4 Practical Maintenance Methods to Extend the Life of the Diesel Engine Truck

Even though it’s a drive technique that extends a truck’s life, it doesn’t really require any particular operation. So it would help if you were keeping in mind the safe and reliable operations such as maintaining diesel performance parts will extend the truck’s life. Many trucks made by international manufacturers can run even if they exceed 1 million km, depending on regular maintenance.

Therefore, the average mileage mentioned above is just an average, and it is essential to prevent engine deterioration with diligent maintenance to use the truck for a long time. In that case, the burden on the engine and diesel performance parts will increase due to braking at the traffic lights and adjusting the accelerator by observing the speed limit.

Besides, if you are curious about how to maintain your diesel engine truck, the article will introduce the assist function installed in the truck and the engine characteristics of the truck, which can be used effectively to extend the life of the truck.

Powerful trucks start in 2nd gear:

Truck engines are often equipped with low-speed, torque diesel engines because they are required to be powerful and have a large displacement. Also, since the truck mission sets the gear ratio to climb the slope with the luggage loaded, you can think that the 1st gear is used when climbing the slope with the luggage loaded.

Thus, if you use the truck’s 1st speed, the shift operation becomes complicated, and the engine speed may increase too much, so it is common for the truck to start at the 2nd speed at standard times. Getting into the habit of starting in 2nd gear to prevent accidental overrun is one of the points to extend a truck’s life without burdening the engine.

Regularly inspect and replace the cooling water:

The engine continues to generate a great deal of heat while driving long distances on a truck. So, overheating, which causes the engine to overheat abnormally, is a problem that tends to occur when driving a truck. The cause of overheating is insufficient for cooling water. 

Typically, the cooling water circulates in the engine section and does not decrease visibly. But, it evaporates little by little after a few years, and after ten years, the amount will decrease considerably. Not only due to evaporation but also due to deterioration of the radiator cap and water leakage from the circulating pipes.

Change the engine oil regularly:

Engine oil is essential to ensure smooth operation inside the engine. The more load is applied to the engine, the faster the engine oil deteriorates, so it needs to be replaced regularly. Trucks with larger displacements than ordinary passenger cars require more engine oil. 

If you continue to drive with the engine oil deteriorated, the driving parts such as the piston will not operate smoothly. Since the inside of the engine cannot be cooled or cleaned, it will damage the engine. 

Also, engine oil basically does not decrease, but it may decrease slightly when burned with diesel. If the amount of engine oil is less than the specified amount, deterioration will be accelerated, so check the amount of oil every day.

Regularly inspect and replace tires:

Tires play an important role in supporting the vehicle body and not only maintain friction with the road surface for safe driving but also affect the life of the tires.

Indeed, Tires wear out as you run the truck. There is no problem if the tires you are wearing are worn evenly, but it is dangerous to have uneven wear that wears only in a specific direction. Not only is it challenging to drive due to the inability to make usual road surface contact, but the vibrations that occur also damage the drive unit and shorten the life of the truck.