20 Apr, 2024

How to Choose the Best Engine Oil for Your Car

Wear and tear due to friction, overheating, and lack of adequate lubrication will lead to reduced performance, recurrent defects, and low fuel efficiency. Besides impacting the life of the car significantly. Moreover, the resale value of the car in the used car market might go down significantly. It is essential to replace engine oil in the stated periodicity without fail.

Many a time it happens that people change the engine oil without considering the specification. Engine oils of different viscosity and other specs are available in the market. The engine oil of low viscosity can cause increased friction and the components would wear out quicker than they should. It will not have much effect in cooling down the bearings. At the same time, the highly viscous engine oil will result in reduced performance of the vehicle.
In addition to the above, engine oil leaks will lead to the draining of the fluid completely. And would result in engine seizure. These all factors point to the necessity to choose the best engine oil for the car.

Types of Car Engine Oil

Synesthetic oil, semi-synthetic oil, and mineral oil are the three basic classifications of engine oil. You should understand these three types and their differences prior to buying engine best engine oil for your car. Normally people leave it to the car servicing center to replenish engine oil. The car owner will not be aware of the type of engine oil filled. It is okay, only if the car servicing center is a reliable one. Even so, you should confirm the type of engine oil filled and its specifications to the maintenance supervisor.

• Mineral Oil: Mineral oil is derived from petroleum. Most of the old car models use mineral engine oil. The service life of mineral engine oils is less and hence has to be changed frequently. The low oxidation stability is another disadvantage of this oil.
  
• Synthetic Oil: Synthetic engine oil is considered ideal for Indian cars. This type of engine oil is prepared by mixing synthetic fluids. It has much more service life than mineral oil and is suitable for high-performance vehicles.
• Semi-synthetic Oil: Semi-synthetic engine oil is cheap like mineral oil and performs like synthetic oil. Having the pros of both types of oils, semi-synthetic engine oil might be best for your car. At the same time, the car’s performance and how protective the engine oil functions would differ depending on the car model and make.
   
  

Choosing the Best Engine Oil for Your Car

We are elaborating here on a few factors to check out while choosing the engine oil for your car. The car’s manual would be stating the basic specs about the engine oil to be used. Hence, it is not a complex task to pick the best engine oil for your car.

• Engine oil grade: Before going ahead with the selection process of engine oil, confirm the grade of the engine oil to be used in the car. The car manual will have the specification of the grade of the engine oil.  Subsequent steps would give you a fair idea about reading and understanding this grade specification.
• Standard: The engine oil grade would specify the standard of the oil to be filled, based on the American standard. The American Petroleum Institute (API) standard is the normally followed one. SL, SM, SN, and SJ are abbreviations indicating different standards.
• Viscosity: The thickness of the engine oil is of paramount importance. It should be neither high nor low. The car manufacturer would suggest the engine oil viscosity according to the climatic conditions, the car’s engine specs, etc. Vehicles used in cold regions normally use low-viscosity engine oil and vice versa in tropical climatic conditions.  
  

 
Read to know: Winter Car Care Tips: Simple & Effective Methods

Usage of High Mileage Engine Oil

Automobile specialists advise switching to high-mileage engine oil once the car has clocked above 75,000 km. The basic reason for this suggestion is the specific additives contained in this type of engine oil. Those additives clean up the sludge accumulated inside the engine and thus boosts fuel economy.
 Further, the high mileage engine oil is specially manufactured to improve the life of the engine. Containing exclusive additives it keeps the engine healthy.
 

Replacement of the Engine Oil

The engine oil in your car must be replaced at the stipulated periodicity. This is the case even if you are not driving the car much. It must be noted that engine oil has life-based on the calendar, as well as kilometers, run. The quality and performance of the oil would go down after the specified calendar life. Hence, you must remove the misconception from your mind and replace the oil as and when it falls due, even if you are not driving the car.
 
Also Read: How to extend the life of your car?

Mixing Mineral Engine Oil with Synthetic Engine Oil

Mixing mineral engine oil with synthetic engine oil is a good option. Nonetheless, it would not give performance as a semi-synthetic oil.

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