How to Choose Motor Oil for your Vehicle
Of all the mobile lubricants in your vehicle, motor oil is likely the most important. It will protect your engine from excessive wear and help ensure it will last as long as possible. There are many different types of motor oils to choose from, however, and it is important to pick the right one. In order to make sure you get the mobile lubricant you need for your engine, you need to know a little bit about the different types of oil, and which ones will work best in your vehicle. Each vehicle will have a range of different oils that it can use, and that range will be listed in your owner’s manual. Just open the book, and find the page about engine oil to see the full list.
Understanding the Identifiers …show more content…
You will likely see a number such as ‘10W-40’ or something similar. The number just before the W is used to identify how thick the oil is during the winter. The number that comes after the W is the thickness of the oil once it has been warmed up. This is why it is often better to use a different type of oil during the colder months of the year. In cold weather, you want to choose a number before the W that is as low as your vehicle will accept.
Synthetic vs. Traditional
Another important thing to consider is whether you want synthetic motor oil, or an oil that is made only with traditional petroleum products. Synthetic oils perform better under most extreme situations, such as very hard driving, or extreme temperatures. If you are not driving in these situations, however, you will likely want to save money by just getting the traditional oils, as they will provide more than enough protection for your vehicle.
Diesel vs.
Of all the mobile lubricants in your vehicle, motor oil is likely the most important. It will protect your engine from excessive wear and help ensure it will last as long as possible. There are many different types of motor oils to choose from, however, and it is important to pick the right one. In order to make sure you get the mobile lubricant you need for your engine, you need to know a little bit about the different types of oil, and which ones will work best in your vehicle. Each vehicle will have a range of different oils that it can use, and that range will be listed in your owner’s manual. Just open the book, and find the page about engine oil to see the full list.
Understanding the Identifiers …show more content…
You will likely see a number such as ‘10W-40’ or something similar. The number just before the W is used to identify how thick the oil is during the winter. The number that comes after the W is the thickness of the oil once it has been warmed up. This is why it is often better to use a different type of oil during the colder months of the year. In cold weather, you want to choose a number before the W that is as low as your vehicle will accept.
Synthetic vs. Traditional
Another important thing to consider is whether you want synthetic motor oil, or an oil that is made only with traditional petroleum products. Synthetic oils perform better under most extreme situations, such as very hard driving, or extreme temperatures. If you are not driving in these situations, however, you will likely want to save money by just getting the traditional oils, as they will provide more than enough protection for your vehicle.
Diesel vs.