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Motor Oil
Motor oil is essential to lubricating and
cooling your car's engine. Without it, the
friction from the metal sliding against metal
will quickly destroy your engine. In addition
to replacing any oil that may have leaked
from your engine, you need to periodically
change the oil and oil filter because the oil will become dirty, and dirty
oil can also cause significant engine damage.
Oil thins as it heats up, so
most motor oil
today is formulated with synthetic
components
to give it different characteristics
at different
temperatures (hence the name
"multi-grade"
oil). To reflect the multi-grade
properties,
motor oil is labeled with two
numbers. The
first number (attached to the
"W")
represents the oil's viscosity
in winter
(at 0° F). The second number,
represents
the oil's viscosity in summer
(at 212°
F). "Viscosity" is
the difficulty
with which the oil flows, with
a lower number
being more fluid, and a higher
number being
more like molasses. Hence, a
0W-40 oil remains
more liquid in both summer and
winter than
a 10W-50 oil. However, keep in
mind three
facts:
- the two viscosities ratings are not absolute
measurements; that is, a 10W-40 rating indicates
that the oil behaves like 10 grade oil at
the low temperature and 40 grade oil at the
higher temperature; it does not say that
the oil is four times more liquid at the
colder temperature.
- thinner is good during cold starts and thicker
is good doing heavy use on hot days; thus,
premium oils have a lower cold temperature
and a higher hot temperature grades
- ultimately, choose the oil weight recommended
by your car's manufacturer.
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