Getting the Basics Right: Base Oils
Getting the Basics Right: Base Oils Lubrication has been around since the invention of the wheel. Horse-drawn carts with wooden axles used meat greases, pine tar and various forms of animal fat as lubricants. Later, Linseed oil, originally a wood preserver, briefly replaced them as the primary lubrication agent. The earliest internal combustion engines used a product derived from refined crude oil. This was the beginning of the modern base oil. As IC engines became more complex and operated at higher speeds and temperatures, there was a need for better lubrication that could keep up with modern engines. So, additives were supplemented with the base oils. This combination had improved viscosity and protected the engines from wear, friction and resisted corrosion better. In modern cars, the base oil is still the primary catalyst for better engine performance. It forms 75%-80% of the finished product while the additives (10%-20%) and the viscosity index improver, which keeps t...