Can you jack up a car by the engine

Can You Jack Up A Car By The Engine?

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The summer season is an annual season for trips to various places and car maintenance is always needed. You might need to change your car tire, check your engine or the oil pan, and do some other repairs, and to do all of these, you would need to jack up your car to access certain areas.

However, there seems to be a huge debate on if you can jack up your car with the engine which leads us to the question “can you jack up a car with the engine? “

Can You Jack Up A Car By The Engine? Yes, you can jack up a car by the engine. If you choose to jack up your car by the engine, ensure it is no longer fastened to the mounts. Technically, Jacking up a car by the engine is often done to alter the car mounts. 

If you are jacking your engine with its mount, the mounts would be holding half of the carload, and something is liable to shatter in your car engine. Spreading the weight of the car when jacking is necessary to give a better balance.

However, you must know the type of engine you have – embossed steel or aluminum. You would have to jack up the engine with other formats that include an engine jack, a piece of the wood pad, to outstretch the weight of the car evenly.

Where is it safe to jack up a car?

The bolstered metal plate is the safest place to jack up a car. It is sometimes called a pinch weld. The metal plate is usually indicated with a letter by the car producer, to create awareness to the car owner or mechanics when trying to jack up the car. Although, it is not the same with all cars – which means you might have to detect the strongest place on the welded metal plates to know where to put your jack stand. 

This welded metal plate (pinch weld) is located below the car’s rocker panel. The rocker panel can be found at the front wheel and a little ahead of the rear wheel. However, you ought not to place your jack stand anyhow on the welded metal plate. This is because it could affect the car’s architectural quality. You need your car to retain its normal shape while jacking and after jacking. 

When fixing your jack stand on the pinch weld, be sure to be super careful. This is because of the way the metal plates were melded together. The cathode and anode in an electrical component are combined to make that structure.

A quantity of EMF- electromotive force was added to plates to join them more properly. On this plate, a part is stronger than the other which is why car producers make sure to include a sign for a jack stand. You can find out about it in your car user guide. Withal, you would need some support to keep this welded plate secured and also help your car retain its shape.

It is also very vital to buy a jack that fits your car or a universal jack to match your car. The Byenins universal jack, is suitable for all kinds of car models, it would help you jack your car without any havoc on the welded metal plate. It matches a metal plate of at least 3 inches. It also has a good sparse magnet for increased energy for lifting a car. You can purchase other types of universal jacks for raising your car successfully.

What are the safety tips you should know when jacking up a car?

The need to jack up a car is common when it comes to repairing or altering some engines in a car. Over the years, car repairs have increased because of the ignorance of car owners when it comes to car maintenance safety procedures.

There are some important things you have to keep in mind to keep your car in good condition. When jacking your car, you need to heed the safety tips provided. In this article, I would keep you informed about those tips. 

Ensure you are lifting your car and not holding your car with a jack 

If you need to go underneath your car to do the needed repairs, you have to hold your car with a jack stand. Even after adding a jack stand, you have to be sure your car is well-balanced by carefully shaking it before crawling below.

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A lot of people have sustained fatal injuries due to the falling of cars on them, while some have passed on. So, you need to create a wide space as possible and utilize a stand. 

Never park and jack up your car on a highway

It is risky to jack or park up a car on the road. It is against the road laws; you could get involved in a car accident which can be pretty bad.

If your car stops on the road, make use of a cloth to signal to other car drivers, so they would be able to drive past another route. After doing this, pick up your phone and call a car towing company to help you in towing your car out of the road. NB- if you don’t have their number, ensure you get it and always leave it in your car in case of any other emergency. 

Halt the other side of the wheel

After jacking up your car, you would also need to halt your car wheels from turning to prevent you or other road users from sustaining an injury.

You ought to keep in mind both your safety and the safety of others too. You can halt your car wheels by using iron chunks, woody pads or wedges, huge stones, or bricks. Always put any of these in your car trunk for unexpected days. It is very important to halt on the opposite side of the wheel to stop your car from moving. 

Make sure your car is parked on flat ground before jacking

Of course, your car can develop faults anywhere on the road irrespective of how good or bad the road is. At most times, you might need to jack up your car to figure out a solution to the problem.

However, you can turn the wheel of your car to the high part of the road while the rear wheel would be leveled. This would make the car slant. It is advisable to get aid during this case, but if you can’t get a contribution/aid to push the car to flat ground, then you can do your repair at your stake.

Ensure no one is in the car when you are jacking

If you are trying to lift the car from the ground, the presence of a person inside the car would only increase the weight of the car – not only that – there’s also a risk that their movement in the car could cause a jack to malfunction during the jacking process. So, kindly tell the person to come down from the car and assist you where necessary.

Jack the car at the right spot

You must jack your car at the right spot to stop any damage on the car unibody or stop the car from crushing on you.

Modern cars indicate the metal plate at the front and rear wheels. The indicator would help you know the perfect spot to jack your car. If you are not sure, check the user guide, or call your car model’s customer care for help. 

Make use of the right jack

One thing is jacking up your car at the right spot, another thing is using the appropriate jack to jack up your car.

There are different types of jacks with different lengths. Ensure you purchase the jack with the same inches as your metal plate. This is because if you use the wrong inches jack on the right spot, you would still get the damage you are trying to prevent. 

If you are not sure about the inches, go through your instruction manual. If the manual is not detailed with the inches, call the car’s service, they would provide you with the information you need. 

Never turn on the ignition when your car is jacked

This can be very bad. If your car is only supported by a jack, try not to turn on the ignition. This is because the car could roll off and cause a very drastic accident.

In most cases, you would want to know if your car is working by turning on the ignition – please don’t do it if your car is jacked. Ensure you turn off the ignition before you start jacking your car, for your safety and other pedestrians’ safety. (Read Also: How To Keep Tire Shine From Slinging?)

Can You Jack Up A Car By The Engine  – Conclusion

Can you jack up a car by the engine? After giving a positive answer to this question, there are other tips attached to it. Kindly put down your comments below. 

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