1. What is the basic function of lubricants?
A) The basic function of a lubricant is to reduce the friction and wear, remove heat and suspension of contaminant. They also act as a cooling medium or as protection from corrosion.

2. What are the main constituents of lubricating oil?
 A) The lubricating oil is made up of base oil & additives.

3. What is a synthetic oil?
A) Synthetic oil originates from crude oil. However, it is manufactured from certain molecules that are combined via chemical reactions to form new and relatively pure substances of known composition. Synthetic oils, like mineral oils, require the addition of proper additives for optimum performance. They perform the same function as mineral oils but can provide generally longer oil drain intervals in addition they are used in the lower viscosity grades, like 5W and 10W mulitgrades that give better fuel economy.

4. What is meant by the terms 'fully 'synthetic' and 'Semi Synthetic'?
A) Most engine oils are blended from conventional mineral base oils, extracted from streams produced in the refining of crude oil. They are a complex mix of many different hydrocarbon compounds, some having very desirable properties for lubrication, some less so. In the processes used to manufacture synthetic base oils however we produce a finished product very different from the components of the starting material, and in doing so have a much higher degree of control over the types of compounds that appear in the finished base oil. We can use a percentage of these synthetic base oils in conjunction with conventional mineral base oils to produce a "semi-synthetic" product, but if we use synthetic fluids entirely then we call the resulting product "fully synthetic".

5. What is an additive in lube oil?
A) An additive is a compound that enhances some property of, or imparts some new property to, the base fluid. In this way, a base stock that cannot meet operational requirements of a tribological fluid system can be modified through additives. In some hydraulic fluid formulations, the additive volume may constitute as much as 20 percent of the final composition. The more important types of additives include anti-oxidants, anti-wear additives, corrosion inhibitors, viscosity index improvers, and foam suppressants.

6. What does my oil actually do?
 A) An engine oil's job is primarily to stop all the metal surfaces in your engine from grinding together and tearing themselves apart from friction whilst transferring heat away from the combustion cycle. Engine oil must also be able to hold all the nasty by-products of combustion, such as silica (silicon oxide) and acids in suspension. It cleans the engine of these chemicals and build-ups, and keeps the moving parts coated in oil. Finally, engine oil minimizes the oxidation at higher temperatures. It does all of these things under tremendous heat and pressure.

7. Is it true that the lighter the oil colour the better the quality?
 A) No, this is not true. Oil contains chemical additives that contribute to the final oil colour. Some of the additives can be quite dark, and add to the colour of the new oil. No correlation can be drawn between oil colour and quality. However, the oil should always be clean and clear and free of haze or particles. Some oils are dyed for a purpose.

8. Do all oils offer the same level of protection for my car's engine?
A) The answer is simply 'No'! Just as engines and technology have become more sophisticated over the years, oil research and development has progressed. Oil formulations are made from the base oils and chemical additives to provide a lubricant of a specific performance such as a certain API classification. These formulations can differ in the type and amount of additives used, in the type of refining process used to make the base oil and the processes employed in the blending plant.
9. How can I compare oil quality?
A) Oils are certified by major international organizations, in particular the North American API (American Petroleum Institute) and the European organization, ACEA. The most commonly referred to specification is the API system, look for it on the can of oil. For gasoline engine passenger cars, this system always uses the letter S followed by a letter which implies the performance level of the oil. For example, the first specification was designated "SA", the next was "SB, in the 1940s/50s and so the progress continues up in letters and higher levels of performance to the current “SM" introduced in 2004. The API system for diesel engines replaces the letter S with the letter C. The current designations for 4-stroke diesel engines " CF-4, CG-4, CH-4, CI-4" all of which have been introduced in the 1990s except CI-4 in 2002. The certification is based on extensive engine and laboratory tests as specified by these organizations in conjunction with engine manufacturers. As the API classifications work through the alphabet so the quality of the oil is better.

10. When should I change my oil?

11. Why is it that engine oils can vary substantially in price?
A) First of all you need to compare the API rating. It is no good in comparing the price of an oil meeting API SF to that of an oil meeting API SL. The API SL oil has much more advanced additive systems and more expensive additives. The API SF oil was developed in the late 70's and is cheaper to manufacture (due, in part, to lower additive concentration) than, say, an API SL oil which was developed in 2000.

Secondly, oils of the same API rating can be made to just meet the specifications, or made to greatly exceed the specifications. However, unless you can see the full engine test results, it is impossible to tell the degree to which these oils pass the specification. Only in-service experience will tell which is the superior product. Thirdly, there is the issue of cost recovery. Qualifying an oil to meet the latest ratings is an extremely expensive business. The oil manufacturer must recover these costs before the introduction of the next API specification, which can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

12. What is meant by the term Multigrade?
A) Oils can vary in viscosity (thickness) at a given temperature. Oils falling into different viscosity ranges are given a number by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). The numbers start at 0 and go up to 60 - the higher the number, the thicker the oil. However, you may have noticed that some numbers (between 0 and 25) are followed by the letter "W". The "W" stands for winter and a "W" grade oil flows better at low temperatures. Non-"W" grade oils are for when the engine is hot and are designed to be thicker at these higher temperatures, (measured at 100°C) to keep moving surfaces from wearing. This designation system originates in the 1920s in the USA, where a thin oil was needed in winter so that it would flow easily. A non-"W" grade was needed in summer because the hotter conditions required a thicker oil to provide engine protection. Oils had to be changed at least twice a year - once for winter and once for summer. Today, with the use of special additives, we can make oil that will match both the thickness of a "W" grade in cold conditions and a non-"W" grade in hot conditions. We call this oil a Multigrade and give it two viscosity numbers such as SAE 15W-40 or SAE 20W-50. The "W" number describes how the oil flows at low temperatures and the non-"W" number describes how thick it is at higher temperatures. In this case, the 20W-50 oil would generally be thicker than the first in both cold conditions and in hot conditions because both of the numbers are higher.

13. Can an engine oil affect fuel economy?
A) The broad answer is yes. Generally, oils of lower viscosity will help to improve fuel economy because the moving parts in an engine will not have to overcome the internal resistance of a thicker oil. This would mean that more energy could be used to drive the wheels or, alternatively, less fuel would be required to get to your destination. This is only part of the story, because although a thinner oil will offer less resistance to movement of the engine parts, you need to have an oil that will be thick enough to prevent the moving metal surfaces from touching when the oil gets hot.

14. When I change my oil I notice that the colour of the old oil is black. Does this mean that the oil has failed?

A) The fact that the oil is black is a good sign and is doing one of its most important jobs, which is to clean away the deposits and contaminants that can form in the engine during the combustion process. If the drain oil is relatively light in colour, then change to a better brand of oil as it means that the oil is low in detergency, cleaning power and is not doing its job of keeping the internal parts of the engine in good working order - all the contaminants are in the engine and not in the drain oil.

15. Is it true that the colour of the grease indicate the performance?

A) No. Grease colour has no direct relationship with either additive level or performance. Dyes can be added to give a particular colour to a grease or to darken it. EP additive, MoS2, Graphite and base oil may influence colour in undyed grease.

16. Is it okay to buy oil from any source?
A) Oil has to be bought only from reliable sources else one will end up using inferior quality products resulting in damage of engine.

17. Why I need to use special 4T oil for my 4 Stroke Motor Cycle Engines?
A) Two Wheeler / 3 Wheeler engines are air-cooled engines unlike the passenger car engines which are cooled by water or by a coolant. The Engines are effectively cooled by the air drag across the engines while the vehicle is in motion. The Engine operating temperatures exponentially shoots up when the vehicle speeds are reduced or the vehicle is stopped since the air drag drastically reduces under these conditions as encountered in a typical city operating conditions. Secondly these vehicles use wet clutch mechanism and the same engine oil lubricates the engine, the wet clutch and the gears. So oil with high Friction Modifier used in Engine Oil will lead to clutch slippage. The Oil used for Four Stroke engines, Two Wheeler / Three Wheeler, need to take care of the higher temperature operating condition as well as it should have controlled friction characteristics to take care of the wet clutch requirement. At the same time it should have reduced friction characteristics as required by the Engines & gears. Servo 4T Oil is specially developed to meet these special requirements of this class of vehicles.

18. Why there are many types of Engine Oils in the market for Petrol & Diesel Engines?

A) The development in the Vehicle Engine Technology is moving in a fast pace to take care of the higher power, compact size and the latest emission requirement. Due to these continuous development in the field of Engine Technology, the speed of the engines increases, the oil sump capacity becomes lower & lower, after treatment of the exhaust gases has been introduced (Catalytic Converter, particulate filter etc.). To keep in pace with the development in the Engine technology, the oil performance level also has to be continuously improved to meet the additional requirement. American Petroleum Institute (API) and various International organization sets standard for the Engine Oil to suit the requirement of the development in Engine Technology. API Oils are classified as SA, SB,….SF, SG, SJ, SL, SM for Petrol Engines and as CA, CB,…. CD, CF4, CG4, CH4, CI-4 for Diesel Engines. Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., markets oil meeting the latest API & Other international & Indian Standards for use in all type of petrol & Diesel engines.