Learn Motor Oil Basics
Modern motor oils are made up of a complex blend of chemically synthesized components that have been refined from crude oil. Modern oils are chemically designed to achieve the qualities and attributes necessary for use in today's automobiles. Many lubricant and lubrication basics, on the other hand, are just as important now as they were fifty years ago.
Furthermore, modern motor oils must perform some of the same basic functions as prior generations. All of these functions are considered while creating a motor oil, whether synthetic or mineral-based. AMSOIL offers a wide variety of motor oils and lubricants, including:
Permit Easy Starting
The viscosity of the oil, which is a measure of its resistance to flow, is taken into account when assessing whether or not it will allow for simple starting. Because the capacity of oil to flow properly throughout an engine is affected by air temperature, a winter-specific oil must have a low enough pour point to flow promptly to all sections of the engine when started and offer appropriate protection after the engine achieves normal operating temperatures.
Protect Your Equipment from Wear and Tear by Lubricating It
In all temperature extremes, motor oils must lubricate and protect against wear. The oil that does not flow smoothly in cold temperatures will not protect engine components, while oil that burns off and becomes excessively liquid in hot temperatures will not give much protection. The goal of oil is to give continuous full-film lubrication to an engine's components.
Friction Needs to Be Decreased
Motor oils are required to decrease friction. Automobile manufacturers recommend oils based on SAE ratings depending on predicted air conditions. At normal working temperatures, this ensures that viscosity is acceptable but not excessive. When an engine's viscosity is too high, it has to work more to move the oil, lowering its efficiency and creating more heat.
Preventing Corrosion and Rust
Sludge and varnish deposits on crucial engine parts can occur when unburned fuel and soot combine with water. Sludge accumulation can choke oil passageways, reducing oil flow, while varnish accumulation can cause important engine parts to stick and malfunction. The capacity of the oil to counteract the effects of these corrosive chemicals is critical to the engine's longevity.
Maintain Engine Cleanliness
Modern oils have been chemically developed to burn as cleanly as possible, reducing the number of hazardous deposits left on combustion chamber walls. Excessive deposits can cause ring sticking and breaking, pinging, engine knock, and other combustion abnormalities, lowering the engine's efficiency and economy.
Cool Vital Components
Engine oil also acts as a coolant. In reality, the water-antifreeze combination used in an automobile's cooling system only cools the upper components of the engine for about 60% of the time — the cylinder heads, cylinder walls, and valves. In the lower half of the engine, oil is utilized to carry heat load away from tightly fitting engine parts such as connecting rods, main bearings, camshafts, and piston rings.
Seal
The surfaces of the piston rings, ring grooves, and cylinder walls are not totally smooth. They have minor hills and valleys that let combustion pressure escape into the crankcase's low-pressure area, lowering engine efficiency. Motor oils must fill these hills and valleys on ring surfaces and cylinder walls to create optimal combustion pressure.
Avoid Foaming
Air whipped into the oil from the crankcase causes foaming, which is reduced by anti-foam additives in modern oils. Foamed oil contains air bubbles that may or may not quickly collapse due to the high compressibility of air, but when they do, they hinder heat transmission and reduce lubricating efficacy. In order for an engine to run properly, it requires non-foaming motor oil.
Increase Your Fuel Efficiency
The final function of motor oil is to increase fuel economy. Various additives, such as friction modifiers, can aid in the efficient operation of engines, resulting in increased vehicle fuel efficiency.
