How Does Motor Oil Work?

Motor oil is liquefied oil which we use mostly in internal combustion engines. Motor oil is used primarily for lubrication, but there are many benefits to using motor oil in your vehicle. Motor oil lubricates every moving part of your engine. It creates a layer that acts as a protective film. This film reduces friction and essentially keeps metal moving parts from ever coming in contact with each other.
Motor oil also cleans your engine. When gasoline and air come in contact with each other through the combustion process, it creates contaminants. Detergents and other additives are mixed into motor oil to clean contaminated particles off of your engine. The detergents suspend the contaminants in the motor oil and hold them there until you change your oil. You should change your oil every three months or every three thousand miles, which ever comes first. Contrary to popular belief, using more expensive synthetic motor oil does not reduce the amount of contaminants your car produces. Synthetics are only marginally better at suspending contaminated particles and you should still change your oil at the same time as you would using standard motor oils. Remember that oil performs critical functions in your engine and clean oil performs much better than dirty oil.
Left unclean, the suspended molecules of contamination can start to settle. This settling creates sludge in your engine, accelerating wear on all components that come in contact with your oil. Your oil filter grabs many of the suspended contaminants, but there’s only so much it can hold.
Motor oil also creates seals around engine parts that make your vehicle more fuel efficient and powerful. Since motor oil seals out the air, your engine is protected against corrosion and the elements, which could lead to rust and system break-down. Motor oil not only protects your engine and keeps its parts running smoothly, but it also carries heat away from many parts of your engine that coolant can’t get to. Almost half of engine cooling is done by motor oil.
Your motor oil not only has detergents, but it also contains buffers. When sulfur in your oil reacts with water and oxygen, it creates sulphuric acid which can destroy your engine. Buffers neutralize acids in your oil and keep it running clean.
High performance oils are produced by a process called dewaxing. This is a process where wax and paraffin molecules are turned into useful lubricants in the oil, instead of contaminants. Dewaxing produces oil that can perform well at higher and lower temperatures than in the past, and your engine is more protected from oxidation than before. The United States used to rely heavily on Middle Eastern oil. Advances in technology, such as dewaxing, have made us less dependent on other countries. We no longer have to rely on them to get the purest crude oils to produce high quality motor oil. Through dewaxing, we can start with a much lower quality crude oil and achieve the same results. This supports American oil companies such as Western Pipeline Corporation and reduces our dependence on Middle Eastern Oil.

About the Author

About the Author: Mickey Horn is the Executive VP of Investor Relations of Western Pipeline Corporation. Western Pipeline Corp specializes in identifying, acquiring and developing existing, producing reserves on behalf of its individual clients.

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