How Does an Automatic Transmission Work?
Great easy to understand article and informative video:
How does an automatic transmission work?
CLICK HERE
Saturday, January 25, 2020
Automatic Transmissions and How They Work
Great easy to understand article and informative video:
How does an automatic transmission work?
CLICK HERE
Motor Oil for Cold Weather
What Motor Oil is Best for Winter? (And Other Cold-Weather Questions)
Did you know that most wear occurs on cold engine start up before thick or frozen motor oil has had a chance to circulate? Synthetic motor oils are much more fluid in cold for immediate lubrication even when starting an engine in extreme cold.
Check out this great information on motor oils and cold weather.
Synthetic Motor Oil and Cold Weather
Friday, January 17, 2020
Motor Oil Color and Service Life
What Your Motor Oil Color Means
An object’s color can reveal a lot about its condition. A brown apple? Probably not great to eat. A slice of green bread? Same. What about motor oil color? Can your eyes provide insight into your oil’s suitability to protect your engine?
Does motor oil that’s turned black require changing?
Not necessarily. In this case, the oil’s color is a sign it’s doing its job.Oil naturally darkens during use for a couple reasons, including heat cycles. During your drive to work, your engine reaches normal operating temperature (typically 195ºF–220ºF [90ºC–104ºC]), heating the motor oil.
Then the oil cools while your car sits in the parking lot. The process repeats as you run errands over lunch and when you return home.
This continual daily exposure to increased heat naturally darkens the oil.
In addition, normal oxidation can darken oil.Oxidation occurs when oxygen molecules interact with oil molecules and cause chemical breakdown, just like how oxygen causes a cut apple to brown or iron to rust.
Soot also causes oil to turn black.
While we associate soot with diesels, today’s direct-injected gasoline engines can produce more soot than older diesels without exhaust-treatment devices. While individual soot particles are too small to cause engine wear, particles can agglomerate into larger wear-causing contaminants that can lead to wear before they lodge in the oil filter.
Just because the oil has darkened doesn’t necessarily mean it’s reached the end of its service life.
Motor oil contains detergent and dispersant additives designed to clean contaminants like soot and prevent them from depositing onto metal surfaces.Oil that has turned black is an indication the additives are doing their job. You can read more about that here.
What about motor oil that looks like chocolate milk?
In this case, motor oil color does reflect performance…and oil that looks like chocolate milk is bad. Very bad.Water or engine coolant have contaminated the oil, typically due to a head gasket leak.
We all know that water and oil don’t mix. When they combine in your engine, water droplets suspend in the oil and alter its appearance until it looks frothy or like chocolate milk.The presence of water leads to foam bubbles, which rupture when pulled between engine parts during operation, leaving metal components unprotected against wear.
It also forms sludge, which can clog oil passages and ruin the engine. In this case, see a mechanic as soon as possible.
What if my oil looks or feels thin?
While not related to motor oil color, this is another frequent question we field from motorists.Don’t take this the wrong way, but in this case go out to the garage and smell your dipstick.
Oil that has lost viscosity is often due to fuel dilution. You can usually smell gasoline or diesel fuel on the dipstick in such cases.
Fuel dilution occurs when gas or diesel wash past the piston rings and contaminate the oil in the sump. It reduces oil viscosity, which reduces the oil’s ability to prevent wear. It also leads to formation of harmful varnish and sludge.Fuel dilution can occur if you idle your engine excessively or due to a mechanical defect. It’s also common in some modern direct-injected engines.
It’s important to note that no one can precisely measure an oil’s viscosity simply by looking at it or rubbing a little between their fingers.
As Oil ANALYZERS INC. manager Allen Bender likes to ask, “When’s the last time you had your eyes calibrated?”Oil analysis in the only definitive way to determine the oil’s viscosity and whether it’s lost viscosity due to fuel dilution.
My oil feels gritty? Should I change it?
When checking oil level, some motorists like to rub oil between their fingers to check for particles.Grit or other contaminants can mean the oil has chemically broken down, but this is unlikely, especially with a top-shelf synthetic oil.
More likely, the oil filter has filled with contaminants and unfiltered oil is bypassing the filter and circulating through the engine.
The filter is designed with a bypass valve to ensure the engine receives oil even if the filter is full.While dirty oil is preferable to no oil, it’s not a long-term plan for success. In this case, change the oil and filter.
Trust oil analysis, not your eyes
While it’s possible to get a rough idea what’s going on inside your engine due to oil color, appearance or scent, you need to perform oil analysis to find out what’s really going on.By chemically analyzing a used-oil sample, a qualified lab can tell you if the oil contains excessive wear particles, water contamination, fuel dilution and more. Ultimately, the report will tell you if the oil is suitable for continued use or not.
It’s a cost-effective way to get the most out of your oil change…and your engine. Check out this post to see how to perform oil analysis.
The Need To Do Regular Oil Changes
Why Do I Need To Change My Oil?
Regardless of its quality, every motor oil eventually loses its potency and must be changed to ensure peak engine protection. Let’s take a look at what happens to motor oil over time and why you periodically need to change oil.
Losing the base
Base oils are the backbone of the finished lubricant that ends up in your engine. Over time, they lose effectiveness due to the following factors:Oxidation
The interaction between oxygen molecules and motor oil molecules naturally leads to chemical breakdown.Just as oxygen causes a cut apple to brown or exposed metal to rust, it breaks down base oils and reduces motor oil’s effectiveness.
Oxidation can lead to increased oil viscosity, which negatively affects energy efficiency. It also causes the formation of harmful deposits and sludge.
High heat
Today’s engines run hotter than ever before, with temperatures up to 235°F (113ºC), and even higher if towing or hauling.The rate of oxidation for oil doubles for every 18°F (10°C) increase in temperature.
Moisture
Your vehicle is subjected to temperature swings, even when it is parked in the garage.Those temperature swings cause condensation to form inside your engine, leading to water contamination.
Leaving a vehicle parked for extended periods or taking short trips that don’t allow the engine to fully warm up allow water to remain in the oil rather than evaporating and exiting through the tailpipe. Water can lead to formation of sludge…yet another reason why you must change oil.
Viscosity is a motor oil’s most important property. The lower the viscosity, the faster the oils flows, like water. Thicker oils flow more slowly, like honey.
Viscosity loss
A lubricant’s viscosity is its most important property.Viscosity has a direct bearing on wear protection, and your engine is designed to operate best using a motor oil of a specific viscosity (e.g. 5W-30).
The intense pressure the oil bears as it’s squeezed between moving parts, like the piston ring/cylinder wall interface, can tear apart, or shear, its molecular structure, leading to viscosity loss.
Suddenly, the 5W-30 motor oil your engine was designed to use is now essentially a 5W-20 oil, and wear protection may be compromised. When this happens, it’s time to change your oil.
Fuel dilution
Fuel can wash past the piston rings and contaminate the motor oil, causing it to lose viscosity.Frequent short trips that don’t allow the oil to reach normal operating temperature can be especially problematic because the fuel won’t volatilize and exit through the PCV system.
Excessive fuel dilution leads to sludge and varnish, requiring you to change oil more frequently.
Additives: designed to deplete
Additives are added to base oils to reduce destructive processes and enhance beneficial properties.For example, antioxidant additives help slow the rate of oxidation. Detergency additives help prevent deposits and sludge while cleaning pre-existing deposits. Formulators add anti-wear additives to some lubricants to form a sacrificial barrier on metal components and help prevent wear.
Since they’re sacrificial in nature, additive depletion is one of the primary reasons motor oil loses its effectiveness and must be changed.
While AMSOIL synthetic motor oil gives you the convenience of fitting oil changes into your schedule, it remains vital to install fresh oil at the appropriate time.Dual-Clutch Transmissions (DCT)
How Does a Dual-Clutch Transmission (DCT) Work?
A dual-clutch transmission (DCT) is synonymous with high performance. Compared to a traditional automatic transmission, it delivers…
- Faster, smoother shifts
- Increased fuel economy
- Improved performance
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| Although the DCT transmission dates to the 1930s, it made its first practical appearance decades later in several 1980s-era race cars.
In 2003, the Volkswagen Golf Mk4 R32 was the first production vehicle to feature the technology.
Today you can find a DCT in a variety of cars, from the relatively tame Hyundai Sonata to the brash, sexy Nissan GT-R.
How a DCT transmission works
DCTs are essentially two manual transmissions working in tandem.
One gear shaft contains the even-numbered gears, and the other contains the odd-numbered gears. While you’re accelerating in first gear, for example, the computer selects second gear on the other gear shaft. When it’s time to up-shift, the clutch that controls the even gears disengages and the clutch that controls the odd gears engages.
Compared to a traditional automatic transmission, gears shift much more quickly and smoothly in a DCT transmission – the perfect complement to a powerful, high-performance engine.
While DCTs are capable of seamless shifts, they can suffer from shudder or lurching at slow speeds.
Transmission fluid with specific frictional properties is required to prevent shudder. DCT fluid must also maintain the proper viscosity to provide protection during the high-heat operation native to high-performance sports sedans and supercars.
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| Buy AMSOIL DCT Fluid |
Protect the thrill
AMSOIL 100% Synthetic DCT Fluid is specifically engineered for sophisticated dual-clutch transmissions.
Its superior frictional properties protect against shudder and gear clashing to consistently produce fast, smooth shifts.
AMSOIL Synthetic DCT Fluid’s exceptional durability provides stability in stop-and-go traffic and excels under intense, high-heat conditions. Its built-in oxidation resistance helps prevent sludge formation in vital transmission parts.
Look up your vehicle
For more information on AMSOIL DCT Fluid click here.
For more information on AMSOIL Synthetic Lubricants click here.
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