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A Look at Motor Oil Basics
Modern day oils are complex, chemically engineered compounds
that have improved upon refined crude oil. Modern oils are designed and
chemically manufactured to achieve specific traits and properties
necessary for use in current automobiles. But many of the basics of lubricants
and lubrication are as important today as they were fifty years ago
To begin with, motor oils must perform some of
the same basic functions today as they did years ago. All of these functions are
considered when designing any motor oil, whether it will be a synthetic or
mineral-based oil.
Permit Easy Starting
- Any motor oil must permit easy engine starting. Viscosity, a
measure of an oil’s resistance to flow, is taken into consideration when
questioning, whether or not an oil will permit easy starting. An oil’s ability
to flow efficiently throughout an engine will be affected by air temperature.
Therefore, an oil formulated for winter driving must have a low enough pour
point for it to flow to all parts of an engine quickly when started, but also to
provide adequate protection once the engine reaches normal operating
temperatures.
Lubricate and Prevent
Wear - Motor oils must also lubricate and prevent wear. This can be
more of a challenge in temperature extremes. Oil that does not flow well in cold
temperatures will leave parts of the engine with no protection, and oil that
burns off and becomes too fluid will leave little protection in high
temperatures. The goal of an oil is to provide constant full-film lubrication to
an engine’s components. This type of lubrication occurs when the moving surfaces
are continuously separated by a film of oil. Crankshaft bearings as well as
connecting rods, cam-shafts and piston rings normally operate with full-film
lubrication. Boundary lubrication occurs when it is impossible to maintain a
continuous oil film between moving parts and intermittent metal-to-metal contact
results. Additives can greatly reduce the amount of damage that can occur during
boundary lubrication. Boundary lubrication conditions always exist during engine
starting and often during the operation of a new or rebuilt engine.
Reduce Friction -
Motor oils must reduce friction. Automobile manufacturers recommend oils based
on SAE grades according to expected atmospheric conditions. This helps to ensure
adequate but not excessive viscosity at normal operating temperatures. Excessive
viscosity can make an engine work harder at moving the oil and therefore lose
some of its efficiency and create more heat.
Prevent Rust and
Corrosion - Motor oils must also prevent rust and corrosion. Unburned
fuel and soot can mix with water to form sludge and varnish deposits on critical
engine parts. Sludge buildup may clog oil passages, which reduces oil flow.
Varnish buildup interferes with proper clearances, restricts oil flow and causes
vital engine parts to stick and malfunction. The life of an engine depends on an
oil’s ability to neutralize the effects of these corrosive substances.
Keep Engines Clean -
Another important feature of any motor oil related to preventing rust and
corrosion is the necessity of keeping engine components clean. Sludge and
varnish can be controlled with the proper additives and can be filtered out of
vital engine components. In performing its lubrication function, some oil must
reach the area of the top piston ring in order to lubricate the rings and
cylinder walls. This oil is then exposed to the heat and the flame of burning
fuel, and part of it actually burns off. Modern oils have been chemically
engineered to burn as cleanly as possible in order to minimize the harmful
deposits left on the walls of the combustion chambers. These build-ups can cause
ring sticking and breakage, pinging, engine knock or other combustion
irregularities that reduce the efficiency and economy of the engine.
Cool Vital Components
- Engine oil also acts as a coolant. In fact, the water-antifreeze
mixture used in an automobile’s cooling system only does about 60 percent of the
cooling job. And it usually only cools the upper portions of the engine – the
cylinder heads, cylinder walls and the valves. As much as 5 to 10 percent of
engine heat comes from friction produced by closely fitted engine parts such as
connecting rods, main bearings, camshafts and piston rings. The crankshaft, the
main and connecting rod bearings, the camshaft and its bearings, the timing
gears, the pistons and many other components in the lower engine rely on oil to
carry the heat load away. Seal - The surfaces of the piston rings, ring grooves
and cylinder walls are not completely smooth. They feature microscopic hills and
valleys that can reduce engine efficiency by allowing combustion pressure to
escape into the low pressure area of the crankcase. Motor oils must fill in
these hills and valleys on ring surfaces and cylinder walls, allowing maximum
combustion pressure.
Prevent Foaming -
Anti-foam additives in modern oils prevent foaming of motor oil due to air in
the crankcase being whipped into the oil. Foamed oil contains air bubbles that
may or may not readily collapse. Foam present in motor oil inhibits heat
transfer and impedes lubrication due to the high compressibility of air. In
order to allow an engine to run efficiently, motor oil must be non-foaming.
Increase Fuel Economy
- A final function of a motor oil is in increasing fuel economy.
Various additives such as friction modifiers can allow engines to operate at
increased levels of efficiency, resulting in better fuel economy for vehicles.
All of these functions, to some extent, can be
performed by both mineral and synthetic oils. However, synthetic oils do not
contain many of the impurities that mineral oils can, and this allows synthetics
to perform at higher levels in all categories. AMSOIL
has long recognized the
benefits that a synthetic oil can offer over a mineral oil. Synthetic fluids
exhibit higher tolerances and greater lubricating properties in every aspect of
automotive operation. And AMSOIL
motor oils contain the finest additive packages
to insure that a vehicle can receive the finest in protection and operate at a
high level of efficiency.
T's Advanced Synthetics
Greg and Marcy Thurman
Your Nationwide
AMSOIL
Authorized Independent
Dealer
Nationwide US Warehouses,
Canada and Palm Harbor, FL
727-798-8552
E-Mail:
greg@tsadvancedsynthetics.com
If you
experience problems or have questions or comments about
our website please email us at
greg@tsadvancedsynthetics.com
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