Oils – what, which and why?

First things first – Composition.

Oils oil right?

Rewind 20-ish years ago and virtually all oils were mineral oils – basically refined crude oil! Nowadays we also have semi-synthetic and fully synthetic oils – these oils are often still from crude oil in some way shape or form but go through a specialist refining process where they are broken down to the molecular level to remove impurities and create special formulations and properties to protect your engine under certain conditions.

Our main supplier, Shell, even produce some oils from natural gas!

The next main and crucial difference is GRADE.

Oils are graded in a series of numbers – you’ve probably seen 5w30 on the bottle at some point!

Quite simply, the numbers refer to how thin the oil is, and even simpler the ‘w’ stands for winter temperature. So the first number is the thickness in the winter temperatures (or when you start the car from cold) and the second number is the thickness at 100 degrees centigrade.

The grade is arguably one of the most important aspects when choosing an oil – imagine the engine is designed to have a lovely thin flowing oil from the first turn of the key, yet you accidentally put in a thick heavy oil, now the oil can’t do its job properly meaning everything gets worn out!

Oil additives:

The ‘base oil’ is far from the only aspect you need to consider. Manufacturers add specially formulated packages of additives and detergents to your engine oil to maximise the engine life and keep everything clean!

Often you will see a vast majority of the cost is not in the oil itself but the additive package it contains!
It does get complicated when trying to pin down the exact category or grade but our friends at Shell have a great site to help you.

As you can see oil is not just oil!

We have always chosen to use the premium brand of oil by Shell Motor Oils, they offer some of the best additive packages ensuring your engine is in tip-top condition, and because of this our regularly serviced customers virtually never see oil-related failures on their engines! In our opinion, it’s worth choosing Shell as a tried and trusted brand to get the most out of your engine.

Cheaper often works out more expensive, and it’s true when it comes to oils!

If you’d like to find out more about oils, give us a ring on 01953 425983 or contact us online and we’ll be happy to help!