All You Need to Know about Oil Additives
Oil additives are the components that enable today's motor oils to meet the demands of high-tech engines. They range in quality from the bare minimum in certain oils to very high quality in others, such as all AMSOIL motor oils and the whole product line of synthetic lubricants.
What Is the Function of Motor Oil?
Modern motor oil is a highly specialized product designed by engineers and chemists to perform a variety of critical functions including:
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Allows for easy starts
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Reduces friction by lubricating engine components
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Protects against rust and corrosion
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Reduces combustion chamber deposits to help keep engine parts clean
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Keeps engine components cool
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Conditions engine seals to prevent leakage
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Formulated against foaming
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Contributes to better fuel economy
Viscosity
The most important characteristic of oil is viscosity, which refers to the reluctance of the oil to flow. Oil viscosity changes with temperature, becoming thinner in hot weather and thicker in cold weather. Oil must be able to flow at low temperatures when the engine is started in order to lubricate interior moving components. It must also retain enough viscosity, or "thickness," to keep an engine safe at high temperatures. Synthetic-based motor oils have a greater viscosity index than petroleum-based lubricants and require less viscosity improver additive; nevertheless, this fundamental property differs amongst synthetic producers.
Cold-temperature Protection
The oil must circulate as soon as the engine is started. Oil crystallizes into a honeycomb-like form at lower temperatures, causing problems with oil circulation. When the oil fails to flow past the oil screen to the pump after the engine starts, it can cause bearings and other critical components to fail almost instantaneously. Pour point depressants prevent wax crystals in the oil from creating a honeycomb-like structure by keeping them microscopically small. Because synthetic motor oils do not contain wax crystals, they do not require pour point depressant additives.
TBN
The Total Base Value (TBN) measures an oil's capacity to neutralize acids. The higher the number, the more acidic by-products the oil can neutralize. Extended drain interval oils, such as AMSOIL motor oils, benefit from a high TBN since they neutralize acids, and more of them, over a longer length of time.
Detergents
Detergents are added to motor oil to assist prevent combustion by-products from developing hazardous sludge or varnish deposits. Because combustion generates carbon build-up and deposit development on the pistons, rings, valves, and cylinder walls, detergents are added to motor oil. Engine temperature, oil circulation, engine performance, and fuel economy are all affected by carbon and deposits. These by-products are removed from the oil using detergent additives.
Wear Protection
Anti-wear additives are part of the chemical composition of oil since one of its key tasks is to reduce friction and wear. When an engine is first started and before the oil circulates entirely, these compounds link to metal surfaces and produce a protective film layer between moving elements that are prone to friction and wear. While this protective covering does not completely avoid metal-to-metal contact with moving parts during startup, it helps reduce the impacts.
Heat Dissipation
Around 60% of the cooling that occurs in the engine is handled by the radiator/antifreeze system. Only the engine's upper sections, such as the cylinder heads, cylinder walls, and valves, are cooled by this method. The remaining 40% of the heat is absorbed by the oil, which keeps the engine working. The oil is directed onto hot surfaces in the engine's lower section, such as the crankshaft, main and connecting rod bearings, camshaft and bearings, timing gears, pistons, and many more components that are cooled by the motor oil.
