Get To Know The Bad Guys In Your EngineInternal combustion of petrol with air gives your car the power to go further, but it also produces by-product harmful to your engine, clogging up the interior parts. These by-products are call soot, a type of black powder produced in combustion. On higher heat and RPM of most performance vehicle nowadays, engine oil of good quality is no longer a luxury treat for your Number 2 Darling. These type of good oil contain certain additives that help to reduce wear and tear, maintain viscosity and to suspend the soots.
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa158/hermandaz/swiftturbotimer3.jpgHow Bad Are The Bad Guys?
The oil become so saturated with soot and contaminants from prolonged used that they will build up and form sludge at the bottom of your engine. It increases the wear and tear inside the engine, resulting in less response on highways. Your morning start-up will be a nighmare too.
Protect Yourself From The Bad Guys
The bad guys are there all the time. They are by-product of combustion process with air and petrol. That means you can't get rid of them. All you can do is change your engine oil frequently so that sludge won't build up in your engine.
Oil Change IntervalSomebody will say "Okay, now I'm confused. How frequent is frequent? Give me some values. Numerical values."
Many people debate on the proper oil change interval. Those sitting at mamak stalls say 5000 km. Those sitting at kopitiam says 7500 km. Some kids down the block say 10 000 km on high quality synthetic oil. Which one is correct?
Of new car less than 1 year old which is still under manufacturer's warranty, it is advisable that you follow the manual book. A complete manual book comes with every new car purchased. (Look into the dashboard compartment if you don't see one in your car.) Each time you send your car for normal or severe service, there will be some markings and official verifications to show that you follow the maintenance schedule accordingly.
A routine check before you travel long distance reveals dirty black engine oil. It does not mean that you need to go to have the oil changed immediately. Modern engine oil, called detergent-engine oil works in a way that it suspends the soot and contaminant from the combustion process. That is why the oil is black in color. By following the manufacturer's recommendation, you will never go wrong because you change the oil long before the oil has become saturated with soot.
Anyway, both Malays and Chinese call them "black oil" in the own dialect.
However, maintenance schedule differs by country, even for the same car. A Nissan Latio in USA and a Nissan Latio in Kuala Lumpur have different service regime and package. This is because of difference in quality of fuel used in both countries. Have you learnt in high-school that petroleum extracted from Malaysian reservoir contains less sulphur? Come on, recall the facts!
For cars relieved from warranty, here comes the tricky part. You can still follow the recommendation from car manufacturer, but with a longer service interval of course. Comes this tricky part, it all follows your money. From my conversations with a few of my mechanic buddy, they recommend 5000 km service interval for any car less than 10 year old.
Personally, I go for 7500 km on semi-synthetic Shell Helix Plus. If you are with your car for some time, you can notice the deviation from its real performance, especially while overtaking other vehicles on highway. Over time, a far deviation from its real performance rings the bell. It's time to change the engine oil.
Shell Helix Plus made a hole in my pocket for every oil change, making me RM 90.00 poorer and that is excluding oil filter, spark plugs and workmanship. For your information, I am driving a Proton Iswara 1.3 Manual, clocking approximately 148 000 km from 11 years of service life.
On what the numbers and alphabet printed on engine oil packaging means, let me quote from Shell Malaysia's website.
Below the word ULTRA, note 5W-30. It means the oil is able to maintain their performance in high and low temperature. The first number (followed by "W" for Winter, not Weight) indicates the oil viscosity under low temperatures. The second and higher number indicates the oil viscosity under greater temperatures. Most modern engine oils such as Shell Helix Ultra are multi-grade, which minimizes the viscosity differences under temperature variations. The higher the number, the thicker the oil. However,there is no such thing that the thicker the oil is, the better it is. Using oil which is too thick for your car can clog up the bearing clearances.
Normally the lower the first digit in gradation ,the higher the price is. 0W-30 is certainly more expensive than 5W-30 due to quantity of base stock. Mechanics will tell you that the lower the front digit, the thinner and the lighter the oil is, resulting in easy morning start-up and powerful acceleration. This is true though.
Ehem, girl drivers..don't get yourself cheated by dishonest mechanics. They might put mono-grade SAE 30 oil in your car engine and say "This is very very good" and charge you a whopping RM 90.00 for it. My quick and reflexive response will be "Fcuk you mister mechanic! Monograde SAE oil is not for use in modern passenger vehicles. Possibly lawn mowers!"
Exclusive car such as Bimmers, Benz and Volvo require more stringent service schedule. Some generous owner send their cars in, even at 3000 km. This is due to misconception that exclusive vehicles are heavier hence the engine is stressed up more compared to normal sedans. A service bill exceeding RM2000.00 is considered normal on a new E-class Benz. Well, I don't know. Rich men have deep pockets. Any Bimmers, Benz or Volvo owners reading my blog post?
