Believe it or not, your car’s engine oil is similar to your life’s blood running through your veins.
The engine oil flows through your car engine, lubricating all movable parts to create a piece of harmonious machinery. Since engine oils are essential for automobile functionality, could something go wrong from using the wrong one?
According to Fuchs lubricants, many car owners in the United States struggle with choosing the appropriate motor oil for their vehicles.
This article will explain the implication of using the wrong engine oil and what to do about it.
What Is Engine Oil?
Engine oil, otherwise known as motor oil, is a liquid substance made from base oils and fortified with additives to give proper lubrication to internal combustion engines and movable motor parts. Interestingly, engine oils are lubrication solutions for cushioning all moving parts of machines.
They are essential for the smooth running of automobile engines and extend the vehicle’s lifespan. Besides lubrication, engine oils protect the engines by preventing corrosion, reducing friction, and keeping the engine cool when in use.
Two primary ingredients are critical for making up most engine oils, whether synthetic or conventional engine oil. They are:
- The Base Stock: The base stock for making engine oil constitutes a more significant percentage of the oil component—about 95 percent of the oil. It keeps the engine’s moving parts lubricated and reduces engine heat as it builds up. Engine oil companies use petroleum, synthetic chemicals, or both materials to produce the base stock for engine oil.
- Oil Additives: The remaining 5 percent of the engine oil is the oil additives responsible for regulating oil viscosity, reducing friction, keeping it clean, and protecting movable parts from wearing off. For instance, a typical oil additive like magnesium sulphonates help break down engine sludge and impurities.
What Happens If You Use Wrong Engine Oil?
Even though engine oils serve the same purpose, they are not all the same. As a result, every motor engine deserves a specific oil to operate smoothly. You could run into some difficulties when you use the wrong engine oil.
Engine oil types or specs are critical to your car engine’s smooth running and longevity. This is why your car owner’s manual specifies a particular engine oil for your vehicle in your best interest. Using a different engine oil—not specified by your car manual is wrong and could cost you.
Here is what happens if you use the wrong engine oil:
Oil Leak
An oil leak is a tendency for engine oil to sip into smaller areas/ crevices within the car engine. It is one of the earliest signs of using the wrong engine oil and creates a huge mess. You will notice some oil droplets or spots under your car and below your car parking spot. Although oil leaks may not sound critical to your car’s life span, it is a bad sign for you since it means an oil shortage. As a result, you will have to top your engine oil, resulting in considerable expenses repeatedly.
Oil leaks are usually due to a viscosity mismatch between your car’s engine and your oil type. The oil viscosity refers to the thickness or thinness of the engine oil. Some vehicles are designed to run on thicker oils or thinner oils depending on the car’s type, brand, era, and climate condition of the car’s environment. For example, higher mileage or older vehicles of the 1960s/1970s use thicker oils for protection and engine sealing.
Additionally, cars designed for hotter climates use thicker oils because the high temperature creates an increased burning rate capable of quickly wearing off the oil. In contrast, lower mileage, more recent vehicle models, and vehicles for temperate regions use thinner oils. Sometimes, higher mileage or older vehicle engines run better on conventional oils and may result in gasket and seal leakage if the oil is too light, as with most synthetic oils.
Engine Overheating
Since cooling your engine when in use is one of the functions of engine oil, using the wrong one can lead to engine overheating. It is a common vehicular problem in hot or tropical environments resulting from excessive/rapid combustion of the engine parts or oil.
If the oil is too thick for the engine, it will create a higher flow resistance, leading to an inability for the oil to fully circulate and produce engine coolness. Similarly, the hot weather can lead to rapid oil breakdown and burning instead of lubrication if the oil is too thin. Engine overheating damages metal components of the vehicle in the long run due to increased friction.
Reduced Fuel Economy
The thinner your engine oil, the more fuel-efficient it is. A thicker or more viscous oil causes the engine to utilize more energy to burn it, causing a continuous drop in fuel economy. Additionally, a thicker engine oil creates more resistance between moving parts and can potentially wear down critical parts of the engine. Therefore, it is advisable to use the engine oil recommended by your car manual to ensure that you use your vehicle’s ideal oil type and viscosity.
Cause Damage to Engine Life
Continuous metal-to-metal contact due to friction is bad for your engine lifespan because it leads to the wearing of the engine parts. Using the wrong oil, either too thick or too thin, often leads to inadequate or insufficient lubrication of the engine parts. Prolonged friction between hot moving engine parts can lead to a final breakdown.
What to do when you Use the Wrong Engine Oil
When you realize you used the wrong oil or notice any of the problems associated with using the wrong engine oil, you should report to your local mechanic. The direct line of action is to change the wrong oil to the appropriate one for your car engine. You also can check the owner’s manual to know the proper oil used for your car. Even though your car might still run on the wrong oil, it requires immediate attention to prevent further long-term damage to your engine.
Final Thoughts
Oil viscosity is a critical element for determining the perfect type of engine oil for your car engine. As a result, there is no overemphasizing the relevance of your car owner’s manual. It contains the most relevant details about the engine oil type and viscosity range. Alternatively, your local mechanic can help you with essential advice on the best engine oil to use for the smooth running of your vehicle.
Tim Miller is a mechanic and car blogger from Denver, Colorado. He’s the Editor-in-Chief of obdadvisor.com, an automotive blog.
He has had over 10 years of experience in the car repair and maintenance field. He has been writing articles to share his experiences and expertise. Some of his review articles about car parts and tools can be found on his website.
Check him out on Facebook and Twitter.
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.
