Which oil do you prefer
Discussion
roadburner said:
Hello guys,
which oil do you prefer for you Esprit?
Hi,
I prefer Mobil 1 20W-50 exclusively. But the key, whichever brand you use, is to use a synthetic. Synthetics have a much higher heat tolerance and will not coke when supersaturated with heat upon shut-down.
This is especially important on turbocharged cars as once the oil flow stops, static oil in the turbo bearing can heat to temps exceeding 700°. An organic petroleum oil will burn producing carbon in the form of coke. This coke will cause accelerated wear to the bearing. A synthetic will not do this. Regardless, it is essential to either run the car at idle for a couple minutes prior to shut-down, or alternatively, to run the last mile or so off-boost with mild acceleration to allow the turbine bearing to cool.
It's equally important to use a 50 weight oil. This can be worrysome if operating the car in cooler climes, especially on start-up, but once up to temperature, the heavier weight is needed to prevent a breakdown in viscosity.
Since the flow charachteristics of Synthetics are much improved over an Organic oil, this problem is mitigated somewhat. You can further address the issue by allowing the car to warm before actually driving it, but do not simply let it idle up to temp as the cool oil won't flow as easily to the top of the engine or charge the oil galleries. The best method is to idle for 30 sec. to 1 min., then mildly modulate the loud pedal to increase the speed of the mechanical oil pump.
The best solution would be to install a pre-luber which fully charges the oil galleries prior to switching on the ignition. These are great systems, but somewhat costly, however considerably less than either a low-end or top-end rebuild. In any event, changing the oil and filter religiously no later than 3,000 miles or 3 mos., whichever comes first is critical. Hope this helps. Happy Motoring!... Jim'85TE
>> Edited by lotusguy on Thursday 26th February 18:36
Jim, you have any experience with Lubrication Engineers organic oil? Claimed by racers to be the best oil out there, better than a synthetic. Stuff is red when fresh, not bron. I've used it in my race car (a TR8) for a year and have been very pleased. I wonder what it's temperature characteristics are, as i thought that was the one quality of a synthetic taht even a premium organic can't match.
JeffYoung said:
Jim, you have any experience with Lubrication Engineers organic oil? Claimed by racers to be the best oil out there, better than a synthetic. Stuff is red when fresh, not bron. I've used it in my race car (a TR8) for a year and have been very pleased. I wonder what it's temperature characteristics are, as i thought that was the one quality of a synthetic taht even a premium organic can't match.
Jeff,
I have no experience with this particular oil, although I have heard of it. It's principle is fairly simple and it is much more akin to a synthetic than a pure organic or mineral oil.
Petroleum oil contains essentially two types of molecules, a long-chain hydrocarbon molecule and a short-chain hydrocarbon favoring the latter by about 2:1. The long chain molecules posess the desired qualities of better flow and heat tolerance.
Synthetic oils are referred to as monomolecular while petroleum oils are referred to as polymolecular.
Petroleum oils provide lubrication by throwing a bunch of diverse elements at the problem hoping one will work. This makes them much cheaper to produce. It also makes them much less predictable and stable as there are numerous elements which can combine to create less desireable compounds when subjected to the varying operating environment of heating and adding water and oxygen.
There are essentially two types of Synthetic oils, those which are totally synthetic (more costly to manufacture)and those which are derived from processing or further refining Organic oils (less costly to manufacture).
Synthetic oils are basically one molecule, whether standing alone or connected in a long chain with identical molecules. This molecule is constructed specifically to provide the best possible lubrication under a defined condition. This makes them very predictable.
Synthetic oils starting with a petroleum base are really not synthetic, rather they are highly refined petroleum oils in which, through a process known as fractional distillation, the long chain hydrocarbons are separated from the shorter chain hydroarbons under high heat and pressure along with the inclusion of catalyzing chemicals and collected. This is very similar to the oil produced by Lubrication Engineers. They are refining petroleum oil to eliminate the short hydrocarbon molecules, bringing the result much closer to monomolecularity than it was before the refining. Reduced volatility (the measure of the lubricant's ability to boil away at high temperatures) is the prime benefit of refining petroleum oil in this fashion.
Regular petroleum oils containing light and heavy fractions (long and short hydrocarbon molecules), tend to boil away the lighter fractions when heated over time as well as combining into unwanted compounds when exposed to heat, water and oxygen . This leads to viscosity change and oil thickening. In it's extreme case, this boiling away could leave you with something very much like asphalt, not a particularly good lubricant.
A truly synthetic oil starts with hydrogen and carbon atoms to create a specific molecule and then buidling it into long hydrocarbon chain. One such synthesized hydrocarbon is polyalphaolefin. It starts with a simple ethylene molecule, which then goes through a 'cloning' process (actually, alpha olefin preparation, oligomerization, and then hydrogen stabilization) so that long strings of identical molecules bind together in chains. This makes them much more stable over time and preserves their lubricating properties over a wider variety of operating conditions.
Maybe a little too much information, but it's a slow afternoon. Happy Motoring! ...Jim'85TE
Castrol Syntec is a "synthetic" in that it is a hydroprocessed mineral oil prepared from crude base stock. ExxonMobil filed a complaint with the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus concerning Castrol's claims for the oil. www.1st-in-synthetics.com/articles60.htm
I suspect the racing oil discussed above is a highly refined base stock prepared with a hydrocracker in other words a hydroprocessed mineral oil base. Depending on operating conditions, hydrocracking will remove most of the waxes from the oil leaving it water clear. This is the base stock used in Conoco's Hydroclear and Pennzoil's Purebase. By removing the wax, the oil has a lower pour point thereby improving cold weather performance. However, as described by Jim, the base oil does not have uniform molecular characteristics and will still be subject to coking and loss of the lighter components.
The motor oil is not water clear when it reaches the consumer because of the additive package. The additive package dictates the color and dies can be added as a further distinguishing feature.
I suspect the racing oil discussed above is a highly refined base stock prepared with a hydrocracker in other words a hydroprocessed mineral oil base. Depending on operating conditions, hydrocracking will remove most of the waxes from the oil leaving it water clear. This is the base stock used in Conoco's Hydroclear and Pennzoil's Purebase. By removing the wax, the oil has a lower pour point thereby improving cold weather performance. However, as described by Jim, the base oil does not have uniform molecular characteristics and will still be subject to coking and loss of the lighter components.
The motor oil is not water clear when it reaches the consumer because of the additive package. The additive package dictates the color and dies can be added as a further distinguishing feature.
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