What is oil used for?
For the proper functioning of our car, undoubtedly one of the most important elements is lubrication oil. The engines of our cars are composed of many parts and gears, that with their operation and friction produce a lot of wear, and hence the importance of oil since its function is to lubricate these components, behaving like a film that prevents wear and heat excessive.
With the use this oil loses its properties so it is very important that we change it periodically and to know a little what kind of oils are there and which one best suits for our vehicle.
Meet all SAMOA LUBRICATION EQUIPMENT:
Types of Oil by Origin:
If we look at the origin of the oil can be of 3 types:
- Synthetics
- Minerals
- Semi-synthetic (mixture of the previous 2)
Types by their Viscosity:
In addition to their origin they are also classified by their viscosity (See previous article in our blog) at a certain temperature, and for this the classification established by the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) is taken as a reference, and 2 great classifications:
- Monograde oils: only have a degree of viscosity
- Multigrade oils: have a high viscosity index.
The SAE classification is based on Farenheit temperatures (0 • F-210 • F, which would be equivalent to -18ºC and 99ºC) and establishes 8 degrees for monogrades and 6 for multigrades. In this classification the low numbers correspond to low viscosity and vice versa.
Monogrades
They are not used very often since they are designed to work in a very closed temperature range.
We can find SAE10, SAE20, SAE30 etc … Unless stable climates where there are no hard changes of temperature they would not be recommendable, and if there were, we should use a low SAE oil for winter (eg SAE10W) and one high for warm climates (eg: SAE40)
Multigrades
These oils are designed to work in climates with a greater range of temperatures and therefore are mostly used, since they contain additives that allow the oil does not lose viscosity with changes in temperature.
These oils are designed to work in climates with a greater range of temperatures and therefore are mostly used, since they contain additives that allow the oil does not lose viscosity with changes in temperature.
Some of the nomenclatures that we can find are:
SAE 5W-30, SAE 10W-40 or SAE 15W-40. Let’s see an example to understand it:
Let’s look at this practical example:
SAE 10W-40: the letter W means winter for its ability to work at low temperatures, in this case the 10W indicates that the oil will behave like a SAE10W at low temperatures, favoring cold starting; and as a SAE40 (40) thicker when temperatures rise (60-85 • C)
In summary, for greater protection at low temperatures we must resort to an oil that has the first number as low as possible and vice versa for high temperatures that the second number is as high as possible.
There is also the classification by type of service (API-American Petroleum Institute), which appears on all oil cans and consists of 2 letters for:
- Type of fuel: Being “S” for gasoline and “C” for diesel engines
- Oil quality: according to the alphabetical order, from least to highest. (Ex: API-SC)
¡Get in touch with SAMOA Industrial!
Follow us on Social Media!
