Wildfire does not only impact human health, but there are some raised concerns about the Effects of Canadian Wildfire Smoke On Car Engines.
You've probably heard in the news all that's posted about the deteriorated air quality due to the smoke from Canada because of the Canadian wildfire. Alerts and articles are now posted daily and are changed hourly to keep people posted and maintain human health because of what could happen due to this contaminated air.
Interestingly, there have been some raised concerns about the impact of Canadian wildfires on human health and other aspects, including the hidden threats of what you could expect regarding the effects of Canadian wildfire smoke on car engines.
This article provides a comprehensive guide on what you must keep in mind and how to deal with situations if your car engine is impacted by Canadian wildfire smoke. It also provides some tips and tricks on what needs to be done following the issue and how to prevent car damage due to smoke.
What is the Canadian wildfire?
Before we dig into the details about the effects of Canadian wildfire smoke on car engines, it is critical for you as a reader to understand what is going on with this wildfire, where it came from, and how it happened in the first place.
According to experts, the last few weeks experienced multiple major wildfires in Canada; interestingly, the severe impact on air quality did not only stay at the Canadian border but started transporting some of the major cities and states in the United States southwards.
People are very concerned about how this wildfire smoke impacts air quality. Experts give many alerts and recommendations to stay inside or even wear masks whenever going outside. However, although the main obvious impact of these wildfire smokes is on human health, some experts started writing about how this could also impact the health of your vehicle, including understanding the effects of wildfire smoke on car engines.
Effects of wildfire smoke on car engines
Although human health is the highest priority and the most important element that you should focus on as a reader when reading about the impact of Canadian wildfire smoke, it is also critical for you to understand what to expect on the impact of this smoke on your vehicle components including the most critical component which is your engine.
1. Air filter contamination
The contaminated air filter is the first and most obvious effect of wildfire smoke on car engines. Remember that the air filter is responsible for clearing out any air getting inside the engine and ensuring that this air is ready for the pure, clean combustion process.
When dealing with contaminated air, all these contaminants will cause additional stress on the air filter. They will make the air filter clogged and contaminated very fast, impacting the overall engine performance.
2. Engine wear
There is some evidence that the effects of wildfire smoke on car engines might result in fast and quick engine wear out. This reduces your engine's lifespan and might require installing a new engine pretty soon. Of course, installing a new engine can be significant maintenance, which everybody cannot afford.
3. Sensor damages
Although it's critical to understand the effects of wildfire smoke on car engines, sometimes the impact on minor sensors could also result in major impacts on your engine. Therefore, ensuring that your sensors are not damaged is very important, and you might want to consider it when dealing with air quality.
4. Reduced turbocharger life
Experts indicated that when the air quality is not as good, you might face situations where your turbocharger life might be impacted. You have to deal with major problems at a pretty fast and short time frame in the vehicle lifespan.
5. Catalytic converter damage
The catalytic converter is a critical component in your car. It is responsible for ensuring that all the air leaving the exhaust system is good enough to be released to the environment in a way that does not cause significant and severe harm to the air quality. When the air quality is already bad, sometimes it might impact the performance of your catalytic converter and get damaging pretty soon.
6. Fuel system contamination
Not only will the low air quality impact your engine, but also it might cause damage to your fuel system. Some of the particular matters might get into the fuel and cause it to be contaminated when it gets to the engine. As the engine receives contaminated fuel, it will get damaged and might not perform well.
7. Engine oil contamination
Similar to fuel contamination, in some instances, your engine oil might get contaminated because of these particles and because of the low air quality. This will impact how the engine is lubricated, and at some point in time, you might deal with engine overheating that could cost you the entire vehicle.
8. Increase engine stress
When the engine is not receiving clean air or even clean fuel, it will be stressed out all the time, and this will not result in what you are looking for out of the engine performance. Therefore, the continuous engine stress will result in damaging the engine prematurely.
9. Engine corrosion and rust
Finally, there is also evidence that low air quality and Canadian wildfire smoke might even cause rust and corrosion to your engine because of all these contaminants on the engine components, which might have a long-term impact on the engine's health.
Impact of Smoke on car performance
As we mentioned earlier, the impact of smoke on car performance is pretty severe, and you will notice when the engine is not working as it should. The longer you wait on a dirty vehicle contaminated with smoke due to wildfire, the more fast food is where your cars break down and cost you thousands of dollars on repair.
How does wildfire smoke damage car engines?
As we indicated before, there are plenty of ways where wildfire smoke can impact your engine and might result in severe damage. The severity of this damage and the effects of wildfire smoke on car engines differs significantly from one situation to another.
If your vehicle is already in bad shape and has a stressed engine, adding another layer of stress due to smoke can also result in severe damage in no time. On the other hand, if your vehicle is in good shape and if you've been taking care of this vehicle and making sure that you are cleaning the engine continuously to avoid accumulated smoke particles on the engine, you are not going to face as severe of impacts as someone else.
Tips for protecting car engines from wildfire smoke
Although the effects of wildfire smoke on car engines can be severe, there are still some tips for you to help protect your vehicle from wildfire smoke and be as proactive as possible to avoid dealing with severe engine damage. Pierre, let's take a closer look at what automotive experts recommend:
- Check and replace the air filter continuously
- Consider indoor parking and avoid long hours of exposure to poor air quality
- Consider incorporating the recirculated air
- Check on your car oil continuously and replace it when needed
- Consider frequent inspection of your vehicle and consult your mechanic
- Do not wait on dirt and smoke to accumulate on your car exterior, and consider frequent car washes
- Avoid unnecessary drives and keep your vehicle inside as much as possible
- Seek professional help when you feel the vehicle is not acting properly
Effects Of Canadian Wildfire Smoke On Car Engines: Final Thoughts
The Canadian wildfire is one of the hottest topics nowadays, and most focus is on addressing human health. Still, one of the hidden threats of this wildfire and its smoke is the impact and the effects of wildfire smoke on car engines and vehicle performance.
This article provided you with a comprehensive guide to help you understand what to anticipate from this smoke and how to protect your vehicle from severe damage to the engine. It also highlights some recommendations about what to do when you want to repair some of these problems due to the wildfire smoke.
If you feel that your vehicle is getting to a point where you have to pay thousands of dollars for repair because of the impact of the wildfire smoke, it could be the perfect timing now to sell it and buy a better one.
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