens, you'll probably smell burning oil in the cabin. Overheating Engine Another dial on your dashboard to watch is the engine temperature gauge. If motor oil leaks, it can no longer lubricate your engine properly, and the moving mechanical parts will rapidly start to overheat from all the friction. As a result, the engine temperature gauge will shoot up. An overheating engine is also likely to start emoting knocking and ticking sounds. You'll start losing engine power. The hood will become very hot to the touch. Steam will eventually burst from the radiator, and finally, your engine will blow a gasket or seize up. Make sure you notice and pull over long before it gets this bad. How Your Kia Dealer in Maryland Will Look for Leaks When you take your leaking car in for servicing, the technician will first check the oil filter and the oil pan gasket. They'll also inspect the oil pressure-sending unit, the oil pump, the oil cooler lines, the valve cover gasket, the oil drain plug, the cylinder head gasket, and the main bearing seals. Any of these parts can cause a leak if loosened or cracked. Have your engine inspected and any leaks repaired today at DARCARS Kia of Frederick. We have a helpful, knowledgeable team dedicated to providing a great customer experience.

Your Kia car’s engine is a highly complex mechanism. Over time, any mechanical system can suffer fatigue and get damaged. Fortunately, if you have engine problems in Frederick, MD, your Kia dealer is here to help you. These are some of the problems that can temporarily spoil your enjoyment of your Kia. Smoke From the Exhaust Exhaust smoke should usually be a light gray. It's produced from the burning of fuel in the combustion chamber. Many of the most dangerous chemicals are destroyed or converted in this process. The remaining chemicals are forced out of the engine, and most of them are removed by the catalytic convertor. If your car starts producing white, blue, or black smoke, there's a problem. more Blue Smoke Blue Smoke means that oil is mixing with the fuel. This is most likely leaking from a worn or damaged seal in the crankcase. If the leak isn't fixed, the oil in your engine will be burned up, and the engine will seize up. Black Smoke Black smoke means that your engine has inefficient combustion, and much of the fuel that should be burned up is being forced out of the engine. Your car will use more gas than it should, and the unburned fuel can seriously damage your catalytic convertor. The usual cause of unburned fuel is a clogged air filter that's blocking the sir your engine needs for combustion. White Smoke White smoke means that your engine is burning antifreeze or water together with fuel. One of the possible reasons for this is damage to the coolant reservoir tank or the pipes that connect to it. The coolant is leaking into the exhaust system and mixing with the fuel that's forced out of the exhaust. You'll usually smell a sweet, fruit-like smell from the exhaust due to the coolant. Stalling Stalling is very dangerous, as your engine will suddenly cut out without any warning. This might not be too much of a problem if you're reversing out of your driveway, but it can cause an accident on the road or highway. One of the most common reasons for stalling is worn or damaged spark plugs. Combustion requires fuel, air, and a spark, and worn spark plugs can fail to produce that necessary spark. A clogged air filter can damage the spark plugs. Your engine requires large amounts of clean air for combustion, and a clogged filter will dramatically reduce the amount of air available. Without sufficient air, combustion will be fuel rich. Too much fuel in the chamber causes a build-up of carbon on the plugs that will damage the plugs. Having Engine Problems in Frederick, MD? Contact Our Kia Service Department Problems with an engine have a reputation for being expensive to repair. This doesn't, however, have to be the case. The sooner that a problem is identified with an engine diagnostic, the sooner our technicians can repair and prevent further damage and expense. If your Kia shows signs of engine trouble, call us right away at DARCARS Kia of Frederick or click here for online scheduling.