Hi Y'all, I'm back to keep you appraised of all things oily. Been looking at all the pics of the new Stang and Vette - not sure I like the look of the Vette by the way - must see in person.
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A while back, in a discussion about how to avoid wear on cars that are left idle for extended periods, I mentioned that certain ester-based synoils, like Red Line, have an affinity for metal, due to ionic polarisation. I came upon this product during a conversation with a colleague at the SAE which is a tribologist in Australia:
http://www.castrol.com.au/products/magnatec/
This is one of the Castrol products that is apparently too good for us here in the USA - a Group IV/V lube where Syntec is a stretched GIII. But note the claims that its ester base (not known whether it is dibasic ester or polyol ester like Red Line) provides the coating of oil that will not gravity feed back to the oil pan - some of it will stay on the electrically negative metal parts in the cam lobes, cam followers, etc.
Now, is this hocus pocus sales puffery, or can it be true?
Note: I am an IT professional, with mechanical engineering and EE degrees - I took organic chemistry pre-med in college, but this is not my forte. The following is written in layman's terms, and if one of you chemistry jocks finds a term loosely used, I apologize - if it does not materially affect the essence of what I posted, please give me a bye - thanks!
Oil is a non-ionic compound. No ionization potential = no magnetism. This is the reason oil and water do not mix, as water is ionic. Their polar strengths differ greatly, which is all about whether electrons are shared or not. In H20, the oxygen takes somewhat the electrons from the hydrogen atoms, and voila, we have a somewhat negative charge. For this reason and the shape of the water molecules themselves, water molecules are strongly attracted to one another.
Oil is a weakly polar substance because the electrons are primarily "shared". Since the water is strongly attractive to itself, and the oil is weakly ionic, the water tends to stay with the water, and therefore the oil mostly does not mix with water.
So is my assertion about Red Line and Castrol's claims about Magnatec inaccurate? No. Because the ester can either be reacted to or have a polymeric substance added - and polymers can be made quite ionic. Since these are synthetic compounds, the chemistry wizards are free to set the operating properties of their lubricants, and this is just what they have done.
One would expect that other ester-based lubes, such as Motul 300V, would have the same properties, but I have no first-hand knowledge.
So, instead of some unknown additive with the shady history of its kind, if you store you car for long periods, consider one of the "magnetic" oils. And write Castrol and tell them to stop cheating us! This is one reason I am not a Castrol fan.
Now, this is one strike against Amsoil, which I have recommended - Amsoil used to have a di-ester in it, but esters are expensive, and Amsoil subsequently went to an all PAO formulation, like all its major competitors. Their basestocks and additives are first-rate, so they make a superior oil, great for day to day use, or even cars not driven for a week or so. Their fast flow rates and strong film strength mean that even if most of the oil has gone to the sump, there will be enough hanging around, and the rest will very quickly reach all parts of the engine. The high levels of anti-wear zinc and phosphorous and magnesium will provide lots of protection from wear during startup, when the lubrication system is in "boundary" status - just short of metal to metal, and riding on the anti-wear additives. They give their lives in a manner of speaking to save your engine from unnecessary wear - that is why they are called sacrificial additives.
***********************************************
A while back, in a discussion about how to avoid wear on cars that are left idle for extended periods, I mentioned that certain ester-based synoils, like Red Line, have an affinity for metal, due to ionic polarisation. I came upon this product during a conversation with a colleague at the SAE which is a tribologist in Australia:
http://www.castrol.com.au/products/magnatec/
This is one of the Castrol products that is apparently too good for us here in the USA - a Group IV/V lube where Syntec is a stretched GIII. But note the claims that its ester base (not known whether it is dibasic ester or polyol ester like Red Line) provides the coating of oil that will not gravity feed back to the oil pan - some of it will stay on the electrically negative metal parts in the cam lobes, cam followers, etc.
Now, is this hocus pocus sales puffery, or can it be true?
Note: I am an IT professional, with mechanical engineering and EE degrees - I took organic chemistry pre-med in college, but this is not my forte. The following is written in layman's terms, and if one of you chemistry jocks finds a term loosely used, I apologize - if it does not materially affect the essence of what I posted, please give me a bye - thanks!
Oil is a non-ionic compound. No ionization potential = no magnetism. This is the reason oil and water do not mix, as water is ionic. Their polar strengths differ greatly, which is all about whether electrons are shared or not. In H20, the oxygen takes somewhat the electrons from the hydrogen atoms, and voila, we have a somewhat negative charge. For this reason and the shape of the water molecules themselves, water molecules are strongly attracted to one another.
Oil is a weakly polar substance because the electrons are primarily "shared". Since the water is strongly attractive to itself, and the oil is weakly ionic, the water tends to stay with the water, and therefore the oil mostly does not mix with water.
So is my assertion about Red Line and Castrol's claims about Magnatec inaccurate? No. Because the ester can either be reacted to or have a polymeric substance added - and polymers can be made quite ionic. Since these are synthetic compounds, the chemistry wizards are free to set the operating properties of their lubricants, and this is just what they have done.
One would expect that other ester-based lubes, such as Motul 300V, would have the same properties, but I have no first-hand knowledge.
So, instead of some unknown additive with the shady history of its kind, if you store you car for long periods, consider one of the "magnetic" oils. And write Castrol and tell them to stop cheating us! This is one reason I am not a Castrol fan.
Now, this is one strike against Amsoil, which I have recommended - Amsoil used to have a di-ester in it, but esters are expensive, and Amsoil subsequently went to an all PAO formulation, like all its major competitors. Their basestocks and additives are first-rate, so they make a superior oil, great for day to day use, or even cars not driven for a week or so. Their fast flow rates and strong film strength mean that even if most of the oil has gone to the sump, there will be enough hanging around, and the rest will very quickly reach all parts of the engine. The high levels of anti-wear zinc and phosphorous and magnesium will provide lots of protection from wear during startup, when the lubrication system is in "boundary" status - just short of metal to metal, and riding on the anti-wear additives. They give their lives in a manner of speaking to save your engine from unnecessary wear - that is why they are called sacrificial additives.
