Motor Oil - Choose the Correct Oil For Your Vehicle
Selecting the correct oil suitable for your vehicles is very important if you want
to maintain the engine's optimum performance and prevent excessive engine wear. Fortunately, choosing the right oil is normally quite a simple task, just follow these steps:
If your vehicles is old and has been using single weight oil for years and years then it is likely that there will be some quite significant deposits of oil sludge due to the absence of the detergents in the oil. But here's the thing, that sludge isn't necessarily doing any harm being as it is settled down in the engine so unless you want to go down the costly route of having the engine rebuilt and cleaned you want to avoid disturbing the gunge. This means not using a more modern multi-viscosity oil as the detergent in this kind of oil is likely to loosen the gunge deposits meaning that it will become dispersed around the engine. Unless you are already having engine problems then the best bet is to continue using the same type of oil so that your vehicle can continue to run well.
If your vehicle is old and has done many thousands of miles on 30 or 40 weight oil, multi weight will not be thick enough to keep the engine lubricated sufficiently. As cars ages and add on miles various parts within the engine start to wear and it may be necessary to switch to a thicker oil to compensate foe additional wear.
If your vehicle is relatively new, and especially if it's still covered by the manufactures' warranty, then it is highly recommend to sure the oil as specified in the owner's manual.
If you run a vehicle regularly at high altitude or in areas of extreme temperatures then a multi -viscosity oil is likely to be best.
When purchasing new oil it tends to pay to stick to the well known, highly respected brands which are used by car manufactures themselves. These large brands spent vast amount of money developing motor oils to exacting requirements but it is still possible to find decent brands at reduced prices if you shop around.
Motor Oil - Choose the Correct Oil For Your Vehicle