You have seen 10W-30, 5W-20, and the like. These products are one grade or viscosity (or weight) when cold and another when warm. But when you go to start it on a cold winter morning, that 30-weight oil is considerably thicker and has a hard time moving when you turn the key.Įnter “multi-weight” oil. Well, 30-weight oil will work perfectly well when your engine is warmed up. Say your engine needs 30-weight oil when it is running at operating temperature. Or you could say it gets thicker when it cools down. Why is this important? Because oil gets thinner as it heats up. But if your car has been sitting all night, the difference in temperature can be very different from one season to another. The engine is still warm and so is the oil. When your engine is running at operating temperature, it does not matter too much if it is summer or winter. Straight-weight oils come in a wide range of viscosities.īut your car operates (ostensibly) in a wide range of temperatures. SAE50 is higher viscosity (thicker) than SAE40, and so on. Straight-weight oils are lubricants that have a set viscosity, a single grade. Many years ago, straight-weight motor oils were common. What is the difference between “straight-weight” and “multi-weight” (multi-viscosity) oil? So, SAE30 oil is also 30-weight, and both describe the oil’s viscosity or thickness. Each of these words are used interchangeably when people talk about motor oil. Thinner oils flow faster than thicker oils, and engineers design engines to work with a certain grade of oil.įor all practical purposes, the terms “grade” and “viscosity” refer to the same thing with motor oil. The higher the number, the thicker the oil. You might be familiar with terms such as “30-weight” or “10W-30” oil. Oil grades relate to an oil product’s performance at operating temperature (about 212 degrees Fahrenheit in your engine). Viscosity is the ability of a liquid to resist flow – how thick it is. Motor oil grades are a scale developed by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) to describe the viscosity of oil. To start with, we should clear up some confusion over motor oil (also called “engine oil”) terminology. When it comes to motor oil, what is a “grade”? With all of the options available when it is time to purchase motor oil, how do you decide what to buy? Should you go for a particular brand? Or a certain type? Is conventional oil just as good as synthetic? Is one grade of oil better than another? And what does “grade” even mean? Let’s take a look at some commonly asked questions about motor oil and see if the answers can clear up some confusion.
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