As a car gets older, the chances will increase that it may begin to burn oil. This is a common problem with older cars and can sometimes be hard to diagnose. If you do not catch the problem and repair it soon, it could cause extreme damage to your engine. Here are three things to know if this is currently happening with your car.

You Must Keep Filling It

When you put oil in a car, the oil should stay in the engine until you replace it. If the engine is somehow using the oil or if there is a leak, the oil reservoir will be emptier than it should be. As this happens, you will need to pour oil in the car as needed. Your car's engine needs oil to keep the parts lubricated and to keep the engine cool. Without oil, an engine cannot survive.

If you begin to notice a problem with the oil level, you may want to check it every day. If you only need to add oil every few weeks, you may be able to wait for auto repairs. On the other hand, if you have to add engine oil every couple days, it might be time to take it in to get it repaired.

There Are Many Reasons This Happens

If your car is using oil and you fail to keep the tank full, you could end up running the engine without any oil at all. The result of this could be a blown engine or a severely-damaged engine. The better option is to have the problem fixed, and there are numerous reasons that can lead to an engine burning oil, including:

• A leak from a bad gasket
• Worn piston rings
• Bad head gasket
• Leaky valves

These are just a few of the things an auto mechanic will inspect, but there are other issues that could also be causing a car to burn oil.

You May Be Able To Avoid This Problem

There is no definite, 100% way to avoid burning oil in your vehicle; however, keeping your car well-maintained may help. If you change the oil in the car every 3,000 miles, you may be able to prevent problems. Clean engine oil will not leave as much gunk and residue on the engine parts and this may help the parts in an engine to last longer.

If you would like to find out why your car is burning oil, take it to an auto repair shop, such as Edmonds Import Auto. They can diagnose and fix the problem for you.