How Technology Can Be Used to Maintain Your Car’s Oil
These days, technology seems to have gotten involved with almost every aspect of life. Driving is no different, and there are several ways that mechanics are using technological breakthroughs to manage engine oil. Some of these are quite obvious and have a large impact on the process of changing your automobile’s oil.
Automakers, for instance, rely on electrical sensors to monitor the temperature and level of oil that acts as a lubricant. If a car’s onboard computer system senses levels that are outside of predefined standards, then it sends out a warning. Originally, this only ever came in the form of a check engine light. Developments in recent years have enabled car dashboards to present a wide array of information to drivers. That being said, a greater amount of research is happening in the field of oil production than in onboard automotive management.
Synthetic Versus Natural Lubricants
Basic crude oil doesn’t make a very good lubricant, so no driver would ever use it. Automotive companies have instead come up with a variety of synthetic oils that work better than anything found in nature. These represent a combination of advances in the fields of chemistry and geology. Technicians start with petroleum and put a number of additives into it that allow it to outpace the performance figures offered by conventional oil. That’s why synthetics overtook standard low-tech oils years ago on race tracks, and they’ve now become common even in most passenger vehicles.
Motorists who invest in high-end synthetic oil products often find that their cars are able to go longer between oil changes. That being said, it’s still best to change a car’s oil after so many miles. Those who do may also notice that their engines are running cleaner and don’t require as much maintenance. That has to do with the fact that these engineered oil solutions are able to hold up to higher thermal levels than traditional kinds.
High-Technology and High-Viscosity
A variety of technological advancements have enabled synthetic alternatives to work in almost every kind of engine block currently sold on the market. These have also increased the overall viscosity of the oils in question. Lower levels of viscosity mean that a lubricant can get runny at certain temperatures. Engineered lubricants keep a fairly constant flow level regardless of the internal temperature of an engine.
That’s equally important when driving in cold weather as it is when dealing with an engine that repeatedly gets hot. Motors heat up under the hood both because of outdoor temperatures as well as stress from being run. That makes thermal breakdown one of the biggest factors facing suppliers of oil. Drivers who make the switch to a high-quality synthetic can enjoy all of the benefits of these technological breakthroughs without having to make any changes to their underlying vehicles. That’s great news for anyone who gets a little squeamish when they’re told that they have to head into a body shop for a significant amount of work. All it takes to adopt one of these oils is one single traditional change that should take no time at all.
