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Facts About Synthetic Motor Oil
Synthetic motor oil is a substitute lubricant for petroleum-based motor oils. There are advantages and disadvantages to using this synthetic oil in your vehicle.
Oil in a Motor
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Every engine needs some kind of oil to lubricate its moving parts. Otherwise the friction generated by these moving parts' rubbing and scraping against each other can generate heat that can wreck an engine by warping, melting or breaking critical parts. A motor oil, whether synthetic or petroleum-based, is formulated to keep all moving parts of the engine lubricated for minimum amount of time that varies by the type of vehicle you drive.
Description of Synthetic Motor Oil
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Synthetic motor oil is a lab-created blend of chemicals used for lubricating an engine. In general, these chemicals are derived from substances other than petroleum.
Advantages of Synthetic Oil
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Synthetic motor oil is designed by engineers and chemists to have several key characteristics that make it a desirable choice over petroleum motor oil. Generally, synthetic oils are resistant to extremely high temperatures that can cause petroleum-based oils to break down. Synthetic oils also have a lower freezing temperature, which means they can keep lubricating engines even at extremely low temperatures. Synthetic oil can last up to three times as longer as petroleum based oil, which saves on oil changes but also reduces the impact on the environment. Synthetic oil also offers less resistance to the moving parts of the engine, allowing them to move faster while expending less energy. This can boost engine horsepower slightly without using more gas.
Disadvantages of Synthetic Oil
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The process of making synthetic motor oil is more difficult than the making of petroleum oils. This means that synthetic oils often cost twice as much. Since the oil typically lasts longer, most drivers can avoid spending more for synthetic oil, but most drivers change their oil every three months or every 3,000 to 5,000 miles, regardless of what oil they use. Still, a vehicle can go 10,000 to 20,000 miles without an oil change on synthetic oil, depending on driving conditions.
Bad Reputation
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Early synthetic motor oils had some problems that gave them a bad name. Manufacturers of these early oils miscalculated how much the synthetics would swell seals. This caused seals to shrink and oil leaked through seals and made a mess of the engines.
Blends
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Many manufacturers actually sell blends of synthetic and petroleum oils to blend the different qualities of the two types of oil and also to reduce the cost, since mineral-based oils are much cheaper to produce.
eHow Article: Facts About Synthetic Motor Oil
