South Star Chrysler

Why do we need oil?
We put oil in our engines to serve several purposes. First, obviously, oil acts as a lubricant. If your engine is operating correctly, there is almost no metal to metal contact - everything is riding on a thin film of oil. However, oil has several other important jobs to do. Oil circulates throughout your engine, and cools parts that cannot get near a water jacket. For example, it's becoming common in sport bikes to spray oil on the underside of the piston to cool it. There are no water jackets at all in your transmission. Motorcycle transmissions are oil cooled.
Your piston rings do not do a perfect job of sealing. Some combustion by products will slip past the rings into the engine. This can be little particles of carbon. Remember, diamond is carbon that was combined under heat and pressure. These little carbon particles can be quite damaging to your engine. Another job of your oil is to hold these particles in suspension until the oil filter can grab them. Also, if your gasoline has sulphur in it (it does), this sulphur can react with water and oxygen to make sulphuric acid. This is some stuff that is seriously bad for your engine. Your oil has special ingredients in it called buffers to neutralize acids. Finally, your engine can get internal build ups of tars, waxes, and other gunk. Your oil has solvents to try to dissolve this stuff and get and keep your engine clean.

What does my oil actually do?
Oil is the lifeblood of your engine. It reduces friction, lessens wear, provides lubrication, forms a seal between the pistons, rings and cylinder walls while helping to cool engine parts.  Engine oil even dampens the shock and noise of moving parts.Engine oil must also be able to hold all the 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.  Without the cleaning action of new oil, carbon and varnish buildup would be toxic to the engine.

Why regular oil changes are so important? What will happen if I miss my oil change?
 Engine oil has limited life - after a certain point it starts losing lubricating qualities and carbonizes. Once this happens, the engine gets contaminated with carbon deposits and sludge that significantly shorten engine's life. When you change oil at or before manufacturer suggested interval, you change the oil before this "carbonizing" point.  If the engine oil doesn?t get changed on a regular basis, carbon deposits start clogging the oil pick-up screen decreasing oil supply and increasing friction. Through the engine ventilation system the same carbon deposits build up inside the throttle body and EGR system causing rough idle and possible check engine light. Compression decreases and engine start wearing much faster.

Which oil is right for your car?
The simplest and safest way to find out is to check your owner's manual...or talk to your experts at South Star Chrysler.  Most cars on the road today use multi-viscosity oil - one that can work efficiently in cold and hot weather. A multi-grade oil is rated by two numbers, such as 5W-30.

Why are 5W-30 and 5w-20 oils so popular?
Many vehicles today come from the factory with 5W-30 or 5w-20 engine oil. Vehicle manufacturers recommend them because they are lighter oils that perform well in a range of temperatures and help improve gas mileage.

Why viscosity is a concern?
Each engine oil comes with a classification indicating its viscosity, which is its resistance to flow. In a multi-grade oil, the first number indicates how the oil will flow when it is cold. The lower the number, the lighter the oil and the better it will perform at lower temperatures. The second number indicates the thickness of that same oil at high temperatures. For example, a 5W-30 oil will flow as a 5-weight oil at zero degrees Fahrenheit and as a 30-weight oil at 210 degrees Fahrenheit.  During cold starting, only a small amount of oil is present in the upper parts of engines. To lessen the friction on engine parts, such as the valve train, pistons, overhead cam and cam bearings, a lower viscosity allows the oil to reach the components more quickly and flow freely.

What are Synthetic oils?
Not all motor engine oils are 100% petroleum. Synthetic oils, which are primarily chemically compounded lubricants, are also available. They can provide:
- Higher viscosity stability over a wider temperature range
- Reduced oil thickening
- Reduced wear and increased load-carrying ability.

Should I Use Synthetic Oil In My Car?
The answer is complicated. It depends on the vehicle's age, mileage, and the carmaker's recommendations for engine lubricants. Older vehicles with high mileage tend to have excessive mechanical wear in the engine, allowing for internal oil leakage. On vehicles with high mileage, it is not recommended to use full synthetic oil because it is thin and very free flowing, and use of it does (more often than not) result in internal oil combustion.
In most cases, from the manufacturer, you will find that a synthetic lubricant is used when there's a high performance engine with tight engine tolerances, high compression, and high operating temperatures. Follow your owner's manual for motor oil recommendations.  The new Dodge 6.1 Hemi and Chrysler Crossfire engines both call for Synthetic oil.

Since synthetic oil has fewer impurities, better properties at high temperatures than natural oil, slightly better viscosity, and is more resistant to breakdown, synthetic is better for an many engines.  Another thing to consider is that it can cost 2-3 times as much as conventional oil per quart. However it lasts longer, so the actual cost increase is closer to 50 - 60 percent.  However, whether or not it?s better for your engine depends:
 - If the manual says to change your oil every 3000 miles, do you have the oil changed at 2999.9? If you follow an oil change regimen, chances are you won?t benefit from synthetic oil. Synthetic oil is highly resistant to breakdown and sludge forming. However, most oil won?t fully breakdown unless excessive time and/or mileage passes between changes. Because many of the benefits of synthetic oil over regular oil don?t show until the oils subjected to adverse conditions, you really won?t see any benefit from synthetic unless you stress the oil. If you are the type that might forget an oil change, or if maybe you don?t get to changing your oil right at 3000 (or within 500 miles of 3000), then you can buy a little insurance against engine damage by using synthetic oil.

What is the best way to check the oil level?
If your engine is cold (for example it has been parked overnight) you can check the oil level right away. The oil will have had time to settle back into the oil pan.   Make sure the car is level before you do. If the engine is warm or hot (after you've been driving) then you should wait a few minutes to let as much oil as possible drain from the top of the engine back down into the oil pan.

It is very possible that if you check the dipstick just after shutting down the engine, you may get an erroneous reading.  This happens because a quantity of oil, up to a quart, is still confined in the oilways and passages of the engine, and takes some time to drain back into the oil pan on the bottom of the engine.  A common problem is to check the oil before it has had time to fully drain back to the oil pan and then see what appears to be a low level on the dipstick.  This in turn results in adding more oil which causes the engine to be over-filled with oil.  Overfilling your engine with to much oil can cause problems which are addressed below.

On Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep products, the the dipstick will have a yellow handle that says "Engine Oil".  Hook a finger through the yellow loop and pull the dipstick all the way out.  Use a paper towel or rag to wipe the dipstick clean so that you will have a clear reading. Insert the dipstick back into its opening and push it firmly all the way back, as far in as it will go.

Pull the dipstick out all the way again, this time reading the oil level. The dipstick has markings on it indicating a range for acceptable oil level (between the scribed lines where it says SAFE). If the oil level is too low, appropriate motor oil must be added before the car should be driven. When you are done, replace the dipstick in its opening, making sure it is fully seated.  If you have any questions, feel free to stop by South Star Chrysler and will will be happy to show you how to check your oil.

What happens when you overfill your engine with oil?
 Depending on the amount of overfill, you could run into an oil aeration problem.  When the oil level is correct, it is really close to the rotating crankshaft.  Oil aeration is caused when the oil level is high enough in the oil pan that the crankshaft dips into the oil and churns it into a foamy mixture. This concoction of air bubbles and oil can be forced into the bearings and doesn?t work well as a lubricant.  The oil looses most of its protection properties in this state and could cause damage to the engine bearings.
Another frequent consequence of overfilling your engine with oil is the crankcase pressure may also increase and eventually you might blow a front or rear main seal.  Along with this excess oil gets thrown up into the piston bores where the piston rings have a hard time coping with the excess oil and pressure. It gets into the combustion chamber and some of it can get out into the exhaust system unburned which can cause problems with your catalytic converter.