Engine Oil Types: What’s the Difference?
Engines are complicated machines consisting of many precisions engineered parts moving at a high rate of speed. That is why it’s important to keep them lubricated by engine oils specifically designed to protect them and ensure a long service life.
Engine oils function to lubricate the internal components, lower friction, clean, absorb heat, and ensure sufficient compression during combustion. However, they are only able to effectively do this for a finite amount of the engine’s mileage.
What Happens If You Don’t Change the Oil?
Failure to change the oil in time can result in it turning into a contaminated version of itself with compromised viscosity. When this happens, the oil is less effective at its job, which causes inefficiency and increased fuel consumption. Continuous neglect would lead to catastrophic failure.
Each type of oil is formulated for specific engines due to their metallurgy and various tolerances. This is why you shouldn’t randomly choose one for your car. Not all oils are created equal because they vary in refinement, chemical composition, and various other properties.
There are three most common types of engine oil: mineral, synthetic and semi-synthetic, each differ in price, service life and level of protection that they offer.
Mineral Oil
It’s derived from crude oil and is formulated with various additives to properly lubricate and protect engine components. It’s usually used in simpler engines, which have less demanding performance requirements.
This is a cheaper option compared to the other two types of engine oils and is usually used in older vehicles or ones that aren’t being pushed to the limit. It also has a lower service life, requiring more frequent changes compared to synthetic oils.
Synthetic Oil
It is created with a more sophisticated refinement method of crude oil. The molecules are more uniformly shaped and have far fewer impurities compared to mineral oil. It’s best used for newer engines as well as those with higher performance requirements. It’s able to handle high and low temperatures better than the others.
It’s significantly more expensive but offers greater protection to the engine components. Besides this, it lasts longer as well requiring less frequent oil changes with many of them only needing replacements after 10,000km or more.
Semi-Synthetic Oil
It’s a blend of synthetic and mineral oil that tries to offer the benefits of both. It provides better lubrication and protection compared to mineral oil but not as good as fully synthetic oil. It’s also cheaper than the former but a little more expensive than the latter.
The service life is longer than mineral oil but shorter than synthetic oil. This makes it a good option for consumers who want a good engine oil that offers many of the benefits of synthetic oil but at a more affordable price.
High Mileage Oil
There’s also a high mileage oil option meant for engines that have had a long and hard life. It offers decent protection but is also formulated to reduce leaking and burn-off. They also contain additives that help protect the engine seals.
If you’re unsure about what time of engine oil you need for your vehicle, refer to your manufacturer instruction manual. Only use oils that are recommended for your vehicles to ensure that it works efficiently and reliably for many years.
