They say if the engine is considered a heart, then motor oil is surely the blood that flows through it. The following notion explained the unbreakable relation between both.
Motor oil lubricates the engine and prevents wear and tear along with maintaining its temperature.
If for some reason oil operation is disrupted, it could cause some serious damage to the engine or total seizure as well.
Based on the nature of their base oils, motor oils can broadly be classified into three categories i.e., conventional made of crude oil, synthetically made of imitation hydrocarbons, and mixed which are a mixture of both the previous types.
However whichever type the oil maybe there are a few criteria that any oil must fulfill to be declared a good motor oil.
These standards are set by automotive engineers who have defined parameters to ensure that the baseline performance is secured.
We will be seeing all these parameters along with discussing which brands don’t follow which ones.
Table of Contents
How does the brand of Motor Oil affect the performance of the engine?
Other than different oil blends there are chemical formulas and manufacturing processes that are employed by motor oil companies to enhance the quality and performance of their products.
This makes each motor oil unique and highly separable from the other.
Therefore, it does matter a lot which brand of motor oil you are using in your vehicle.
Choosing the perfect Motor Oil
Additives
The additives are the backbone of any motor oil, both their quantity and quality matter in this regard.
Be careful! As few oils are available on market without any additives.
Such products are to be avoided at any cost because they were created for vehicles manufactured before the 1930s and could harm your modern vehicle.
API Rating
It’s the rating given by American Petroleum Institute to all Motor Oils which are according to the compatibility with certain engine types, and they also define the period in between which the vehicles were manufactured. For example, SM is the highest API rating which is for gasoline engines made from 2004 to onwards.
ILSAC Rating
International Lubricant Standardization and Approval committee gives specific ratings to the manufacturers who meet the special demands. Its highest rating is GF-6A.
Oil Type
Synthetic and semi-synthetic oils are more efficient than conventional ones as they not only have a higher capacity to hold additives but have provided extra chemical strength that increases the thermal resistance and decreases the oil’s volatility.
Viscosity Rating
Viscosity rating denotes the viscosity at both cold and hot temperatures. We must decide which one to use according to our ambient temperature as each multi-grade viscosity has both upper and lower temperature ranges. Find the ones whose range best coincides with the temperate hot and cold extremes of our area.
Resistance
The compounds in oil must be highly resistant to breaking down during high temperature and pressure situations.
Cleaning Action
The detergents and dispersants are responsible for cleaning sludge and other impurities that may appear in the oil over time.
Anti-Corrosive Properties
Anti-corrosive agents are present in the oil to prevent the corrosion of metallic parts in the engine since water is also present as an impurity in oil which can trigger corrosion. Therefore, always make sure that oil comes with anti-corrosive agents.
Pollution Free
It should not be producing any type of pollution and keeping the environment clean.
Engine Temperature Cooling
The oil with high thermal conductivity is recommended since it can efficiently cool your engine and prevent it from getting blown off. Oil with high hot viscosity will be able to properly disperse heat at high operating temperatures.
Volatility
The rate at which an oil vaporizes due to the presence of short or simple molecules is called its volatility rate. Choose an oil with lesser volatility for a higher life and longer oil change intervals.
List of Bad Motor Oil Brands to avoid
This is a list of a few brands which have been found to violate any of the must-haves of motor oils and are considered harmful if used to lubricate the engine.
- Any Departmental Store House Brand
- Bullseye Motor Oil
- Everclear Motor Oil
- Liberty Motor Oil
- Mag 5 Star Motor Oil
- Mileage 365 Motor Oil
- Petrola Motor Oil
- Q10 – 40 Motor oil
- Quaker State Q
- Questron
- Rev 360 Motor Oil
- STP Motor Oil
- Xcel Motor Oil
- Xpress lube Pro
Causes to avoid Bad Motor Oil Brands
| Issues | Experienced in Oils of Brands |
| Low Viscosity Level | Liberty Motor Oil Petrola Motor Oil Bullseye Motor Oil Rev 360 Motor Oil Q10 – 40 Motor oil |
| High Volatility Level | Liberty Motor Oil Quaker State Q Questron Petrola Motor Oil Everclear Motor Oil |
| Bad Quality | Liberty Motor Oil Quaker State Q Questron Q10 – 40 Motor oil Xcel Motor Oil Bullseye Motor Oil STP Motor Oil Any Departmental Store House Brands |
| Expensive | Quaker State Q |
| Not Suitable for new models | Petrola Motor Oil Xpress lube Pro Mag 5 Star Motor Oil |
| Improper SAE grading Classification / Wrong Information / No ratings given | Xpress lube Pro Bullseye Motor Oil Petrola Motor Oil Questron Liberty Motor Oil Quaker State Q Everclear Motor Oil |
| Impurities | Xpress lube Pro Mileage 365 Motor Oil Mag 5 Star Motor Oil Everclear Motor Oil |
| Makes Engine Noisy | Questron |
| Insufficient Lubrication | Questron Bullseye Motor Oil Quaker State Q Questron Liberty Motor Oil |
| Lack of adequate number of Additives | Bullseye Motor Oil Xcel Motor Oil Liberty Motor Oil Bullseye Motor Oil Q10 – 40 Motor oil Xcel Motor Oil Mag 5 Star Motor Oil |
| Poor Quality of Additives | Xpress lube Pro |
| Low Viscosity Index | Xcel Motor Oil Q10 – 40 Motor oil Xcel Motor Oil Rev 360 Motor Oil Liberty Motor Oil |
| Poor Performance | Xpress lube Pro |
| Too much Phosphorus | Rev 360 Motor Oil |
| Not API or ILSAC approved | Xpress lube Pro Mileage 365 Motor Oil |
| Increases fuel Consumption | Petrola Motor Oil |
Recognizing Bad Motor Oil Brand
There is no hard and fast rule to detect whether this motor oil is bad or not but there are a few tricks that can help us to choose the right one. Few of these are
- Price is one of the biggest factors as you can’t expect very cheap oil to perform well.
- The second is irrelevant or missing information on the bottle which certainly arise suspension.
- No API or ILSAC certification is also a big NO as they surely aren’t up to the mark.
- Any department store brand which has nothing to do with the oil production business should also be avoided.
Conclusion
In this article we have covered the importance of engine oil, their types, and factors to consider them and of course the oil brands to avoid.
In the end, we have shared a list of brands that are considered trustworthy by the automotive community and have established their reputation as reliable and efficient manufacturers of Motor Oils.
We hope our article will help you to first; avoid all the bad motor oil brands and second; choose the one which best suits your vehicle.