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- Clean running engine
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- catastrophic-engine-failure
When one goes to purchase engine oil for their car, how do you know which one is correct? Or for that matter, how would you know if the lubrication joint used the proper engine oil? There are so many different quality ratings for the various levels of slipperiness of oils which are rated by the API Service (American Petroleum Institute). They include such catagories as SG/CD, SA, SM, SF, SB, SE, SC, just to list a few options.
Click Here For an API Engine Oil Ratings PDF File. 'courtesy API'.
The API site is full of engine oil answers and information regarding every aspect of oil.
The chart is confusing anyway, to simplify the matter, the letter combination’s are the performance ratings from the American Petroleum Institute. If you have a 1993 ford with a 4.9 liter engine, the best oil made at that time was rated SG. Therefore that is what Ford called for. Newer more stable and slippery oils have designations such as SM which is the best performing oil as of today.
As a matter of interest, oil designations that start with S are for gasoline engines, and those that start with a C are for diesel engines. No matter what year or make, use the best oils available that are recommended by the manufacturer. This is not a good area to save money, oils nowadays have a tremendous job to do with the extra heat and contaminants from the combustion process generated by modern hi-efficiency engines.
Realistically speaking, it certainly is not in the best interest of a company that sells engines to expound on the virtues of better maintenace, but quality company’s such as GotEngines.com know that success comes from information/education. We want our readers and customers to know that you are welcome to visit our GotEngines.com/blog or call anytime for engine advise.
One last thing, a question I get asked a lot is why use a synthetic engine oil? What is the difference in regular oils and synthetic? I’ll touch on this in our next post. It is a story in itself. Enjoy.
[...] Way, ICE’s produces lots of heat, which is a by product of compression and this is where the correct engine oil is of great benefit in your engine lifespan, and a well maintained cooling system is imperative [...]