Automotive Lubricants

Preamble
It won’t be any exaggeration to say that the importance of Automotive Lubricants in the well being of vehicles is more often than not fully appreciated. Suffice to say they’re what blood is to the human body…

An average Car essentially has 4-types of Oils/Lubricants to keep it running smoothly and enable it give it’s max useful life. These are -

1) Engine Oil, 2) Gearbox Oil, 3) Brake Fluid/Oil and 4) Coolant - which also serves as a lubricant for the Water Pump Seals.

The ‘Grade/Viscosity’ Specifications of these four along with their recommended Time/Kms change intervals are invariably given in the respective Owners Manual of a Car - as these can vary from make/models. Please study yours and figure them out accordingly.

In general, all these should be of reputed Brands, ensured not to be spurious and always bought in pilfer-proof sealed packaging. Buying them loose at petrol pumps etc for ‘topping-up’ should be avoided as these are often adulterated/contaminated and therefore, one should always carry one’s own - either as left over’s of sealed packs purchased earlier for replacements or topping-up.

As far as Engine oil is concerned, its change at the prescribed time/distance interval should always be accompanied by change of the recommended Brand/Grade of Oil Filter also. A lot of people are under the mistaken belief that as far as EO/F is concerned, distance alone matters.

Quite to the contrary, it’s the time interval here which is the over-riding factor - usually 6-months for mineral based oils in our dusty climate - regardless of the distance covered if less than the prescribed limit - as EO’s once poured-in are vulnerable to deterioration due to oxidation/contamination by the by-products of fuel combustion inside the Cylinders. The same goes for the other three due to other atmospheric/operational factors.

In general, the recommended change intervals for Engine Oils is 7.5 kkm/6-months, MT/GBs 20 kkm or 2-yrs, Brake Fluid 18-months and Coolants 30 kkm/18-24 months.

Whether Synthetic Engine Oils.
Synthetic Oils are the ‘Ultimate’ Lubricants available in the World today and to the best of my knowledge, ‘Mobil-1′ is the only ‘official one’ in India. Regrettably, most retailers don’t stock it as it costs ~ Rs: 550/- a litre and the takers are very few. Besides, at this cost, the chances of it being spurious are also quite high.

On the flip side, given our Operating Environment, S/O’s can easily go > 3x the otherwise recommended drain interval for the conventional Oils - time as well as distance.

The next best option I’ve come across is the ‘Castrol-Magnatec’ at < half the cost. With this, one can safely do 1-1/2 times the distance/time on the recommended drain intervals.

However, for general info, it may be noted that Synthetic Oils are not recommended for new/under 'running-in' Engines, to enable them fully 'bed-in'. Further, as practically all new Cars today come with Warrantees upto 2- yrs/40 kkm, during this period the OEMs don't permit using any Oils supplied by Customers - for understandable reasons - unless your Dealer is prepared to put-in these at your cost - which he won't!

Whether Engine Oil Additives;
Let’s start by understanding what exactly it is that lube oil does inside your engine.

An engine oil’s job is primarily to stop all the metal surfaces in your engine from grinding against each other and tearing themselves apart. But it also has to dissipate the heat generated from this friction as well. It, therefore, also transfers heat away from critical areas during the combustion cycle.

Another function of engine oil is that it must be able to ‘suspend’ the by-products of fuel combustion, such as silica (silicon oxide) and acids. It must also clean the engine of such by-products. And it must do all of these things under tremendous heat and pressure without succumbing to fatigue or loss of thermal viscosity.

The fact of the matter is that the companies who manufacture and process petroleum and synthetic engine oils already have ‘additives’ to do exactly what is needed for the application it is designated for.

Although some Engine Oil Additives may not contain anything harmful to your engine, and even some things that could be beneficial, most experts still recommend that you avoid their use. The reason for this is that your oil, as purchased from one of the major oil companies, already contains a very extensive additive package. This combination of ‘additives’ that the oil manufacturer has combined are ’synergetic’ - which means that some of the individual components will only react mutually, achieving a reaction none of the components alone could otherwise achieve.

If you add to or change this formulation, the effect the original formulation that was meant to achieve the ultimate objective may be upset, even if it’s more of something the formulation already contained.

In the case of engine oil additives, there is a considerable volume of evidence against their effectiveness. This evidence comes from well-known and identifiable expert sources, including independent research laboratories, state universities, major engine manufacturers, and even NASA.

No matter what the additive makers would like you to believe, nothing has been proven to totally stop normal engine wear – not even the ‘slipperiest’ PTFE kind – as they can cause oil starvation! This is particularly true in the area of piston rings and Oil Filters, where there is a critical need for adequate oil flow. In practically all of the reports and studies on oil additives, and particularly those involving suspended solids like PTFE, this has been reported as a major area of engine damage.