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Motor oil

#1

H

hlw49

Does anyone know what the w in motor oil stand for?


#2

ILENGINE

ILENGINE

Winter


#3

A

Auto Doc's

Hello H.,

"W" rated oils mean better flow characteristics below 32 degrees F. and improves lubrication to very cold parts. Take 10W-30 oil as an example:

When the oil is cold it acts as a 10-weight oil, it's thin and flows quickly. Has is warms up its viscosity gradually transforms to a 30-weight oil.

There is a lot of chemical miracles involved in developing modern engine oils. With OHV engines especially, the most critical time for top end lubrication is at startup.

There are lots of good articles and videos online from Bob the Oil Guy and Lake Speed Jr. on the subject


#4

S

slomo

While we are on this education assistance..... Love it (y)

What does the 10 in 10w-30 stand for?


#5

Craftsman Garage

Craftsman Garage

slomo said:
While we are on this education assistance..... Love it (y)

What does the 10 in 10w-30 stand for?
Click to expand...
It's a grade of viscosity, thinner in winter as not to freeze.


#6

S

slomo

Craftsman Garage said:
It's a grade of viscosity, thinner in winter as not to freeze.
Click to expand...
Range of viscosity at 32F.

The 30 on the above spec is the viscosity range at 212F.


#7

H

hlw49

I know all that just wanted to see what kind of feedback I would get. When you ask most people that question, they will say weight.


#8

H

hlw49

slomo said:
Range of viscosity at 32F.

The 30 on the above spec is the viscosity range at 212F.
Click to expand...
And how does that work?


#9

Hammermechanicman

Hammermechanicman

I don't know much about oil but i do know my oil is better than Scrub's oil.😁


#10

F

Forest#2

hlw49 said:
Does anyone know what the w in motor oil stand for?
Click to expand...

I constantly tell people to "GOOGLE IT"

google is your friend.


#11

Ozcub

Ozcub

What does the "dash" between the 10W and the 30 mean , 10W-30


#12

A

Auto Doc's

Hello Ozcub,

You pose some interesting questions.

I take the dash to mean from 10 "to" 30 viscosity, ranging from cold to hot.

Lake Speed Jr. has a site called the Oil Geek and I am sure you can find much more in-depth answers about oils there.

www.youtube.com

The Motor Oil Geek

As a Certified Lubrication Specialist with over 20 years experience, The Motor Oil Geek channel delivers real data about motor oils from an expert perspective instead of speculation. Twice each month I will upload a new video that either analyzes a new oil, dyno tests an oil, reveals the details...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com


#13

Ozcub

Ozcub

Auto Doc's said:
Hello Ozcub,

You pose some interesting questions.

I take the dash to mean from 10 "to" 30 viscosity, ranging from cold to hot.

Lake Speed Jr. has a site called the Oil Geek and I am sure you can find much more in-depth answers about oils there.

www.youtube.com

The Motor Oil Geek

As a Certified Lubrication Specialist with over 20 years experience, The Motor Oil Geek channel delivers real data about motor oils from an expert perspective instead of speculation. Twice each month I will upload a new video that either analyzes a new oil, dyno tests an oil, reveals the details...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
Click to expand...
No , I am good with your answer , Thank you anyway


#14

H

hlw49

Had a salesman describe it like this one time. Said it was like the principal of Spaghetti when it is cold and dry the additive to make the higher viscosity shrinks like spaghetti when it cold and dry. Heat it up and it expands like spaghetti when you add water and heat it up. Who knows


#15

Scrubcadet10

Scrubcadet10

Hammermechanicman said:
I don't know much about oil but i do know my oil is better than Scrub's oil.😁
Click to expand...
NO SIR, my oil is SUPERIOR to your oil.


#16

StarTech

StarTech

And the battle of the oils begins....a very slippery subject.


#17

A

Auto Doc's

Hi StarTech,

Heck! When did the battle ever stop?

I've seen a lot of equipment run hard and abused by owners who bragged about how good their oil is. What they are really saying is they "got away with it" because the machine has not blown up yet.

Oil technology has come a long in the past 40 years and with that has come "extended mileage" intervals and "high mileage" oils.

In a rider or a push mower, many consider this a "lifetime" oil product, so they don't have to perform maintenance.

Even Briggs and Stratton has done away with the oil drain plug on many of their small single cylinder engines. This sends the wrong message to customers.


#18

StarTech

StarTech

With some equipment engines even with oil drain plugs they are inaccessible. Since I got my pneumatic oil extractor I rarely even look for a drain plug. What initially got me to switch over was those one MTD tillers.

When a customer one of these no change engines I still recommend regular oil changes. I do oil changes labor free as long as the customer buys the oil and filter from my shop. Just plain good customer relations. Even back in the 70s when I work at a full service gas station, I know they don't exist around here anymore, we did oil changes this way.


#19

S

slomo

StarTech said:
Since I got my pneumatic oil extractor I rarely even look for a drain plug.
Click to expand...
(y)


#20

O

oncedone

ILENGINE said:
Winter
Click to expand...
I've always thought it stood for weight. So if you never run an engine in the Winter then just run straight 30 weight? I thought it also helped out on cold starts regardless of the ambient temperature.


#21

L

lemen

Forest#2 said:
I constantly tell people to "GOOGLE IT"

google is your friend.
Click to expand...
So we can close the forum. In fact every forum.
Not everybody is born without memory and have to 'google' everything some people like a friendly chat.
Besides, I use Duckduckgo. Is that allowed?
Google is my enemy, they collect to many privat information.


#22

B

blue262

hlw49 said:
Does anyone know what the w in motor oil stand for?
Click to expand...
The w stands for winter. It characterizes the properties of the old when cold and not under sheer.

The first number is the viscosity of the base oil in the bottle. In the case of 10W30 the oil in the bottle is a 10 weight oil.

The last number is the viscosity under sheer and higher temperature conditions. In the given example the 10 weight oil takes on the viscosity of 30 weight oil under sheer conditions due to “viscosity improver” additives.


#23

J

JimP2014

Forest#2 said:
I constantly tell people to "GOOGLE IT"

google is your friend.
Click to expand...
The "W" in motor oil stands for "Winter". It indicates that the oil's viscosity has been tested at colder temperatures and is suitable for use in cold weather [1].
Motor oil is classified by its viscosity, which is its resistance to flow. The "W" rating (e.g., in 5W-30 or 10W-40) is part of a Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) grading system:
  • The number before the W (e.g., 5W) indicates the oil's flow characteristics at a cold temperature. A lower number means the oil is thinner at cold temperatures, allowing for easier engine starting and faster oil circulation in winter [1].
  • The number after the W (e.g., 30) indicates the oil's viscosity at normal operating temperatures (around 100°C or 212°F) [1].
Therefore, a 5W-30 oil acts like a 5-weight oil when cold (for winter conditions) and a 30-weight oil when hot [1].

Forest I was about to tell the individual that asked the question to do exactly what you said I didn't know either. My response is from Google's AI engine.

Jim


#24

K

kurtrad

hlw49 said:
Does anyone know what the w in motor oil stand for?
Click to expand...
Winter.... this is the viscosity at low temperature.


#25

S

slomo

oncedone said:
I thought it also helped out on cold starts regardless of the ambient temperature.
Click to expand...
Straight 30 is way thicker than a 5w or a 10w. Thinner oil is for cold temps.


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