Make sure your engine oil is up to the task as we enter Wonder Lake's dog days of summer.

On any given day of the year, when you pull out of your Wonder Lake driveway, you’re giving your engine oil a test, especially during the dog days of summer. Thankfully, engine oil is generally prepared for the test. No cramming necessary – engine oil knows what it’s supposed to do and, if you give it a chance, it will do the job effectively.

That’s the problem – ‘will you give your engine oil a chance?’

Engine oil has a relatively short life expectancy. It will only last so long and then …? Well, then it simply doesn’t do its job so well. It doesn’t provide adequate lubrication for the internal components of your engine.

The question of whether your engine oil is up to the test depends on the time between oil changes and how you drive your car. It also depends on external factors, such as the outside temperature.

Your car may generally idle at 600 to 1,000 rpm (Revolutions Per Minute). At 1,000 rpm, the crankshaft is spinning approximately 17 times per second. Doing 65 mph on the highway, your engine is liable to run at 3,000 rpm. That works out to about 50 revolutions of the crankshaft per second.

When accelerating, your engine may reach peak rpm of 6,000 rpm. That, of course, is approximately 100 revolutions of the crankshaft per second. These are numbers that would make a hummingbird jealous (hummingbirds are said to flap their wings about 50-times per second).

All that spinning of the crankshaft involves an incredible amount of metal-to-make movement. Lubrication is critical. And for lubrication to do its job at peak performance, you need engine oil that is in good condition.

Engine oil reduces the friction of all those moving parts. It creates a slippery sheet between them.

As the engine oil works to lubricate the parts of your engine, it also carries away particles that could cause scratching between moving parts. But if the oil is overloaded with those particles, if the detergents and chemicals in the oil have broken down, the oil is no longer capable of protecting your car.

When we’re experiencing the dog days of a Wonder Lake summer, the oil has to work harder to do its job lubricating moving parts in your engine. Have your engine oil changed on schedule and you can rest easy any time of the year.