

Put simply, you need to find a balance between the two extremes and choose an engine oil that’s right for your vehicle. But it protects your engine even at higher temperatures.

If you want to save on your fuel, go for low-grade viscosity oil. This thick layer prevents the moving parts from striking each other, reducing friction and avoiding high temperatures. Like honey sticks on your finger, a high viscosity grade oil sticks to the engine’s moving parts and builds a thick layer of lubricant. That’s why high viscosity grade engine oils eat up more fuel.īut that doesn’t mean you should go for the engine oil with the lowest viscosity. Similarly, a high viscosity grade oil needs the engine to work harder to perform the same motion. In other words, you’ll have to apply more force to move an item in a high-viscosity liquid than in a low-viscosity one. If you run your hand through a bucket of water and a bucket of honey, you’ll see that it’s much easier to move your hand in water than in honey. The oil viscosity grade you choose decides the rate of fuel consumption. Oil viscosity directly impacts the engine’s performance. How Does Oil Viscosity Affect Engine’s Parameters?
#Kinematic viscosity of engine oil iso#
While you’d usually deal with SAE oil grades, you can read the viscosity of engine oils of ISO and AGMA oil grades using the viscosity chart. In the middle of the viscosity chart, you’ll have 4 different oil grade types. In typical viscosity charts, you can find the saybolt viscosity of an engine oil at warm temperature (100 ☏) and hot temperature (210 ☏) ISO/ AGMA/ SAE Viscosities You can find the saybolt viscosity on the right of the chart, and we measure it with Saybolt Universal Seconds or SUS. It’s based on the time it requires in seconds to heat oil. Saybolt viscosity is another measure of engine oil viscosity. In usual viscosity charts, we can check the kinematic viscosity of an engine oil at warm temperature (40 ☌) and hot temperature (100 ☌). We have the kinematic viscosity on the left of the chart, and we measure it in Centistokes or cSt. That’s why it flows slowly compared to the light water. Kinematic viscosity refers to the difficulty in the flow of a liquid due to gravity. In the oil viscosity chart, you’ve got different viscosity grades in the middle and the corresponding kinematic viscosity and saybolt viscosity at two temperatures on the left and right, respectively. Image source Basic Understanding of the Oil Viscosity Chart All of these oil types are displayed in the middle of the viscosity chart. There are different classifications of viscosity grades depending upon the oil type. Image source Reading the Oil Viscosity Chart On the other hand, SAE 5W-20 will always flow better than SAE 20W-50. But when you’re driving, the SAE 10W-30 will flow better as the oil will get hot and its hot oil viscosity grade of 30 is lower than 40 of the other engine oil. In other words, SAE 0W-40 will flow better than SAE 10W-30 when it’s cold as 0W is less than 10W. Viscosity grade is a measure of oil viscosity: the lower it is, the lower the oil viscosity, and vice versa. Oil viscosity grade when it’s cold - indicated by Wįor instance, a multigrade oil SAE 10W-30 means: the engine oil has a viscosity grade of 10 when it’s cold and a viscosity grade of 30 when it’s hot.The correlation between the oil’s name and its viscosity was decided by SAE and automotive manufacturers. Similarly, SAE 10W-30 means oil of a specific viscosity.
#Kinematic viscosity of engine oil code#
The engine oil number code is to engine oils what a name is to humans.Īnd you just pictured him in your mind. Read on to learn more about the oil viscosity chart to select the right oil for your vehicle’s engine. Instead, SAE has developed an oil viscosity chart you can use to get started within minutes. That doesn’t mean you have to sit in an hour-long lecture on oil viscosity. In other words, understanding how oil viscosity affects your car and which oil is the right one for your car is an important question you should ask yourself before changing your oil for the first time. It dictates how you select the engine oil for your vehicle since a wrong choice can decrease your vehicle’s performance. Viscosity refers to how difficult it is for a liquid to flow.
