Engine oil

Engine oil consumption is a problem nobody wants. Most new engines today use less than half a quart of oil in 3,000 miles. Some use almost no oil. But as the miles accumulate, wear and oil consumption naturally go up. Using a quart of oil e ery !,000 miles is not unusual for a high mileage engine. "he amount of oil used is still acceptable, but by the time it reaches a quart of more in #00 miles it$s using a %&" of oil. Blue smo'e in the e(haust is a classic sign that an engine is burning too much oil. Should you be concerned) *t depends on your budget, the alue of your ehicle, if you can afford to rebuild or replace the engine, and whether the oil consumption is causing other problems. +n engine that burns oil will usually foul the spar' plugs. "hat, in turn will cause ignition misfire, higher emissions and li'ely damage the catalytic con erter. +lso, an engine that is burning oil usually won$t pass an emissions test because of ele ated hydrocarbon ,-./ emissions. *f an engine is using oil because of lea's , al e co er gas'ets, oil pan gas'et, cran'shaft end seals, etc./, the problem can be fi(ed by simply replacing the lea'y gas'ets. WHAT CAUSES EXCESSIVE OIL CONSUMPTION &il consumption depends primarily on two things0 the al e guides and piston rings. *f the al e guides are worn, or if there$s too much clearance between the al e stems and guides, or if the al e guide seals are worn, crac'ed, missing, bro'en or improperly installed, the engine will suc' oil down the guides and into the cylinders. "he engine may still ha e good compression, but will use a lot of oil.

Heavy carbon deposits on the valves seals. 1orn al e guides can usually be &ne popular method machine shops use bron2e or cast iron guide liners. reduce al e guide clearances. 1ith can be dri en out and replaced with new can be reamed out to accept new al es *f the oil burning is due to worn or bro'en engine will ha e low compression. "he cylinders and replace the worn or bro'en piston rings

are caused by worn valve guides and

restored a number of different ways. is to ream out the guides and install thin 3nurling is another procedure that can aluminum heads, the original guides ones. 1ith cast iron heads, the guides with o ersi2ed stems. rings, or wear in the cylinders, the only cure here is to bore or hone the

&il burning can also occur if the cylinders in a newly rebuilt engine are not honed properly ,too rough or too smooth/, or if the rings are installed upside down, twisted onto the pistons, or the end gaps are too large or are not staggered to reduce blowby. HOW TO REDUCE OIL CONSUMPTION "here are no 4miracle4 engine treatments or pills that will stop oil burning. But some cran'case additi es can slow oil burning. "here are also 4high mileage4 motor oils that are specially formulated with e(tra additi es to slow oil consumption. Switching to a slightly higher iscosity motor oil ,say changing from a #1530 to a !01530 or a !01560/ may also help reduce oil consumption. *f an engine is using oil because of a lea', the lea' must be fi(ed to stop the loss of oil. 7al e co er, timing co er and oil pan gas'ets are usually not too difficult to replace, but lea'y cran'shaft end seals can require a lot of disassembly ,particularly the rear main cran'shaft oil seal/. &ne alternati e to replacing a lea'y gas'et or seal is to add some 4seal conditioner4 to the cran'case, or to switch to a 4high mileage4 motor oil that contains additional seal conditions. "he additi es soa' into the seals and gas'ets, causing them to swell slightly. -opefully, this will slow or seal the lea'.

*f the engine is using oil because of worn al e guides or al e guide seals, it is possible to replace 8ust the al e guide seals without ha ing to remo e the cylinder heads or o erhaul the engine. 9ew al e guide seals can drastically reduce oil consumption. * ha e seen engines go from using a quart of oil e ery #00 miles to using no oil between oil changes ,3000 miles/: ;eplacing the al e stem seals requires a special al e spring compressor to disassemble the al e springs on each cylinder ,one at a time/. ;emo e the al e co er and all of the spar' plugs. "he piston in the first cylinder must then be placed at top dead center. "his can be done by rotating the engine with a wrench on the cran'shaft pulley until the timing mar's line up. *f the engine has no timing mar's, insert a plastic straw into the cylinder through the spar' plug hole so you can feel the piston as it approaches top dead center. "he cylinder must then be pressuri2ed with compressed air through the spar' plug hole to pre ent the al es from dropping down into the cylinder when the al e springs and retainers are remo ed. +nother tric' for holding the al es in place is to sna'e a piece of rope or rubber tubing into the combustion chamber through the spar' plug hole when the piston is at top dead center. "he rope will fill the oid between the piston and al es to hold the al es in place while you change the seals. Be careful, because if a al e accidentally drops down into the cylinder, the cylinder head will ha e to come off the engine. Engine oil n! t"e impo#t nce o$ goo! lu%#ic tion& 'Oil( Oils )ell t" t en!s )ell&' 1hen starting a cold engine let it tic' o er for a few moments to circulate the oil 5 most engine wear occurs within the first minutes of switching it on &il is an often o erloo'ed part of the engine but more internal friction < lower power and more heat produced. So the aim is to reduce the internal friction and cool the engine with a good oil and changing the oil frequently is ital to add longe ity to your engine 5 certainly for the paranoid before and after a trac' day session and e ery 35= months. "his is not intended to be a highly technical guide that bangs on about S+E$s 7iscosity inde( and shearing of oil ,if you want that as' for it in the feedbac' bo( below:/. "his is a rough beginners guide to the slippy stuff and enables you to ma'e an informed decision when choosing the correct grade and type of oil for your car. 1hen starting a car allow the engine to tic' o er for !0 seconds before dri ing it. >on$t E7E; lea e a car idling though: W"ic" oil Viscosit* s"oul! *ou use+( Multi grade oils are popular and are rated typically with ? numbers ie0 !#w60 which shows !/ the thinness , iscosity or how runny it is:/ at low temperature ,1<1inter/ ?/ the thic'ness , iscosity or how stic'y it is:/ at high temperature ,?0w#0 is thic'er and !0w30 is thinner/. *f the numbers are close together then the operating range and performance is more uniform. "he second number is the important one unless you li e in sub2ero climes: Use the recommended oil for you car 5 older cars sometimes prefer a slightly thic'er oil to a oid lea's and burning in the cylinder but consult your wor'shop manual for your car. .hoosing oil that is too thin can cause permanent lea's in the seals once it has wic'ed through. ;unning low on oil will typically wear the top of the engine and this wear is typified by a rattle in the top of the engine on acceleration especially when cold, the pistons will also wear more quic'ly and you will start to burn oil ,well, your car will/ producing a blue e(haust discharge. >o not use a different grade to the recommend one unless the engine is ery worn ,in which case go thic'er/ or if the engine has been rebuilt ,a thinner oil may be needed but the engine builder will recommend the correct grade./

9e er put a semi or mineral oil in a car that requires fully synthetic unless this is an absolute emergency and get the oil drained and corrected as soon as possible afterwards. "ry also to a oid mi(ing iscosity grades of oil and certainly ne er mi( oil types. 9B0 "he oil light comes on to tell you your oil le els or oil pressure is dangerously low and 9&" when it needs topping up chec' your dip stic' e ery ? wee's or after a long 8ourney 5 oil is .&9SUME> by engines ,but different cars ha e different consumption != al es seem to use more than their @ al e counterparts/ and always goes down 5 ne er up: Some people recommend a thinner oil in the winter and a thic'er one in the summer 5 your manual should ha e the recommended oil specs to air temperature chart. Sadly so many people 8ust buy the cheapest oil they can get and use the Arade for the cars life summer and winter. W"ic" oil t*pe , s*nt"etic- semi s*nt"etic o# mine# l+ + raging argument ensues about synthetic oil lasting for 3=,000 miles or more. "here is certainly some big ad antages to synthetic oils but * would still recommend a regular filter change 5 the filter gets the tiny particles of metal from inside the engine that acts li'e a sandblaster inside your engine so e en if the oil does last it will pic' up lots of gun' from the engine. 1hile your changing the filter you may 8ust as well change the oil anyway: .hoose a good quality filter that collects the damaging small particles of metal. "here are magnets a ailable that wrap around the filter to collect more fine metal particles and these ha e be pro en to be effecti e. Engine oil A!!iti.es( Most oils contain ingredients to resist combustion ,stops engine fires:/, detergents 5 cleans the inside of engines and anti ca'e agents to pre ent the oil clogging up and bloc'ing important bits of the engine. Some oils contain electrostatically charged particles ,A"B magnatec, electrosynthtec etc/ which bond low friction molecules to stressed metal surfaced, ,cran' 8ournals, bores, cams etc/ and help reduce cold engine wear. "here are additi es that you can add yourself to the oil0 We !o not #ecommen! t"e use o$ !!iti.es that 4bond4 to the metal surface. + few studies ha e shown these to wor' well in lab conditions but in the real world people ha e e(perienced bloc'ed oil filters, oil star ation and other issues. Coly"etraDlouroEthelyne 5 C"DE bonds to the surface of the metal parts to theoretically create a low friction surface. &ther additi es wor' in this way also and usually need the engine to be warmed up for the bonding to ta'e place 5 most engine oils set out to do the same thing so the question of these additi es has been raised. 1hen you strip down an engine treated in this way the cylinders will generally ha e a hard blac' 5 almost mirrored finish 5 perfectly smooth. Some additi es can help with noisy al es and cold start issues but please do your research carefully. &ther substances condition the oil and ma'e it $stic'y$ ,it wor's well and * don$t 'now how:/. "he oil seems to cling to the surfaces of your engine for longer but it still lubricates and flows around and can e en pre ent minor oil lea's and reduce blow bac' and burning oil ,Morays is the products name but *$m sure there$s others around/ "he downside is that this additi e is flushed out with the oil and needs to be reintroduced. 1hen starting a cold engine "orque.ars recommend that you let it tic' o er for a few moments ,don$t run it for minutes though/ to circulate the oil 5 most engine wear occurs within the first minutes of switching it on although there is little if anything that can be done about this 5 as the oil warms an thins it gi es better protection ,most cold start engine wear occurs due to acids created in the combustion process rather than friction/. &nly dri e at !E? to !E6 of your redline until the engine warms up unless you want to wrec' the engine. Some pistons, normally high performance ones are tapered which stops slap on the s'irt which can be catastrophic to a piston. +n engine specialist showed me scratch mar's on a piston ,on the tapered end/ and e(plained that it indicated that the car had been dri en ery hard before it had warmed up 5 ob iously pistons change shape slightly ,e(panding/ as they warm up and this design pre ents piston slap.

"he piston contains less metal than the bore surrounding it, which may e en be made from a different material with a different modulus of e(pansi ity, thus the piston is li'ely to e(pand at a higher rate than the bores. Until the whole engine is warm and the bore and piston ha e e(panded equally engine re s should be 'ept relati ely low. Impo#t nt note to tu#%o c # o)ne#s( "urbo$s spin at phenomenal speeds and are more prone to wear if the wrong oil is selected. "hey also run at high temperatures and this can show up wea'nesses in the oils formulation. +lso if you ha e a turbo you must wait for the turbo$s turbine to slow down before switching off the engine. "he supply of fresh oil stops when the engine stops and the turbo$s spinning will continue and wear it out ,consult your manual for details or buy a turbo timer which 'eeps the engine running for you automatically shutting it off when it$s safe to do so./ Most turbo manufacturers recommend the use of a fully synthetic oil. Ho) muc" oil s"oul! *ou put in+ &b ious "ip0 'eep the oil le el below the ma( and abo e the min line :: 5 too much oil and it will get into places it shouldn$t and could start seals lea'ing or cause other damage the engine ie05 burning oilEbro'en sealsEpiston rings. "oo little oil will cause premature wear. +lways change the filter with the oil. &f the F oil changes * had done at garages only ? had the correct le el of oil 5 ,3 would ha e caused serious damage to the engine if * hadn$t spotted it ,when * drained it out there was a whole litre too much oil:/ after a ser ice chec' the dipstic' and complain if the oil is under the min or o er the ma( mar': * heard recently about a Corsche which was burning oil 5 it had been o erfilled. 1hen the correct le el was restored the car than'fully didn$t burn oil and no damage was done. "he dipstic' ,on this car/ should ha e been chec'ed with the engine running as oil seeps into the pistons when stationary: >on$t assume you 'now how to chec' the oil. .onsult the manual. *f the manual says 6.#l then put 6.#l in and chec' the le el in the way specified in the manual, allowing sufficient time for the oil to reach the sump, then top up if necessary 5 generally oil is chec'ed with the engine warm but ha ing stood for a couple of minutes to allow the oil to settle. +lthough * ha e slagged off garages the a erage motorist is equally negligent with ! in 6 ha ing below the minimum oil le el in the engine. .ompressor oil

Outst n!ing c*lin!e# n! piston #ing lu%#ic tion G E/cellent lu%#ic tion o$ timing ge #s n! %e #ings in #ot #* comp#esso#s G Hig" comp#esso# e$$icienc* %* #e!ucing %uil!,up o$ c #%on on !isc" #ge . l.es n! inte#,coole#s G En" nce! oil li$e in ci#cul ting s*stems n! c# n0c ses G Optimum #ust- co##osion n! )e # p#otection , ll g# !es #e in"i%ite! to "elp #e!uce #ust- co##osion n! )e # in comp#esso# s*stems G E/cellent ) te# sep # tion i!s in !# ining e/cess moistu#e $#om ci#cul ting s*stems G Re!uce! sig"t gl ss st ining o$ comp#esso#s e1uippe! )it" utom tic lu%#ic to#s G E/cellent i#2oil sep # tion )"en use! in $loo!,lu%#ic te! #ot #* comp#esso#s G 3o m p#otection , 4# !es 56 t"#oug" 667 cont in n e$$ecti.e $o m in"i%ito# po)e# $ cto#

+n utom tic po)e# $ cto# co##ection unit consists of a number of capacitors that are switched by means of contactors. "hese contactors are controlled by a regulator that measures power factor in an electrical networ'. >epending on the load and power factor of the networ', the power factor controller will switch the necessary bloc's of capacitors in steps to ma'e sure the power factor stays abo e a selected alue. *nstead of using a set of switched capacitors, an unloaded synchronous motor can supply reacti e power. "he reacti e power drawn by the synchronous motor is a function of its field e(citation. "his is referred to as a synchronous condenser. *t is started and connected to the electrical networ'. *t operates at a leading power factor and puts ars onto the networ' as required to support a systemHs oltage or to maintain the system power factor at a specified le el. "he condenserHs installation and operation are identical to large electric motors. *ts principal ad antage is the ease with which the amount of correction can be ad8ustedI it beha es li'e an electrically ariable capacitor. Unli'e capacitors, the amount of reacti e power supplied is proportional to oltage, not the square of oltageI this impro es oltage stability on large networ's. Synchronous condensors are often used in connection with high5 oltage direct5current transmission pro8ects or in large industrial plants such as steel mills. Dor power factor correction of high5 oltage power systems or large, fluctuating industrial loads, power electronic de ices such as the Static 7+; compensator or S"+".&M are increasingly used. "hese systems are able to compensate sudden changes of power factor much more rapidly than contactor5switched capacitor ban's, and being solid5state require less maintenance than synchronous condensers. Cower factors below !.0 require a utility to generate more than the minimum olt5amperes necessary to supply the real power ,watts/. "his increases generation and transmission costs. Dor e(ample, if the load power factor were as low as 0.F, the apparent power would be !.6 times the real power used by the load. %ine current in the circuit would also be !.6 times the current required at !.0 power factor, so the losses in the circuit would be doubled ,since they are proportional to the square of the current/. +lternati ely all components of the system such as generators, conductors, transformers, and switchgear would be increased in si2e ,and cost/ to carry the e(tra current. Utilities typically charge additional costs to customers who ha e a power factor below some limit, which is typically 0.J to 0.J#. Engineers are often interested in the power factor of a load as one of the factors that affect the efficiency of power transmission. 1ith the rising cost of energy and concerns o er the efficient deli ery of power, acti e CD. has become more common in consumer electronics.K!=L .urrent Energy Star guidelines for computers ,E9E;AM S"+; Crogram ;equirements for .omputers 7ersion #.0/ call for a power factor of N 0.J at !00O of rated output in the C.$s power supply. +ccording to a white paper authored by *ntel and the U.S. En ironmental Crotection +gency, C.s with internal power supplies will require the use of acti e power factor correction to meet the E9E;AM S"+; #.0 Crogram ;equirements for .omputers.K!FL *ndustrial facilities tend to ha e a 4lagging power factor4, where the current lags the oltage ,li'e an inductor/. "his is primarily the result of ha ing a lot of electric induction motors 5 the windings of motors act as inductors as seen by the power supply. .apacitors ha e the opposite effect and can compensate for the inducti e motor windings. Some industrial sites will ha e large ban's of capacitors strictly for the purpose of correcting the power factor bac' toward one to sa e on utility company charges.

"he power required by the appliance is directly proportional to the current, oltage, power factor. *f the power factor is low, more current is required to supply the rated power of the appliance hence the ohmic losses increase. "herefore the efficiency decreases and the oltage regulation increases which is bad for the power company as well as the consumer. PQPQPQ *n the study of alternating current Kthat which supplies our homes and businesses in the United StatesL, it will be obser ed that there are alternating wa es of both oltage and current. *n a circuit with purely resistance load, the wa es of current and oltage are in e(act phase relationship to each other. "his means that when the oltage is at it$s pea', the current flow is at it$s pea' as well. +n inducti e load KcoilL causes the current wa e to lag or fall behind the oltage wa e, so that the pea' current flow is some time after the oltage wa e is at it$s pea' le el.

+ capaciti e load KcapacitorL causes the current wa e to lead or ad ance ahead of the oltage wa e, so that the pea' current flow is some time in ad ance of the pea' of the oltage wa e. "he consequence of this is that the +7+*%+B%E ;E+% C&1E; is the relationship between the current and oltage wa es. ;esisti e circuits ha e a power factor of !.0, or unity, because the wa es are in phase. "he more out of phase the relationship between oltage and current, the less efficient the use of a ailable power, the more 4waste4 energy. "he less efficient the use of energy, the larger the si2e of transmission and generating equipment required to pro ide for energy needs, and the more costly the operation of utili2ation equipment. PQPQPQ "he power factor of a de ice is what determines how much useful power is used out of the total amount of power which is supplied to it from the source. + power factor as close to ! as possible is desirable because then most of the power transferred from the source to the load is useful power. !. *f a de ice has a power factor much less than !, that means more total input current must be supplied for a gi en output power dissipation and a more powerful source is required to deli er the required output power. "his means the de ice must draw a higher amount of olt5amps ,7+/ compared to the actual load power it is deli ering, which means its con ersion of input power 7+ to output power 7+ is inefficient. ?. "he closer to a power factor of ! that a de ice has, the better the total current which has to be supplied will match the output from the de ice, and the more efficient it will be in its con ersion of input power 7+ to output power 7+.

.&.&9U" ME"-M% ES"E; Coconut Met"*l Este# "he means to help clean our air and energi2e our economy is here... WHAT IS 8IODIESEL+ Biodiesel is a renewable and biodegradable diesel fuel e(tracted from plant oil. + natural hydrocarbon with negligible sulfur content, it will substantially help in reducing emissions from diesel5fed engines. *t is now commonly used in the United States, .anada, "hailand, and many countries in Europe. THE PHILIPPINES9 C7C7,8I7DIESEL "he Chilippines has launched the use of biodiesel, particularly, .oconut Methyl Ester or .ME. .ME is deri ed from coconut oil and is more appropriately 'nown as .oco5Biodiesel. .ompared with other forms of biodiesels, the medium carbon chain of .oco5 Biodiesel offers e(cellent %UB;*.*"M, S&%7E9.M, and >E"E;AE9.M. Studies show that the addition of .oco5Biodiesel results in better combustion, less pollution, and more engine powerI the engines run smoothly R with longer maintenance inter als: Because of these outstanding characteristics, Biodiesel is considered first5rate and highly adaptable. WH: USE Coco,8IODIESEL+ Environmental & Health Benefits

Coco-Biodiesel... is renewable and biodegradable, being plant5based. lowers emission of nitrous o(ide and sulfur o(ide 5 the main contributors to smog. significantly reduces serious air pollutants such as blac' smo'e and air to(ics that cause lung cancer, pulmonary tuberculosis, pneumonia, bronchitis, heart attac' and stro'e means less emission and cleaner air. Economic Benefits to 7ehicle &wners and >ri ers

Coco-Biodiesel ... cuts maintenance costs because of its superior lubricating and cleaning properties. promotes better, more efficient combustion and less engine ibration because of its higher cetane number and inherent o(ygen content. boosts engine power and acceleration impro es fuel economy by as much as ?0O, which means you get more mileage and big sa ings per liter.

Economic Benefits to the Coconut Industry Coco-Biodiesel will pro ide and establish a long5term, sustainable alternati e domestic mar'et and as a result, will stabili2e the domestic coconut production, resulting in more income price of copra. will enhance farm5based reintegration of opportunities. Economic Benefits to the .ountry

Coco-Biodiesel ... will spearhead the introduction of the ester industry in the Chilippines 5an industry that would create more 8obs. will pro ide a potential high5 alue e(port product. will promote participation of the Chilippines in the potentially huge biofuel industry. will enhance energy supply security through the use of indigenous resources, at the same time resulting in foreign e(change sa ings will benefit 3.# million coconut farmers and ?0 million Dilipinos dependent on the coconut industry.