Motor Oil 101: Everything You Need to Know About Oil Viscosity Ratings

Unless you’ve just started driving, you’ve probably gotten your oil changed a few times. Whether you do it yourself or trust in a reputable service center to do this for you, it’s important to understand what type of oil is going into your car as it sets off for its travels around Loganville. Something you may have heard of before is oil viscosity rating, and if you’re wondering what that means and how it actually affects your ride, listen up.

When it comes to getting an oil change in Loganville, Loganville Ford has a service center that can help you, staffed with certified technicians who are experienced with this important maintenance service. So, what are oil viscosity ratings and why are they important? Let us help put this into perspective for you.

What Is the Purpose of Motor Oil?

As a licensed driver, you’ve likely gotten your oil changed before, knowing that this is a vital part of vehicle maintenance so that you can enjoy a more reliable ride, but why is it so important? Beneath the hood of your vehicle, there are many moving parts that all work together to help your vehicle do its job of moving you from one destination to another. Your engine, in particular, has many moving components that need to be able to move freely in order for your vehicle to be able to do its job. This is where motor oil comes in.

Engine oil helps to lubricate all of these moving parts so that everything moves in tandem. When oil gets dirty, friction builds up with all of these moving parts and results in your engine having to work overtime in order to do its job. This can cause poor vehicle performance and reduced fuel efficiency, and the more miles you clock in on the Loganville streets, the more frequently your oil will need to be changed. Failure to keep up with routine oil changes can eventually result in your engine overheating and a complete replacement or costly repair being needed.

What Is Viscosity?

You never want to skip an oil change—this much you probably already know. You also don’t want to put the wrong viscosity of oil in your vehicle—this much you might not already know. Viscosity has to do with the flow of your engine oil, with thinner, or lower viscosity oil, flowing at a faster rate and thicker, or higher viscosity oil, flowing at a slower rate. Think of this as pouring out two different fluids, with a more viscous fluid, like syrup, flowing much more slowly out of the bottle than a less viscous fluid, like milk, flows out of its carton.

So, what does that mean in everyday driving applications? Well, oil will flow differently at different temperatures, and there’s a delicate balance between being too thin and not being able to lubricate the various components of your engine, and being too thick and not flowing fast enough to get the job done so that your vehicle can move you forward to your next destination. Oil will thin out when it’s warm outside and thicken up when it’s cold, so finding the right balance with your oil is key to ensuring that your vehicle continues to perform optimally, no matter the temperature.

Common Oil Viscosity Ratings

Years back, it was common practice to put one type of oil in your vehicle during the chilly winter months and switch it up once the warmer months approached. This isn’t really the case nowadays, as motor oil has come a long way in terms of how it works to lubricate your engine, regardless of the temperature outside. You’ll want to be able to dissect oil viscosity ratings, which is actually quite easy. Oil viscosity is typically written like this: 5W-30; the first number being how thick or thin the oil gets during cold temperatures, and the second being how viscous the oil gets during operating or higher temperatures. The smaller the number, the thinner the oil and, therefore, the faster the flow, so 5W-30 will flow better than 10W-30 in the winter months.

Typically, vehicles here in North America require an oil viscosity of 5W-30, which can be used in a wide array of vehicles, making it exceptionally popular with today’s modern vehicles. Some newer vehicles may actually be able to take even lower viscosity oils, like 0W-20 to help improve overall vehicle performance and efficiency. Those who drive older vehicles may use a viscosity like 20W-50, which can help keep up with these high-mileage vehicles.

Factors to Help You Choose the Best Viscosity for Your Vehicle

Whether you’re a daily commuter cruising around Loganville on your way to the office in your compact sedan or a parent shuttling the youngsters to all their extracurricular activities in a minivan, there are certain factors that you’ll want to keep in mind when choosing oil viscosity. Many Loganville drivers leave this up to the professionals, but if you want to have a better understanding of this, keep these things in mind:

What Does Your Owner’s Manual Recommend?

The tried-and-true factor for figuring out which oil viscosity you’re going to need resides in your vehicle’s owner’s manual. This is what is recommended by the manufacturer of your vehicle in order for your vehicle to perform optimally. Unless you are driving under extreme conditions, you will most likely want to stick with this recommendation.

Do You Drive a New or Older Vehicle?

Typically, newer vehicles require lower viscosity oil for maximum performance. Newer vehicles have more advanced parts and typically don’t have as much wear and tear on their internal engine components. Higher mileage and older vehicles require higher viscosity oil, which is able to coat the worn parts a bit better than thinner, lower viscosity oil, resulting in improved performance and longevity of their engines.

What Type of Climate Do You Frequently Travel In?

Here in Loganville, although we don’t experience extreme cold temperatures, it still gets a bit chilly in the winter. Oil tends to thin out when it gets warm, which means that traditionally, higher viscosity oils are recommended for warm climates and lower viscosity oils are best for cold climates. Since we have a fairly temperate climate here, you can use lower viscosity oil in newer vehicles to help improve fuel efficiency and overall engine performance.

Choosing the Right Oil Viscosity Rating

It may not seem very clear, especially if you’ve never changed your oil yourself before. This is why an important service like this is best left to the professionals. You can count on highly trained technicians to know what type of oil to put in your vehicle for maximum performance as you sail down the Loganville streets, but don’t trust this to just any service center. You want to be sure that the service center you partner with is respected and trustworthy.

We Have You Covered

Fortunately, you have us here at Loganville Ford, with a service center that’s staffed by certified professionals in the industry, trained and experienced to help you make the most of your time behind the wheel. So, if you always thought that all motor oil was the same, think again. In order for your vehicle to operate at its peak, you’ll need the right type of oil lubricating your engine, and we can help you with this—and so much more—here at Loganville Ford.