What does synthetic oil do for my car that regular oil does not?
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Former Mechanic: Additives are sometimes added that stick to the moving parts and help lubricate them
There is no “regular” motor oil on the market today with the exception of specialty oils used in very specific applications. Oil cannot meet current API specs (SP) without at least being a synthetic blend. It is double tough as wear/friction requirements have improved, but additives (zinc/moly) have been reduced.
The thing about synthetics is you know what you are getting from a molecular standpoint. With normally refined oils you have a percentage of the distillate that are either too light, or too heavy. Some molecules just unravel, or they polymerize. This throws off your Noack volatility numbers, and skews the viscosity. You can blend a non synthetic oil that meets standards out of the bottle, but it doesn’t stay in spec very long. I think it has been 10 or 12 years since there have been actual 100% dino oils.
There is no “regular” motor oil on the market today with the exception of specialty oils used in very specific applications. Oil cannot meet current API specs (SP) without at least being a synthetic blend. It is double tough as wear/friction requirements have improved, but additives (zinc/moly) have been reduced.
The thing about synthetics is you know what you are getting from a molecular standpoint. With normally refined oils you have a percentage of the distillate that are either too light, or too heavy. Some molecules just unravel, or they polymerize. This throws off your Noack volatility numbers, and skews the viscosity. You can blend a non synthetic oil that meets standards out of the bottle, but it doesn’t stay in spec very long. I think it has been 10 or 12 years since there have been actual 100% dino oils.
There is no “regular” motor oil on the market today with the exception of specialty oils used in very specific applications. Oil cannot meet current API specs (SP) without at least being a synthetic blend. It is double tough as wear/friction requirements have improved, but additives (zinc/moly) have been reduced.
The thing about synthetics is you know what you are getting from a molecular standpoint. With normally refined oils you have a percentage of the distillate that are either too light, or too heavy. Some molecules just unravel, or they polymerize. This throws off your Noack volatility numbers, and skews the viscosity. You can blend a non synthetic oil that meets standards out of the bottle, but it doesn’t stay in spec very long. I think it has been 10 or 12 years since there have been actual 100% dino oils.
Typically non synthetic oil has impurities that the oil company doesn’t remove because it’s too difficult or too costly. Synthetic oil is made in a cleaner process and doesn’t have most of these impurities. So synthetic oil is marginally better for the components that you’re putting it in.
Mainly you just want to make sure you’re getting regular oil changes and using the viscosity that the manufacturer recommends and you should be alright. If you’ve got a precision car that has a lot of tight tolerances in the engine you might get a little more benefit of using synthetic and the manufacturer might even recommend it.
Typically non synthetic oil has impurities that the oil company doesn’t remove because it’s too difficult or too costly. Synthetic oil is made in a cleaner process and doesn’t have most of these impurities. So synthetic oil is marginally better for the components that you’re putting it in.
Mainly you just want to make sure you’re getting regular oil changes and using the viscosity that the manufacturer recommends and you should be alright. If you’ve got a precision car that has a lot of tight tolerances in the engine you might get a little more benefit of using synthetic and the manufacturer might even recommend it.
Typically non synthetic oil has impurities that the oil company doesn’t remove because it’s too difficult or too costly. Synthetic oil is made in a cleaner process and doesn’t have most of these impurities. So synthetic oil is marginally better for the components that you’re putting it in.
Mainly you just want to make sure you’re getting regular oil changes and using the viscosity that the manufacturer recommends and you should be alright. If you’ve got a precision car that has a lot of tight tolerances in the engine you might get a little more benefit of using synthetic and the manufacturer might even recommend it.
Synthetic oil molecular structure is also smaller, meaning that for engines with tighter tolerances between metal parts, the synthetic oil will do a better job of saturating the surfaces. As engines become more precise in terms of tolerances, there will be an increased dependency on synthetic fluids.
Synthetic oils have greater chemical stability properties, so that they do not break down as quickly under higher heats and tend to remain viable as a lubricant for a longer period of stress time when compared to standard oil.
At least this is how we were trained when I worked in an auto shop back in the day.
Synthetic oil molecular structure is also smaller, meaning that for engines with tighter tolerances between metal parts, the synthetic oil will do a better job of saturating the surfaces. As engines become more precise in terms of tolerances, there will be an increased dependency on synthetic fluids.
Synthetic oils have greater chemical stability properties, so that they do not break down as quickly under higher heats and tend to remain viable as a lubricant for a longer period of stress time when compared to standard oil.
At least this is how we were trained when I worked in an auto shop back in the day.
Synthetic oil molecular structure is also smaller, meaning that for engines with tighter tolerances between metal parts, the synthetic oil will do a better job of saturating the surfaces. As engines become more precise in terms of tolerances, there will be an increased dependency on synthetic fluids.
Synthetic oils have greater chemical stability properties, so that they do not break down as quickly under higher heats and tend to remain viable as a lubricant for a longer period of stress time when compared to standard oil.
At least this is how we were trained when I worked in an auto shop back in the day.
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