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Hot and Cold Temperature Extremes
Call for Superior Motor Oils
Hot Temperatures
A significant
challenge faced by today’s motor oil is maintaining
an adequate level of protection during high temperature conditions.
Without a quality motor oil protecting it, an engine can be
damaged through motor oil breakdown, viscosity increase and
deposits – all caused by excessive heat.
 All
motor oils are subject to vaporization when exposed to high
heat. How much an oil vaporizes is measured by the NOACK
Volatility Test (ASTM D-5800). Conventional motor oils
tend to vaporize the most, the lightest fractions evaporating
first and leaving behind a thicker, harder-to-pump motor oil.
The uniformly sized molecules of synthetic motor oils are
much more resistant to vaporization. Less oil evaporates and
viscosity remains consistent.
The flash point
of a motor oil is the lowest temperature at which application
of a flame will cause lubricant vapors to ignite. Higher quality
base stocks exhibit higher flash points, and the higher a
motor oil’s flash point, the better the protection.
AMSOIL motor
oils are formulated with high flash points, keeping volatization
to an absolute minimum and maintaining their superior protective
and performance qualities in extreme heat conditions. In fact,
a look at the chart shows AMSOIL 5W-30 Synthetic Motor Oil
loses significantly less of its original weight during high-temperature
service when compared with competing motor oils.
As motor oils
operate in high heat, especially over extended periods, they
tend to thin out and lose their ability to provide adequate
wear protection. Viscosity Index (VI) indicates the degree
of an oil’s viscosity change over a given temperature
range (between 40° C and 100° C). The higher a motor
oil’s VI number, the better it is able to maintain its
viscosity over a broad temperature range, translating into
better wear protection in both hot and cold temperatures.
Motor oils with low VI do a poor job of maintaining viscosity
in temperature extremes. They are very viscous (thick) at
low temperatures, while very thin at high temperatures.
Motor oils formulated
with synthetic base stocks usually have naturally high VI
numbers, giving them the ability to resist viscosity change
in high-temperature operation. Conventional motor oils, on
the other hand, require high amounts of viscosity index improvers
that increase the relative viscosity of motor oils during
high temperature operation. Viscosity index improvers can
be thought of as springs, coiling at cold temperatures and
uncoiling in high temperatures. Uncoiling makes the molecules
larger, increasing internal resistance within the thinning
oil and reducing the overall viscosity loss of the fluid.
AMSOIL Synthetic
Motor Oils have “ultra high” viscosity indices,
allowing them to stay in grade and provide superior wear protection
throughout extended drain intervals. In fact, AMSOIL 10W-30
Motor Oil was recently subjected to a triple length API
Sequence IIIF Test. Even after being subjected to the
test three times longer than the standard length, AMSOIL 10W-30
performed three times better than the standard test limits.
The competitor’s motor oil showed dramatic viscosity
increase in less than half the time.
Oil heated in
the presence of air oxidizes, forming damaging acids and deposits.
The higher the temperature, the higher the rate of oxidation.
Oxidation inhibitors are added to motor oils to minimize the
high-temperature deterioration process, while detergents and
dispersants minimize the formation of sludge and deposits,
neutralize acids and hold solid contaminants in suspension.
AMSOIL Synthetic
Motor Oils are formulated with the highest quality additive
packages, resisting the damaging effects of heat and oxidation
much longer than conventional motor oils and keeping engines
running clean and deposit-free.
Cold Temperatures
In order to start effectively,
engines must reach a critical cranking speed. As temperatures
drop, achieving critical cranking speed becomes more of a
challenge. Low temperatures cause motor oils to thicken, and
if they thicken too much and impose excessive drag on moving
parts, critical cranking speed will not be achieved and the
engine will fail to start.
Motor oils used in winter climates
must maintain a sufficient low cranking viscosity to allow
engine turnover at the lowest temperatures. If a motor oil
is able to meet the challenge of allowing the engine to turn
over, it immediately faces another significant challenge:
providing quick, critical lubrication to the engine’s
bearings and other moving parts.
Two types of engine pumping
failures can result from cold-thickened motor oil: air-binding
failure and flow-limited failure. Air-binding failure occurs
when the motor oil surrounding the pump inlet screen gets
sucked into the pump, but is not replaced by new oil from
the sump. The oil pump inlet screen then becomes starved for
fluid, and oil pressure becomes erratic as air is entrained
and proper oil flow cannot be maintained. Flow-limited failure
occurs when the motor oil becomes so thick that it cannot
be pumped through the inlet tube and through the narrow passages
that deliver the oil to the engine’s moving parts.
All motor oils thicken in cold
temperatures, but how much they thicken is significant to
the level of protection an engine receives. Pour
point tests (ASTM D-97) pin-point the temperature at which
a motor oil thickens to the point where it ceases to flow.
Of course, when oil stops flowing altogether, it is useless.
For an engine to receive even minimal wear protection from
an oil, it is important it has a pour point lower than typical
winter temperatures.
Conventional motor oils face
significant challenges in low temperatures because they contain
paraffinic (wax) materials. As temperatures drop, the wax
components crystallize and agglomerate into large structures.
Eventually, the motor oil gels, becomes resistant to flow
and fails to provide the engine with the lubrication it needs.
In order to hinder the development of these wax crystals,
conventional motor oils are additized with polymers known
as pour point depressants. These pour point depressants prevent
wax crystals from agglomerating and can lower the oil’s
pour point. In fact, petroleum motor oil without additives
typically has a pour point of only around 5° F, but the
inclusion of pour point depressants can lower the pour point
by approximately 25°.
Synthetic motor oils do not
contain the paraffinic material present in conventional motor
oils, so they do not require pour point additives. Synthetic
motor oils naturally flow at much lower temperatures than
conventional oils, maintaining their cold-temperature protection
properties over a longer period of time.
Cold weather operation also
increases problems associated with condensation. The colder
the weather, the longer it takes for the engine to warm to
the point where condensation evaporates. During short trips,
the engine may not have a chance to evaporate the condensation
at all. Eventually, condensation causes acids to form in the
oil, causing corrosion.
Rust and corrosion inhibitors
serve to neutralize and protect engines against water and
acids. These oil-soluble additives have a greater affinity
for metal than water, forming a protective film on engine
parts. The Total
Base Number (TBN) of a motor oil is an indication of how
well it combats acids. The higher the TBN number, the greater
the degree of protection.
AMSOIL Motor Oils are formulated
with high TBN. In fact, AMSOIL 5W-30, 10W-30 and 0W-30 Motor
Oils all have TBN’s over 11, allowing them to effectively
fight acid and corrosion for extended drain intervals.
AMSOIL Synthetic Motor Oils
remain fluid in the coldest operating conditions. Maintaining
their fluidity and protecting ability in temperatures as frigid
as -60° F, AMSOIL not only permits easy engine cranking
for quick starts, but flows to critical engine components
in a quarter of the time that conventional oils take. Considering
that up to 60 percent of all engine wear occurs during cold
starts, this immediate lubrication is essential to long-term
engine life.
Which
AMSOIL Products Are Recommended For Your Car or Truck?
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AMSOIL Inc., AMSOIL Building, Superior, WI 54880.
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