Posts Tagged: oil film

Motor Oil Viscosity — Which Oil is Best For Your Engine?

Motor oil viscosity can be confusing, so here’s a layperson’s explanation Modern motor oil is multi-viscosity. So it has one “thickness” when it’s cold and a different thickness when hot. That’s why all multi-grade motor oil’s show with two numbers. The first number, the one in front of the “W” (stands for Winter, not Wax) represents the oil’s viscosity at 0°F -17.8°C (its cold start performance). The second number, after the dash (—) represents the oil’s viscosity at 212°F  (100°C). So a multi-grade oil viscosity may be shown as 0W-16, … Read More