![]() ![]() If the viscosity is too high and the oil is too thick, your oil won’t flow well during a cold start, and in very cold temperatures that could be a problem. Your oil needs to have a balance of being able to flow through your engine and being able to fully lubricate parts and pick up contaminants as it goes. It depends on the kind of engine you have and the way it functions. How thick do you need your oil to be? Which is better, low viscosity or high viscosity? There is no one objective answer. Think of a scale from water to ketchup when you think about rising viscosity. The higher your oil’s viscosity, the thicker it is. When you are deciding which viscosity of motor oil to choose, you may be asking yourself, what does viscosity mean? Viscosity is simply a measure of the thickness of your oil. But what is oil viscosity and what does it have to do with your motor oil? Motor Oil Viscosity 101 Over time, your oil can also lose viscosity. This is why you require fresh oil about every 5,000 miles or so (every car varies, check your owner’s manual for your specific recommendation). The reason you change your oil is because eventually, that contaminant and debris build-up can clog the oil filter and make it difficult for the oil to function as needed. Even if you don’t have a leak, you are probably aware that you will need to change your oil from time to time. If you have an oil leak and not enough oil is getting into the engine to lubricate it, your engine will quickly seize up and be useless. Also, some of the components of motor oil allow it to pick up and absorb contaminants that could harm your engine. Your motor oil serves as the vital lubricant that allows those parts to rub against each other without damaging each other and reduces the amount of wear on these parts as they move together. And like all moving parts, the parts of your engine wear down over time as they move against each other. Your internal combustion engine is a complex machine, and like all machines, it has moving parts. Understanding What Motor Oil Does in Your Engine To understand the relationship between viscosity and motor oil, it’s first important to understand what motor oil does in your engine. If you are changing your oil, however, which is a much cheaper and relatively simple process, you need to be sure that you are putting the right viscosity motor oil and your car and it’s a good idea to know why this is so vital. synthetic) of oil you wish him to put in your car. The mechanic can look up the correct viscosity and will not even need to consult with you, although they may wish to know what type (conventional vs. If you are the type of person that has their oil changed by a mechanic, you don’t have to worry about finding the right oil viscosity. What do these numbers mean and why do they matter? These oil “weights” are not weights at all, but a measure of the motor oil viscosity. Please note that vehicle requirements may vary so consult your car’s handbook for the correct viscosity grade.If you have ever looked at a bottle of motor oil, you have noticed a difference in oil weights. In other words, the choice of viscosity would be different depending on whether you are living in Finland (0W/ 5W-30) or Nigeria (5W/10W/15W40 or even 20W50). Multigrade oils such as SAE 5W-30 and 10W-40 are widely used because, under all but extremely hot or cold conditions, they are thin enough to flow at low temperatures and thick enough to perform satisfactorily at high temperatures. The number after the W describes how thick the oil is at the engine’s normal operating temperature. The lower the number, the thinner the oil and the better the oil’s cold temperature/ cold start performance. In a 5W-30 for example, the number before the W describes the viscosity of the oil at low temperatures. ![]() This is why you would see something like this on the label: SAE 5W-30. Because the viscosity of oil changes with temperature, multigrade oils were developed to provide protection across a range of temperatures. The long answer:The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) has established a numerical code system for grading motor oils according to their viscosity characteristics. The short answer:The numbers represent the viscosity of the oil and the W stands for WINTER. That’s what car service centres and mechanics are there for right?īut what if you find yourself in a position where you need to buy and put in the oil yourself? How do you know which oil to use and how do you read the label? What does SAE 5W-30 mean? In fact, most of us don’t even know what is under the hood of our car, let alone the type of oil that is in our engine. Not all of us get to service our own cars. ![]()
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