In for the Long Haul

Most automotive components last much longer these days when compared to a automotive technology of decade or two ago. Volkswagen, for example, used to award a gold watch to owners who clocked 60,000 miles without a major repair. Today, that distance is covered without a plug change and consumers expect reliable performance into the 200,000 kilometer range. Engine oil, however, seems trapped in the 5000-kilometer range in terms of consumer life expectancy. That’s changing, however, as European OEM’s are specifying extended drain intervals that require very specific engine lubes to take the strain.

Why is it so difficult to engineer an engine lube that lasts as long as, for example, spark plugs? Plugs, like most engine components, do one or two things at most. For plugs, it’s ignite the fuel/air mixture and transfer some combustion chamber heat to the engine coolant. For engine lubes, they must reduce friction, limit wear, inhibit corrosion, clean internal engine parts, seal housings and boost compression as well as aid in engine cooling. Several manufacturers have cracked the problem, but why extend the drain interval at all when existing “commodity” oils are so cheap?

The trend towards longer drain intervals gathered steam on the other side of the Atlantic, and shows no signs of letting up. According to Valvoline Canada marketing manager Dennis Favaro, “In Europe, it’s driven by environmental concerns. Manufacturers there have product stewardship issues that make then responsible for their products from cradle to grave. Extended drain intervals are one way to reduce the amount of engine oil in the waste stream.” Favaro notes that in addition to the primary functions of lubrication, cleansing, protecting and cooling, OEM’s are turning to engine lubrication as an area where they can squeeze improvements in emissions and fuel mileage. “The changes from ILSAC GF3 to GF4 and API SL to SM, offer better fuel economy and emissions compatibility. Tougher mileage and emissions standards have driven the new specifications. OEM’s turn to oil companies to help get them over the bar. It’s a lot to ask of an engine oil.”

Is there any advantage to using very high-tech oils in ordinary engines? Dave Wolman, president, Motul USA relates: “If you’re a major player in the quick lube industry, the recommended interval is 5000 kilometers. If people are used to changing at 5000 kilometers and you buy two-dollar per litre oil, the additive package will meet just that mileage. But consider the possibility that a thermostat can stick, a hose can came off, or other cooling system issues and it’s an advantage to know that the oil can withstand the greater temperature.” Wolman notes that very high-end oils can survive temperature that would see valve guides pull out of the cylinder heads.

According to Dr. Clinton Smith, technical advisor to the lubricants and specialties research department at Imperial Oil, “You have to look at the engine as a system. People don’t appreciate the importance of the filter. When you consider the possibility of diesels with change intervals of 50,000 kilometers, you need to use synthetic filters. For European oils, they can be 18 dollars a litre. That should give you a feeling that they’re different from the 3 dollar a litre oils. For passenger cars, they have to build the filter to live that long. It’s not just a matter of building the oils better.”

What are the major killers of engine oils? Dr. Smith explains: “Oxidation and contaminant loading. It’s about the reserve capacity and the ability of the oil to suspend sludges and contaminants. The good news is that the dispersants are extremely effective. On the diesel side they can suspend up to 7 percent soot. You’re probably not going to use up all of that capacity. What’s probably limiting the life isn’t really the reserve of antioxidant and soot, its abrasive silica. It’ s primarily dust, with some metals from the engine. That’s why it’s important to have a good filter. The best way to handle that is to change the oil.

Don’t know whether your customer’s engine can use an extended drain regime? Common sense should be your guide. Valvoline’s Favaro states: “We recommend consulting the owner’s manual, or change at 5000 kilometers. The new GM Oil Life system actually uses sensors to detect the condition of the oil; the earlier system only counted crankshaft revolutions. No engine was ever damaged by changing oil early.”

Explaining the benefits to a possibly skeptical consumer is another challenge. Blu Lubricant’s Pietro Passarelli (ELF) explains: “There are two ways to look at it. One is as a requirement that’s mandated by the original equipment manufacturer, be it a Volkswagen, Porsche, BMW or Mercedes, and the other is as an upsell.” Passarelli notes that the key to making a premium-priced oil a must have for value conscious consumers is to have a good working knowledge of the benefits that premium oils deliver. “It’s a culmination of a little bit of knowledge on the part of the distributor, installer and the customer,” he says, adding, “one of the things we stress is knowledge. Part of the responsibility of the supplier is to impart that knowledge through the supply chain to the installer.”

Do you need to install super premium oils in your customer’s engine? As Dave Wolman states, it’s not really about ‘need’: “The old saying is that you get what you pay for. It holds true with oil. Usually with a high tech oil, and you can prove it with tests, it’s always the benefit of knowing that if something happens, the higher quality product can handle it. I like to think of it as the difference between margarine and olive oil. What would you rather have in your crankcase?”

In the end, installers and customers alike may not have a choice. “We’re seeing it (the popularity of extended drain oils) expand to the North American manufacturers like General Motors”, states Pietro Passarelli. “It’s being driven by the OEM’s and by ILSAC, the International Lubricant Specification and Licensing Committee.” With global OEM’s and global standards committees driving the change, it’s a good bet that future oils will be higher-priced, but last longer.

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IT’S IN THE ADDITIVES

A high quality base stock is essential to a quality motor oil, but it takes lots of additional chemistry to give the lube the properties needed for survival in modern engines. According to ELF, the seven most important parts of the additive package break down like this:

Anti-oxidant additives help prevent the oil from oxidizing over time, conserving its properties.

Anti-foam additives stop the oil from foaming when the engine is running and prevent the oil pump to fail.

Anti-wear additives make the oil more resistant to wear by reducing friction, helping to prolong engine life.

Anti-rust additives help protect the engine against corrosion in periods when the vehicle is not in use, preventing the premature ageing of the engine.

Viscosity-enhancing additives increase the viscosity of oil in cold conditions, and also enhance viscosity at high temperatures to ensure that the engine is correctly lubricated.

Detergent additives prevent the accumulation of impurities, helping the engine to stay clean and perform as designed.

Extreme pressure additives increase the film strength of the oil to protect it against rupture.

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WHAT’S A SYNTHETIC OIL?

There’s a common belief in the automotive world that “synthetic” oils are based on complex hydrocarbons that are lab-made, not pumped out of the ground as crude oil. In fact, many “synthetic” oils are made from conventional petroleum base stocks, but have been highly processed. This confusion in the market, combined with a lawsuit in the U.S. between the manufacturers of Castol Syntec and Mobil One has resulted in a market where some oils use a “Group 3” hydrotreated base stock (petroleum-based) while a few use a synthesized “Group 4” base stock, usually labelled as “polyalphaolefins” or PAO. While only Group 4 base stock oils are truly synthetic, the ability to chemically process petroleum Group 3 oils makes them suitable for very high performance applications. A common process is called “hydrotreating”, where the base oil is pressurized and heated (700 F and 3000 p.s.i) in a stainless-steel chamber (whose walls can be a foot thick) with a catalyst. The idea is to “saturate” the hydrocarbon chains with hydrogen, driving off impurities like nitrogen and sulfur and making the hydrocarbons themselves much more uniform. The product that comes out of the reactor is as crystal clear as clean water and is extremely pure. When blended with the right additives, motor oils made with this process are commonly marketed as “synthetic”. Does it matter? For stock engines, probably not, since the OEM’s specification drives the oil choice, not the origin of its base stock. True synthetic or not, the ILSAC spec, API “donut” and manufacturer’s approval mean that the oil will work as intended, advertising claims notwithstanding.