What is Engine Oil? What are the applications? What are the Types? How to select the right product for your Engine?
Engine oil are basically oil extracted from crude oil, which are slightly inflammable in nature used in engines for smoother operation, due it is higher viscosity in nature. Nowadays synthetic technology has been introduced in processing the oil, which uses a covalent bonding technology.
Engine Oil are primarily used for the lubricating the shaft / piston movement of the engine. As the engine runs lots fo heat energy is generated due to the frictional movement. Engine oil are basically acts as a medium to reduce the friction between the metal parts and also cools the moving parts by absorbing the heat. Thereby it reduces the wear and tear losses and further enhances the engine performance.
Basically engines are classified into two categories i.e. 2 Stroke and 4 Stroke Engines. Engines with smaller capacities or compact power generators / diesel generators use a two stroke engine, whereas the engines with capacity above 100 cc like motorcycles and scooters uses 4 stroke engines. A two stroke engines operates with one up and down cycle for one movement, whereas a four stroke engine uses two up and down piston movement for one rotation. Thereby a four stroke engine has higher power and rpm when compared to a two stroke engine.
2 T engines are manufactured without any oil reservoir or storing unit. Hence a 2 T engine oil is added along with the fuel, which possess a characteristic of burning along with the fuel, as these possess a tendency of lower viscosity and slightly flammable. 4 T engine oils are manufactured for engine heads which has a separate unit for storage where the Gear Box, Timing unit and Clutch plate assembly are present apart from the cylinder / piston head which has been isolated in between the Clutch and Gear box assembly.
Engine oil shall possess a characteristic’s to operate under extreme climatic conditions. Usually the nominal operating temperature is designed considering the ambient temperature. For instance the ambient temperature of our ecosystem lies between – 30 deg C to + 55 deg C. The engine oil has to be produced considering the tolerance limit of 30 to 40% thereby produced to withstand the geographical climate conditions between – 45 deg C to 100 deg C. Engine oil are specified in numerical numbers in xx W-yy format. The first two digits represent the operational temperature in winter / colder temperature whereas the next two digits represent heat withstanding capacity. For instance 00 W – 10 specifications refers to operate in extreme colder condition / colder start up as the engine oil will remain to operate / neither solidifies in colder climate. As the engine heats up due to friction, the operating temperature of the engine designed at 100 deg C, thereby acts as a cooling medium to the heat that generated. The key point is thaty the viscosity of the remains unchanged when heated up due to friction.
So if you are having a stroke stroke engine is advised to use the engine oil added up with the fuel. For four stroke engines the specifications ranges from 05 W – 20, 10 W – 30, 15 W – 30 and 20 W – 40 are the most commonly available standards. Typically scooters don’t have gear box assembly neither a clutch plate assembly, which means the lesser heat generation. So the lower heat withstanding capacity will be sufficient. ie. 20 or less than 20 for the operating temperature range. The ideal standard shall be 05 W – 20 is advised for four stroke scooter models, for areas where the atmospheric temperature shall not drop below 20 deg C. For engines with Gear and Clutch assemble typically bikes, the operational temperature shall be higher than the normal scooters hence the 40 rated oil is advisable for the operations. i.e 10 W – 40 or 15 W – 40 or 20 W – 40 is advisable for the bikes. The most advisable spec for the Southern states climatic regions of India is 10 W – 40
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