Ever wonder what you are putting in your car engine to keep it going? Find out all about motor oil and the additives that prevent engine wear right here.
Guide to Motor Oil Additives
Use the Right Oil
Changing your motor oil is the single most important service job you can perform on your car. Regular oil changes will make sure your engine is running right and running longer. It improves performance and helps to maintain fuel efficiency. Fresh clean oil keeps your motor and its parts lubricated and running smoothly. It is equally important that you use the right motor oil as recommended by the manufacturer in your Owner's Manual. Using the wrong oil can void your warranty and damage your motor.
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Today's motor oils contain a number of additives that help to prevent wear and tear on your engine. What's in your oil and what does it do? Let's find out.
What's Oil Viscosity?
The American Petroleum Institute (API) stamp on your motor oil container tells you about the performance characteristics of your oil. The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) rating tells you about the oil's viscosity at various temperatures and how it aids in performance and fuel economy. Multigrade oil such as those used in your car have a viscosity grade of two numbers. For instance, the oil might be rated as 5W-20. The 5W refers to the low-temperature viscosity in Winter, and the 20 refers to the high-temperature viscosity in Summer.
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Cars used to require higher viscosity oils such as 20W-50 or 10W-40, but as engine technology has advanced, the size of motors and the pathways through which motor oil flows has gotten smaller. That's why, currently, 5W-20 is the most popular grade of oil used.
Viscosity is all about the thickness of the oil. The thicker the oil, the more trouble it will have flowing freely to all the engine parts. On the other hand, the thinner the oil, the more trouble it will have properly coating the engine parts. The current ambient temperature also affects the fluidity and thickness of oil. Motor oil tends to get thicker in colder temperatures and thinner when it is hot. That's one of the reasons that starting a car in winter is more difficult. It's also one of the reasons that additives are used in oil, to help it remain stable and offer optimal performance. The number you see on API label tells you the viscosity of the motor oil in Winter and its fluidity once it is warm.
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There are various additives in motor oil that do different things to augment the oil formula. They offer better wear protection and reduced oil consumption. High-quality additives can reduce engine damage, add longer life to your motor, and improve performance.
Types of Motor Oil
Before Synthetic motor oil, conventional organic motor oil was just called "oil." It's the slick stuff that has kept engines running for over 100 years. If you don't drive long distances in which the engine heats up to excess, conventional motor oil will work just fine. These traditional motor oils include chemical additives and are available in a wide range of viscosity levels. Conventional motor oil wears out sooner than Synthetic oil and needs to be changed every four to five months, or every 4,000 miles.
Most new cars run synthetic motor oil that is highly effective to use in your engine at both extremely cold and hot temperatures. Synthetic oil has a better viscosity range, and it doesn't evaporate as easily as conventional oil. It does a better job of protecting your motor from overheating and protects against contaminants in the engine. Synthetic is considered a higher quality lubricant thanks to a higher percentage of additives such as antioxidants, corrosion inhibitors, anti-wear agents, detergents, anti-foaming agents, and more
Highly sophisticated Synthetic blends in motor oil are specifically created to protect engines from overheating and oxidation. It is a mix of conventional and synthetic base stocks designed for more performance and is especially useful in heavy duty vehicles that tow trailers or pull heavy loads. That's why it is often used in pickup trucks and SUVs. Synthetic blends offer longer intervals between oil changes and prevents sludge from forming in engines. You can usually go 5,000 to 7,500 miles between oil changes.
Created for older vehicles with high mileage, specialized lubricants and additives are used to add higher viscosity and firm strength to reduce metal-to-metal contact. The additives are designed to eliminate deposit buildup, include seal conditioners to protect bearing seals, extend protection against corrosion and rust, and reduce general engine wear. Any vehicle with over 100,000 miles on the odometer would be a good candidate for high mileage oil.
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Most motor oil for today's cars contains anywhere from 15 to 30 percent additives as part of its composition. Designed to augment and improve the engine's life blood of base oil, these additives reduce oil consumption and offer better wear protection.
When engine oil is overfilled, the crankshaft can churn the oil and make it bubble and foam. When that happens, foamy oil is unable to coat all the important parts of the engine and keep it cool. Engine damage can quickly result. The chemicals in anti-foaming agents prevent air from getting compressed in the oil and keeps foam from forming.
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When your engine gets hot, the motor oil oxidizes when it reacts to oxygen. This causes your motor oil to age prematurely and forms sludge in the engine. Antioxidant additives slow down oxidation and aids in keeping the engine clean, also adding extended life to the motor oil.
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These additives are similar to antioxidants in that they protect parts of the engine such as the piston rings, lifters, cams, and cylinder walls from high temperatures by forming a protective layer on these components to prevent friction.
The internals of your motor can rust when exposed to moisture and acids. Corrosion inhibitors are additives that add a coat of protection against rust, neutralizing acids and forming a chemical protection to repel moisture.
Detergent additives work to prevent deposits, rust, and corrosion from forming on areas that tend to overheat such as the piston-ring area and piston under-crown. They basically keep hot metal components free of deposits and neutralize acids that form in oil.
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These additives delay the forming of sludge, acids and vanish inside the engine by absorbing solid contaminants within the oil to prevent engine damage. Dispersants are usually combined with detergents to neutralize acid compounds and suspend contaminants.
These additives lower friction when an engine is running at high temperatures or is pulling a heavy load. They often use molybdenum or graphite as friction modifiers and also help to conserve fuel.
The pour point of motor oil is the lowest temperature in which it remains fluid. In paraffinic oils, wax crystalizes and becomes solid. Pour-point depressants prevent this from happening and allow the oil to flow freely even in cold temperatures, so the engine doesn't have to work harder.
These polymer additives work to make sure your motor oil viscosity is maintained over a wide range of temperatures. They keep the oil from thinning out and losing viscosity at high temperatures and provide better oil flow at low temperatures, reducing wear and improved fuel economy.
Let Lithia Help
There's a Lithia Motors state-of-the-art service center near you and our factory-trained technicians can change your oil and get you back on the road, quick and easy. Ask your service writer to explain oil and fuel additives and how they can add life and protection to your engine and improve fuel economy at your next oil change.
