As motorists, we often take for granted that we know everything about our vehicle by knowing its make and model. It even seems easy to respond to your needs, as long as it allows us to transport ourselves, as usual, avoid damages that involve taking it to the automotive center and, of course, prolonging its life.
It is not until a mechanical problem occurs that we need to know everything about the vehicle. Given this, we may neglect one of the main benefactors such as lubricating oil, which consists of a fluid designed to prevent the wear of the mechanical components of our engine, through the combination of substances (essential and additives) that favor, among other things:
Clean Residues And Impurities Generated In The Use Of The Vehicle
Reduce sludge formation, neutralize acids and corrosive substances derived from the lubricant’s degradation due to the gradual decrease of its properties due to factors such as heat, oxygen, metallic wear particles, and contaminants.
Cold engine fluidity for easy starting in low temperatures
It is essential to know the types of lubricating oils that the market like https://oil-advisor.com/best-0w-20-synthetic-oils/ offers us, divided into mineral, synthetic and semi-synthetic oils.
Mineral oils are base oils manufactured products derived from oil and additives whose primary functions are:
- Improve the properties of the basic
- Impart new features,
- Protect metal surfaces
- Avoid lubricant degradation.
On the other hand, the raw material of synthetic oils is elaborated and designed in specialized laboratories, which carry out a rearrangement of the molecular structures of the components of the raw material complemented with a package of additives developed to offer optimal performance and better characteristics of the performance.
Finally, semi-synthetic oils are a mixture between synthetic base oils and oils of mineral origin, supplemented with additives to confer the properties indicated above.
Viscosity
One of the most important physical properties of a lubricant is its viscosity. It is defined as the oil’s internal resistance to flow at a specific temperature, which in colloquial terms is defined as “how thin or thick a lubricant is.”
In summary, the advantages of synthetic oils over minerals are:
- Longer motor life
- More stable viscosity at extreme temperatures
- Better control of contaminants
- They reduce fuel consumption
Now that you know the basics of synthetic oils, you better understand what might suit your vehicle. In the following article, we will explain the lubricant classification according to the vehicle’s technological development and its recommended application according to the vehicle model.