CHOOSING THE RIGHT ENGINE OILS
Choosing the right engine oil type is important for your engine’s performance. The right product will optimally reduce friction of engine components and heat.
There are some things to consider when choosing the engine oil with the ideal viscosity level for your car.
The first thing to note is the oil viscosity specification marked by the code “SAE” followed with a pair of numbers. The first and second number indicate the oil’s viscosity level at low and high temperatures, respectively.
Total Quartz product line-up from Total Oil consists of several viscosity grades that you can choose based on your engine’s needs. You can choose from, for instance, Total Quartz 9000 Future SN GF50W20, Quartz 9000 Future SN 5W30, Quartz 9000 SN 5W40, Quartz 7000 SN 10W40, Quartz 5000 SN 15W50, and Quartz 3000 SJ 20W50.
Now that we’ve cleared up about viscosity grade codes, what are the other factors to consider when choosing engine oils?
Model Year
The year that your car is manufactured is one of the important things to consider when choosing engine oils. Regardless of how diligent your maintenance is, mechanical wear due to metal friction is inevitable.
Years of friction will cause wear and increase clearance between engine components. Thicker oil is needed to overcome wear, as it will optimally keep engine components working especially the cylinder wall.
Protecting cylinder wall is vital because this is where the oil is connected to the fuel system. Oil can be damaged by fuel that leaks into the lubricant circulation system. Thicker oil also serves as a barrier that prevents fuel contamination.
Conversely, low viscosity oil can easily seep into the combustion chamber. When this happens, oil volume will be quickly reduced and the cylinder contaminated by burnt oil.
Knowing the use of engine oils and car condition, owners of cars over four years old should consider using high level viscosity oil. A new car that is initially recommended to use SAE 5W-30 oil, for instance, can consider to move to SAE 5W-40 or SAE 10W-40 oils after four years.
Engine technology
Other than car age, engine technology is another important consideration. A car may be manufactured five years ago, but already has advanced engine technology.
This type of engines generally has smaller oil channels compared to conventional engines. Thick oil will make the engine works harder and reduces its efficiency.
One of the technologies that have been applied to car engines in the past decade is the variable valve control. More than being a selling gimmick, this technology is in fact able to optimize engine performance. Manufacturers has their own terms for this technology; BMW calls it VANOS and Valvetronic, Honda labels it VTEC, while for Toyota it is VVT-i and Valvematic.
The variable valves rely on engine oil pressure to activate their mechanism – hence the importance of choosing the right oil specification that is suitable for engines with advanced technology to maintain the engine’s optimal and efficient performance.