LONGEVITY TIPS
- Use only a high quality, nationally advertised
petroleum-based oil with detergent additives. Refer to your owner's
manual to determine the correct viscosity and service rating. Be sure the oil
label has a SAE viscosity rating and an API service rating. Avoid the use of
bulk, unlabeled oils found at some service stations.
- To take really good care of your engine, consider
changing the oil at intervals more frequent than those recommended by your
owner's manual. Take 20% off the time period or mileage between changes.
This will almost guarantee that you always have effective oil in your engine.
However, do not apply this suggestion to synthetic oils. A car that is rarely
driven or in storage should still have the oil changed more frequently than
recommended by the manufacturer.
- Avoid multigrade oils with a large viscosity range.
Wide viscosity ranges usually mean many additives have been put in the oil.
These additives can leave deposits on high temperature parts.
- It may be beneficial to use slightly higher
viscosity oil on high mileage engines to compensate for part wear and fill
greater tolerances between parts. If oil consumption was present, it may
be reduced. On multigrade oils, try using an oil of one higher grade level.
For example, if you normally use SAE 10W-30, consider using SAE 10W-40.
- Do not add detergent oils to engines currently
using non-detergent oils. The detergent additives in the additional oil
could dislodge and circulate sludge throughout the engine, thereby damaging it.
If you wish to convert to detergent oil usage, the non-detergent oil must be
drained first. The inside of the oil pan and valve covers must be cleaned of
sludge too. Detergent oil can then be added. See Removing
Engine Sludge.
- Do not use synthetic oil in a new engine during its
break-in period. This period is generally the first 2,500 miles of wear.
The outstanding lubrication properties of the synthetic oil will prevent the
piston rings from properly seating. Some slight friction is necessary to fit
the rings to the cylinders, so only use conventional oils during break-in.
Avoid using synthetic oil unless it is specifically recommended in your owner's
manual.
- Do not overfill (greatly exceed the dipstick FULL
mark) your oil pan. This could cause crankshaft motion to churn and
aerate an additive depleted oil. The foamy oil would not lubricate as well as
normal oil and the engine could be damaged. Do not check the oil level with the
engine running. This will give a false reading that is artificially low and may
cause you to overfill the oil pan. Remember that an oil level that is too low
will permit operating temperature to increase too much.
- If your oil filter is mounted in a vertical
position, fill it with clean oil before attaching it to the engine block during
a filter change. This will minimize engine wear immediately after engine
start-up and permit part lubrication sooner. This is especially important for
engines with turbochargers, since turbocharger bearings are prone to oil
starvation.
- Gasoline engines with four cylinders should always
utilize the best oil possible, namely a SJ-rated oil. Even if the
owner's manual recommends a lower service rating, the SJ-rated oil will protect
better against deposits and wear associated with small, high-speed engines.
- If your car is used only for short local trips and
does not get any highway use, shorten the recommended oil change interval by
25%. Unburned fuel will accumulate and dilute the oil when the car is
used only at low speed, since the engine does not create any extended periods of
heat to burn off contaminants. In fact, the "oil" level may fall
tremendously if such a car was taken on a long highway trip since the unburned
fuel and contaminants would be burned off.
- To minimize oil consumption, avoid extended high
speed and high temperature driving. The faster the engine is run, the
more oil it consumes (by burning and by vaporization).
- The lower the oil's viscosity, the more readily it
will vaporize. For example, SAE 20 oil will vaporize easier than SAE 40
oil does. To minimize vaporization, use the highest viscosity oil that is
acceptable in your situation.
- Avoid harsh accelerations. Harsh, sudden
accelerations are not only harmful to the mechanical parts of the engine and
driveline, but they are also detrimental to the oil as well! These conditions
can essentially tear apart the molecules in the additives that provide the
multiviscosity properties. The result is permanently thinned oil that does not
thicken with temperature or offer good protection.
- If the car must be driven through a dust storm,
consider changing the oil immediately afterwards, regardless of the time or
mileage set for the next scheduled oil change. No air filter is 100%
effective and there is a good chance that some fine dust particles entered your
engine.
- If mixing different brands of oils, be certain they
have the same viscosity and service rating to preserve performance
characteristics. This applies to both single grade and multigrade oils.
- On a new car, the engine's first oil change should
be at 500-1,000 miles since the oil will absorb many dirt and metal particles
from engine assembly and the accelerated wear of the break-in process.
These particles, if allowed to circulate, will ruin other parts.
- Consider replacing the standard oil pan drain plug
with a magnetized version of the same size. This will prevent normal,
metallic wear particles from circulating throughout the engine, thus allowing
for an extended useful life. The magnetic plug, exposed to much lubricant flow,
will pull the metallic debris out of the passing oil and retain it until the
next oil change.
- Always maintain the engine oil at the FULL level
and in a sludge-free condition. The lower parts of an engine, especially
the bearings, depend upon the oil for cooling. If the bearing surfaces
overheat, the soft tin and lead metal in them will melt. A burned-out bearing
will incapacitate the engine. The same thing will happen if the oil passages
become clogged with dirty oil and bearing surfaces cannot be lubricated
adequately. So do not wait for the level to fall to the LOW mark in order to
add oil in one quart increments. Maintaining a full oil supply helps keep the
engine from running too hot. Adding small amounts of fresh oil also introduces
more additives to the lubrication system.
- To extend your oil's useful life, avoid severe
driving conditions and keep your emission control system components working
properly. Additive depletion and the resulting contamination buildup
depend on a variety of things, but mostly driving habits and how well the engine
is tuned. Severe driving conditions consume additives faster than normal
driving conditions do. Inoperative emission
control components (particularly the PCV valve) also cause more rapid
additive depletion than operative emission components do.
SYSTEMS
ENGINE OIL
SAFETY TIPS
PROPER CARE