It's all in the Formulation

It’s All in the Formulation

In the early days of automotive lubrication, motor oil was just plain base oil.  When wax modifier was added to the base oil in the 1930s  to address the problems created by wax residue, the motor oil additive market was born.  Today, motor oils contain a wide variety of additives designed to improve their protection and performance capabilities.   Motor oil additives serve three essential functions:  protecting metal surfaces, expanding the lubricant’s application range and extending the lubricant’s life.

SURFACE PROTECION OIL ADDITIVES

Surface protection additives effectively address issues related to metal surfaces:

Performance Additives

A second group of additives serves to improve the lubricant’s  performance:

Protection Additives

A third group of additives works to extend the service life of the lubricant.

      eliminating free radical reactions.

Combining the industry’s premier synthetic technology with AMSOIL premium additives, AMSOIL synthetic motor oils exceed the high performance demands of modern engines, effectively withstanding the stress of higher horsepower, higher heat and complicated emission control systems.  AMSOIL synthetic motor oils consistently outperform competitive conventional and synthetic motor oils for superior protection and performance over extended drain intervals.  Check out the online application guide to find the AMSOIL synthetic motor oil and oil filter for your application.

Drive train Lubricants

Although gear oil faces many of the same challenges as motor oil, it also has additional responsibilities, such as carrying damaging wear debris away from contact zones and muffing the sound of gear operation.  Gear oils are placed under extreme are placed under extreme levels of pressure, often leading to boundary lubrication conditions (when a full fluid film does not exist between surfaces).  Differentials in cars and trucks feature a ring-and-pinion hypoid gear set that can experience boundary lubrication, pressures and sliding action that can wipe most of the lubricant off the gears.  Extreme-pressure additives are added to the gear oil in order to provide additional protection within this extreme environment.

Additional challenges faced by gear oils include rust and corrosion protection.  Because many of the components found in the drive train consist of ferrous material, drive trains are more susceptible to rust and corrosion than engines.

  Gear sets found in the drive train can be noisy and may be subjected to shock loading conditions.  The viscosity and extreme pressure formulation of gear oil quiets gears and dissipates shock loading.

  The rotating motion of gear sets churns the gear lube, subjected it to foaming and significantly reduced load carrying capacity.  When gear teeth come into contact with each other, trapped air bubbles compress and reduce the thickness of the separating oil film, leading to direct metal-to-metal contact and increased wear levels.  Only the air is compressible, the oil is not.  The gear oil must have the ability to dissipate this entrapped air, ensuring a sufficient lubricating film exists to protect the gears from contact wear.

  Want more information about AMSOIL motor oils or gear lubes or a look at our other products?  Order one of our free catalogs or look up the AMSOIL products for your vehicle on AMSOL online application guide.