THE MANY USES OF AUTOMOTIVE LUBRICANTS

The term automotive lubricants is a broad term that can represent various automotive products. Automotive lubricants are essential for protecting and extending the life of the most costly parts of your car or truck. However, using the incorrect lubricant for the wrong goal can be destructive and costly.

Are you familiar with the many automotive lubricants and their varying uses? If not – or if you require a refresher, we’ve split it down for you!

First off, we will discuss the most typical automotive lubricant. Can you imagine what it is? That’s right . . .

ENGINE OIL

Engine oil is specifically designed to assist avoid foaming and guard against the engine deteriorating and rusting over time. It is, therefore, an essential part of regular vehicle maintenance. Engine oil is changed through routine oil changes and is occasionally referred to as motor oil.

This is the type of automotive lubricant that you would most frequently see utilised in vehicles.

It comprises base oils that have been upgraded with various additives, including viscosity index improvers for multi-grade oils, detergents, and antiwear additives. Internal combustion motors are lubricated using motor oil.

Motor oil’s primary purposes are to lessen wear on moving parts and to clean the engine of varnish and sludge.

It also neutralizes acids from fuel and oxidation of the lubricant, improves the sealing of piston rings, and cools the engine by carrying heat away from moving parts.

AUTOMOTIVE GREASE

There are many other types of lubricants, but there are also multiple uses for automotive oil. The most common is wheel-bearing grease, which comes in standard and high-temperature formats—wheel-bearing grease functions in steering and suspension to prevent wear and tear. Audible squeaking can often be attended to when grease is required, and it is often used by attaching a grease gun to grease fittings. In addition to wheel-bearing grease, there are waterproof greases for metal-to-metal joints and electronic greases that won’t conduct electricity for electrical connections.

Automotive grease comprises three main components. 

They are: 

• Base oil
• Thickener 
• Additives

The base oil is composed of synthetic oil made up of a metallic soap that may contain lithium, polyurea.

Meanwhile, oil additives make it feasible for automotive grease to perform different functions other than lubrication. 

Let’s bring a peek at what automotive oil accomplishes. 

GEAR OIL

When lubrication is required at extremely high temperatures, such as in a manual transmission, car differential, gear oil is utilised. Gear oil has a greater viscosity, somewhere around 75. Therefore, industrial gear oil is more suitable for high-temperature situations due to its thicker consistency.

This oil is generally utilised for transmissions, transfer points, and differentials in automobiles, trucks, and other machinery.

Gear oil usually has an increased viscosity and contains intense pressure (EP) additives that consist of phosphorus-sulfur mixes to cope with the sliding movement of hypoid bevel gears and combat wear.

Greases

Grease is used in the rest and steering joints to stop any premature wear and tear. It is made from petroleum and thickeners. The lubricating grease can be petroleum or synthetic and can change viscosity.

Additionally, antiwear and extreme pressure additives can be added to formulate greases for specific applications, such as high-speed bearings, very cold or very hot conditions, open gears, extreme loads or high moisture conditions, to name a few.

Thickeners can be combined or formulated with additional chemicals to produce more complex thickeners for specific applications requiring a high tolerance for extremely high temperatures, like disc brakes in some vehicles that use this type of grease for their wheel bearings.

TRANSMISSION OIL

Transmission oil is a brilliantly coloured oil that helps to keep your transmission running smoothly. It accomplishes this by performing some tasks, such as lubricating, cooling, safeguarding, and conditioning the transmission and all its moving parts. The bright colouration of information fluid makes it effortless to detect leaks so that you can keep your transmission operating smoothly.

An automatic transmission lubricates the moving parts and provides hydraulic pressure and friction to make the internal parts work. Transmission fluid in both manual and automated transmissions also helps to keep the information cool. 

Shifting gears is a strenuous task for a car, and transmission fluid allows a vehicle to shift easily without wearing down its parts. While manual massage oil or fluid has existed in some shape or form since the advent of automobiles, automatic transmission fluid was developed in the 1940s and has played an essential role in cars ever since.