Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Oil that thing up!
It's been a very office work type of week so I decided to spice it up by picking up the oil for my next oil change. Since winter's coming and Fredericton is "Cold as a witches teet" I decided on the best damb cold weather oil I could get my hands on - Castrol full synthetic 0W30. Perhaps I can take a cue from Neil's delightful blog and lay down today's lesson plan.
The reason most oils have two numbers separated by a W will be explained here. The first number is the viscosity ("thickness" for those of you non-engineering savy) the oil has when it is cold, when you start your car up after it's been sitting all night (or a few hours). For example a number like 100 would be very thick like molasses while a number 5 would be pretty thin, more like water. Now the numbers are separated by a W which stands for Weight I believe (a thick oil being called high weight). The second number indicates the viscosity when the oil has reached the normal operating temperature inside your car's hot engine.
The second number is normally dictated by how your engine was built. A car comes from the factory recommending a specific second number. 30 is very popular, and 20 and 40 are used in some common cars also. (Some believe using a lower number like 20 can contribute to reduced fuel consumption because the engine has to fight less resistance from the oil while running). The first number should be influenced by the ambient temperatures you experience in the region you live. Now I fully expect it to get really cold here in Fredericton (maybe -45 Celsius some mornings in February) so I went with a 0. Five and Ten are more common.
My lower first number means my oil will not thicken up like molasses as much as most oils when the cold cold weather hits. This means when I start my car in the morning it will not sound so slow when I turn the key to make it start. The main reason I want thinner oil is because my pump will do a better job of moving the thin oil, getting oil to the vital parts of my engine faster to protect them. Much of the total wear an engine recieves in it's lifetime comes from all the milliseconds it spends just after it's been started up before the oil has a chance to reach the parts that need protecting. When the engine is all warmed up there is actually an incredibly small amount of wear. If you were to start an engine and run it at a constant speed it would by far outlast an engine that sees duty in a regular car, always starting and stopping a few times a day.
That's it for tonight boys and girls. Man I'm a geek.
The reason most oils have two numbers separated by a W will be explained here. The first number is the viscosity ("thickness" for those of you non-engineering savy) the oil has when it is cold, when you start your car up after it's been sitting all night (or a few hours). For example a number like 100 would be very thick like molasses while a number 5 would be pretty thin, more like water. Now the numbers are separated by a W which stands for Weight I believe (a thick oil being called high weight). The second number indicates the viscosity when the oil has reached the normal operating temperature inside your car's hot engine.
The second number is normally dictated by how your engine was built. A car comes from the factory recommending a specific second number. 30 is very popular, and 20 and 40 are used in some common cars also. (Some believe using a lower number like 20 can contribute to reduced fuel consumption because the engine has to fight less resistance from the oil while running). The first number should be influenced by the ambient temperatures you experience in the region you live. Now I fully expect it to get really cold here in Fredericton (maybe -45 Celsius some mornings in February) so I went with a 0. Five and Ten are more common.
My lower first number means my oil will not thicken up like molasses as much as most oils when the cold cold weather hits. This means when I start my car in the morning it will not sound so slow when I turn the key to make it start. The main reason I want thinner oil is because my pump will do a better job of moving the thin oil, getting oil to the vital parts of my engine faster to protect them. Much of the total wear an engine recieves in it's lifetime comes from all the milliseconds it spends just after it's been started up before the oil has a chance to reach the parts that need protecting. When the engine is all warmed up there is actually an incredibly small amount of wear. If you were to start an engine and run it at a constant speed it would by far outlast an engine that sees duty in a regular car, always starting and stopping a few times a day.
That's it for tonight boys and girls. Man I'm a geek.
# posted by Sam Arsenault @ 6:17 PM 
Comments:
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What then is the advantage of a thicker oil? Is it that they can withstand a lower temperature? If not, it seems to me that it would be to any car's advantage to have a thin oil. Is there anything that can keep your oil warm while your car is not running, ie. an external device)?
"Man I'm a geek"
Agreed
"Man I'm a geek"
Agreed
I love geekiness :) (Or is it geekyness? Neither look quite right.) A thicker oil would protect the parts better, yes? If you think about it, when you rub your fingers together with mineral oil between them there's still a lot of friction, but if you do the same with engine oil there's much less friction. The thicker it is the more force there is pushing the parts apart. I always second guess myself, but I think that's a pretty good explanation.
Yes, a thicker oil can handle larger forces within the engine better than a thin oil will. Someone towing a big heavy trailer for example needs a thick oil, as does a high performace racing auto.
Another interesting factor of why no one else is using 0W30 is that it is available at a higher price than the more popular 5W30 and 10W30 oils. This is because it needs more additives to lower it to a 0. Also, there is a higher demand for the more popular oils so their prices gets driven down by a huge number of oil making companies.
Yes, there is a device to heat the oil while it sits in the car overnight. A blockheater is popular and although it heats the antifreeze there will be some heat transfered to the oil. You can also buy a big electric heater that attaches to you engine with a magnet and warms your oil.
Another interesting factor of why no one else is using 0W30 is that it is available at a higher price than the more popular 5W30 and 10W30 oils. This is because it needs more additives to lower it to a 0. Also, there is a higher demand for the more popular oils so their prices gets driven down by a huge number of oil making companies.
Yes, there is a device to heat the oil while it sits in the car overnight. A blockheater is popular and although it heats the antifreeze there will be some heat transfered to the oil. You can also buy a big electric heater that attaches to you engine with a magnet and warms your oil.
I believe that lexa has proven that a girl, even when she's talkin about motor oil, can sound sexy. Or maybe it's a car thing. Talk about overhead cams and let's see if this theory holds.
/safe from reprisals in Calgary
/safe from reprisals in Calgary
# posted by 
: 7:18 AM
: 7:18 AM
Overhead cams are not exactly my area of expertise...I get all flustered when I'm put on the spot like that.
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