Motor Oil Info

AMSOIL Synthetic Heavy Duty Diesel & Marine Motor Oil is heavily fortified with detergent/dispersant additives and is naturally resistant to soot. It is designed to keep soot particles suspended independently and prevent them from attaching together to form larger, wear-causing particles. Viscosity increase is minimized and soot-related wear is controlled.

AMSOIL Diesel & Marine Oil has lower volatility (evaporation) than conventional petroleum oils. Because less oil vapor passes in to the combustion chamber, oil consumption and emissions are reduced. Lower volatility helps AMSOIL 15w-40 Diesel Oil retain its viscosity after high-temperature service for excellent fuel economy and continued dependable protection.

The base stocks from which AMSOIL Synthetic Diesel oils and lubricants are made feature uniform and smooth molecular structures, which ensures low friction as lubricant layers slide across one another. Reduced friction increases energy through-put for greater fuel efficiency and power, and reduces heat and wear for longer equipment life.

Molecular uniformity also helps synthetics resist thinning in heat and thickening in cold, which helps them protect better than refined oils over a system’s operating temperature range and helps ensure secure sealing.

Typically, a type of additive called Viscosity Modifier (VM) or Viscosity Index Improver (VII) is added to the base oil to achieve multigrade performance. These types of organic polymer additives thicken the oil at high temperatures while having a minimal thickening effect at low temperatures. The addition of a viscosity modifier allows for the use of lower viscosity base oils to achieve the cold temperature requirements. The use of light weight petroleum oils increase oil volatility (burn-off), contributing to excessive oil consumption and oil thickening.

AMSOIL Heavy Duty Diesel Oil (ACD) and Small Engine Oil (ASE) meet multigrade viscosity requirements without the use of viscosity modifiers. This is accomplished through the use of naturally high viscosity index, wax-free synthetic oils. These oils meet both the low temperature requirements of SAE 10w and the high temperature requirements of SAE 30. Thus the products are true SAE10w-30 and SAE 30 oils.

Because diesel fuel is a natural solvent, it causes a multitude of problems when it contaminates the oil, including reduced oil viscosity, reduced oil film strength, increased engine wear (particularly in the cylinder/ring area), increased volatility, weakened lubricant detergency, accelerated lubricant oxidation, varnish formation, acid formation/corrosion and low oil pressure.

The most notable problem associated with increased fuel contamination is reduced viscosity and the corresponding effect it has on oil performance. When combined with shearing conditions, as little as 4 percent fuel dilution is generally enough to reduce an oil’s viscosity to less than the specified viscosity grade.

AMSOIL sent five competitive synthetic CJ-4 5w-40 diesel oils to an independent laboratory for shear stability testing. Knowing the tough environment that diesels present to lubricating oils, AMSOIL doubled the standard Kurt Orbahn 90-cycle test and had the oils tested for 180 cycles. Samples were then contaminated with 2 and 4 percent ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD) fuel. As the graph shows, even after being shear tested for twice the industry standard and contaminated with 4 percent fuel dilution, AMSOIL maintained viscosity and was the only oil to stay within an SAE 40 viscosity rating. As other oils lost viscosity due to shearing forces and fuel dilution, their ability to protect against wear was jeopardized.

Hard working diesel engines present a serious challenge to the lubricants that protect them. Tight clearances and intense pressures can generate enough force to tear apart the molecular structure of the oil, causing permanent viscosity loss. Permanent viscosity loss is termed “shear” and leads to accelerated equipment wear, oil consumption and deposit formation.

Shear stability measures lubricant’s ability to withstand shearing forces without degrading to a lower viscosity. To meet CJ-4 requirements for shear stability, the American Petroleum Institute (API) requires diesel oils to pass the Kurt Orbahn 90-Cycle Shear Stability Test.

Resisting shear and maintaining protective viscosity in the harsh operating conditions of diesel engines is challenge enough for many diesel oils, but maintaining viscosity in the face of fuel dilution is another challenge altogether. Factors such as frequent starts, excessive engine idling short trips and cold weather have contributed to moderate levels of fuel dilution in diesel applications for years, while recent issues with emission systems have brought the fuel dilution problem to a whole new level.

An automobile self-starter, simply known as a starter is an electric motor that initiates rotational movement in a car’s internal combustion engine before it can power itself. At the turn of the twentieth century all car auto manufacturers were turning to the internal combustion engine for its many advantages. The Otto cycle and the Diesel cycle internal combustion engine both required the piston to move before the ignition phase of the cycle, utilizing the diesel oil and gasoline in the system. This means that there must be an external source that set the engine in motion before the engine could power itself. The original models implemented a hand crank to start the engine!

It was such a dangerous activity that they had to create automobile starters that were mechanized. This was the beginning of the car starter revolution that has changed auto manufacturing into what it is today.

With newer models of diesel fueled vehicles having new emission requirements its very important to use the right diesel oil. That’s why using 5W-40W would be a great option to help with the newer emission requirements. This diesel oil helps give great lubrication that can be used in personal vehicles, outboard and commercially used engines. AMSOIL has made great strides in developing this newer diesel oil that helps protect agaisnt heat plus the wear and tear of using a vehicle.

Another great benefit about the 5W-40w oil is the improved fuel mileage. A few reliable sources have come out and said that tests have shown up to a 3 percent improvement in fuel mileage compared to a traditional diesel oil. You burn less oil vapors through the combustion chambers which means that the diesel oil keeps the viscosity which helps you with the better fuel mileage.

If you were to mix the 5W-40W with other oils would shorten the life of the the oil and the benefits of what this new diesel oil can do. You would only want to use 5W-40W so that you get all the benefits of what this diesel oil can do for your engine.

In order to prevent heat build-up that can lead to piston damage, it is important the correct level of lubrication reaches the piston at the skirt and piston pin. Wagner advises technicians to examine piston oilers. “Many of these are very delicate in relationship to other parts of the engine and are bumped easily, resulting in either a broken or improperly directed oiler,” he says.

Contamination wreaks havoc on pistons, too. Water contamination cause erosion and fuel and lubricant dilution. “Contamination can be water, fuel, particulates from the air intake or foreign objects,” says Wagner. “Particulates can wear the ring lands, resulting in increased oil consumption. Foreign matter can be anything including nuts, bolts, valve train or turbocharger parts, and much of the time foreign matter in the combustion chamber is the result of another component failing.” Be sure to use the proper Diesel Oil.

Amoung the possible reasons for engine problems is piston failure. It’s important to understand all of the issues surrounding piston failure should one encounter an engine problem that involves a failed piston.

Finding the reason for engine problems is essential in order to prevent future breakdowns. According to Bill Mirth, North American heavy-duty sales manager with the FP Diesel brand of Federal-Mogul Corp., if a piston is found to be at fault, it is critical to find out what caused the piston to fail.

It’s important to understand that very few pistons actually fail,” In truth, they are damaged by a faulty operating environment. These conditions commonly include lack of lubrication, abnormal combustion, the presence of debris within the engine, clearance issues that lead to physical contact between the piston and another part and operational issues such as over-reving or overloading the engine or improper shutdown.” Using the proper diesel oil will help this problem.

Viscosity is the measure of the internal friction of a fluid. The greater the friction, the greater the amount of force required to cause this movement, which is called “shear.” Shearing occurs whenever the fluid is physically moved or distributed, as in pouring, spreading, spraying, mixing, etc. Highly viscous fluids, therefore, require more force to move than less viscous materials.

Viscosity Index is defined as: The relationship of viscosity to temperature of a fluid.

High viscosity index fluids tend to display less change in viscosity with temperature than low viscosity index fluids. So generally speaking, oils with a viscosity index of better than 120, are the most stable, or least susceptible to change with temperature. The oils with a viscosity index below 120 are the most unstable or most susceptible to change with temperature. AMSOILs use of PAOs gives our products some of the highest viscosity index numbers possible. This translates to our products being very stable under extreme temperature changes, i.e. gas or diesel engines.

AMSOIL Diesel Oil has a high viscosity index.