Oil additives: reviews. All types of car oil additives

2024 Author: Erin Ralphs | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-19 11:42

Any self-respecting motorist at least once in his life thought about the mixtures that are added to the oil to improve its properties. In order to understand what oil additives are, you first need to understand how important fuels and lubricants are for your car.

Physics of engine wear

Without exception, all propulsion systems are subject to wear as a result of friction that occurs during the operation of the entire mechanism. The temperature rises, and this leads to the heating of the metal parts that make up the working part of any mechanism. Ultimately, destruction occurs.

As a rule, the valves and pistons of an internal combustion engine are most affected. To reduce wear, the design includes an oil circuit: a closed and sealed system that contains the lubricant. Under pressure, it runs through the system, enveloping and cooling all the rubbing and moving mechanisms of the engine.

Mineral oil

It is conditionally possible to divide oils into twothe main categories that are most often used in a modern car. The first group is mineral lubricants. Most often, this oil has a high viscosity. Experts recommend using them in older engines with a carburetor injection system, as well as on diesel units.

The use of this particular type of oil is also determined by the frequency of operation of the main engine shafts. If the design assumes that the main work process is not associated with high speeds, the temperature conditions to which engine systems are subject are quite low. Therefore, the lubricant must have increased viscosity and ductility. Experienced drivers claim that gear oil additives should be used to improve these properties.

Synthetic oils

The second group is synthetic oils that are used in modern engines with fuel injection. They are used in high-speed motors, where metal components are subject to critical temperature conditions.

According to experts and motorists, both groups have both advantages and disadvantages. Learning about the negative qualities of oils as they are used, any average car owner tries to neutralize them to one degree or another.

Oil additives - good or bad?

It is to improve the properties of lubricants that oil additives are needed. Let's try to figure out whether they really improve engine performance or still negatively affect its technical condition. Disputes are ongoingever since these blends were born.

To understand the essence of the issue, you need to understand what oil additives exist, their varieties and purpose. To begin with, I would like to clarify that we will consider exactly those used by ordinary car owners, and reviews of which we are most often interested in.

The main task of any type of additive is not only to improve the quality of the oil, but also to change for the better the main performance indicators of the engine. Some additives in oil (reviews of almost all experts confirm this) really have a positive effect on its operation.

Reduce oil consumption

Today the market offers a fairly large segment of supplements. The most common types that all users talk about and respond positively to are engine oil additives designed to reduce its consumption. Very often, when oil scraper piston rings fail, oil consumption increases. It is extremely difficult to deal with this phenomenon. As a rule, the final elimination of such a defect can only be achieved by replacing these rings when disassembling the engine.

But even a novice car owner understands that the described procedure is very expensive. According to experienced car mechanics, the easiest way to get rid of excess oil consumption is to top it up as you use it. However, it also does not optimize your budget. In addition, you will have to constantly carry a can of oil with you.

This is where viscosity additives to oils come to the rescue, designed toreduce lubricant consumption. It does this by increasing the viscosity of the fluid.

At the same time, motorists note the fact that when the engine is running in the summer, this type of additive, which every oil and additive plant produces, can cause quite significant harm due to elevated ambient temperatures.

Additives change the properties of the oil

A rather serious problem is the so-called "wear and tear" effect of oil on metal parts of the engine. In other words, sometimes the composition of the liquid changes so much that it spoils the metal with its ingredients.

This can be avoided by using the second type of additive: antiwear. As a result of adding them to the engine, a special protective film is formed, designed to protect metal parts from excessive friction. There are many conflicting opinions about the use of such an additive in oil. Reviews of opponents of its use boil down to the fact that, as in the case of the viscosity type, the chemical elements that make up the additive significantly affect the original formula of automotive oil. With prolonged use, this leads to the destruction of the main elements of the motor.

Oil oxidation

It is impossible not to note another problem associated with the long-term use of automotive oil. As a result of possible leaks in the system, the oil oxidizes over time. If we do not pay attention to this, then we get the same change in the chemical composition.

To avoid this, experts recommend gear oil additives called antioxidants. These compounds are added to prevent the occurrence of chemical reactions associated with the primary oxidation processes. It is believed that the use of antioxidant additives significantly extends the life of automotive oil.

But, according to motorists, the result of using such mixtures is small: "to clear the conscience", as they say. Your oil, even with high technological wear, remains light. Maybe that's why some car owners add such additives to the engine before selling their car, significantly saving on oil changes.

Detergent additives

A fairly common type of oil additives are detergents or detergents (they are produced in a wide range by the Novokuibyshevsk Oils and Additives Plant). Their main purpose is to prevent the deposition of harmful impurities on those parts of the engine that are exposed to the most severe thermal effects (for example, such as cylinder grooves). According to experts, such additives have a positive effect on the internal surfaces of the engine, protecting them from the appearance of pollution and tar deposits.

These impurities are successfully used in cars with high mileage (precisely because of the qualities listed above). But professionals emphasize that, as a rule, these additives do not have preventive properties. And do not add them to new units.

Disperse additives

As a result of the use of various impurities, by-products in the form of hard tars and dirt are sometimes formed. To stop and remove them, there are dispersed anti-friction additives in oil.

The use of such additives is desirable only in older power units. The engine is subject to corrosion. Closed metal surfaces located inside are especially affected by this. But due to the similarity of the main properties of the impact with anti-wear mixtures, such additives are used extremely rarely.

Mineral oil additives

If all types of automotive oil additives listed above are universal, then the next one is exclusively for mineral-based motor lubricants. We are talking about antifreeze additives designed to maintain the fluidity of mineral oils at low temperatures (from -15°C to -45°C). Extreme pressure additives are in rather high demand in the oil mixture market: they ensure the operation of mechanisms under heavy loads. The principle of their operation is to reduce the frictional torque of the metal surfaces of the engine by increasing the sliding properties of the lubricant.

This type of additive is actively used by motorists in pre-sale preparation. There is an opinion that when demonstrating a car, it is precisely a sharp and long pressing of the accelerator that produces a positive effect on the buyer.impression. Fiction or not, history is silent, but the use of such additives in forced engines is an indisputable fact that does not require proof.

Antifoamy Domesi

It is impossible to ignore another type of home mixtures produced by the Novokuibyshevsk Oils and Additives Plant. These are anti-foam additives. They are classified as detergents, and they serve to eliminate the unpleasant consequences of using more powerful mixtures. The usual detergent additive, in addition to a possible chemical change in the composition of the oil, also acts on the lubricant in much the same way as soap on water, that is, there is the possibility of foaming. According to car mechanics, antifoam additives should only be used when a change in oil composition is visually detected.

The question of the use of additives for oil, each motorist must decide for himself, because their use can equally well and badly affect the operation of your car.