Passenger Car Additives
The world leader in passenger car motor oil additives

The Lubrizol Corporation is the world leader in designing, manufacturing and supplying performance additives, or components, for passenger car motor oils. We invented most of the components used in today's motor oils and our components are compatible with the widest range of the world's base oils. Although most components are sold as complete performance packages, we can also help oil marketers custom formulate oils with special performance characteristics to help differentiate their products in the marketplace. In addition, our mechanical testing facilities, among the most sophisticated and extensive in the world, help meet rigorous new specifications in a timely way with comprehensive performance data to support marketing claims. Our products include two categories: components and performance packages.

High-technology components

The purpose of engine oil is to reduce corrosion and wear by reducing friction, oil oxidation and deposit formation. A wide range of sophisticated chemistries is required to do this.

Detergents: Similar to household detergents, except that they work in oil not water. They neutralize impurities in the oil to prevent deposit formation on engine parts. Available in different strengths, they can either prevent further deposits from forming or clean up deposits that have already formed.

Dispersants: These molecules bond to contaminants in the oil to keep them from clumping together. Contaminants are then kept suspended in the oil until they can be removed by a filter or oil change.

Antiwear/Extreme Pressure Agents: These agents bond to metal surfaces to create a strong lubricant film between moving metal parts. This film can withstand extreme heat and mechanical pressure to keep metal parts separated, protecting them from scoring and seizing.

Friction Modifiers: In effect, they make oil more slippery by reducing the friction between moving parts. This both reduces wear and improves fuel efficiency.

Antioxidants: Even highly-refined base oils contain some organic compounds that can decompose in the presence of heat. This destroys an oil's ability to lubricate and results in severe engine deposits. Antioxidants retard this process.

Rust/Corrosion Inhibitors: Prevent the corrosion and rusting of metal parts in contact with the lubricant by neutralizing the effects of water and acid that inevitably contaminate oil during engine operation.

Pour Point Depressants: Allow oil to remain more fluid at lower ambient temperatures. Oil can then reach engine parts more quickly during cold-cranking when the potential for engine wear is great.

Antifoam Agents: Retard the formation of foam in oil that can result from the mechanical action of the engine. Foam reduces an oil's ability to lubricate effectively.

Seal Conditioners: Swell the elastomeric engine seals to prevent fluid leakage.

Metal Deactivators: An inactive film on metal surfaces that reduces the tendency of the metal to react with the oil in ways that increase the rate of oil oxidation.

Viscosity Modifiers: Temperature affects viscosity grade, making an oil either thicker or thinner. This hurts its ability to protect engine parts at temperature extremes. Viscosity modifiers are flow control agents that allow the oil structure to adapt to temperature changes, maintain its grade, and retain its lubricating effectiveness. This is what makes multigrade oils possible.

Creating Performance Packages

For passenger car motor oils, components are not sold individually. Lubrizol formulates them into performance packages to meet various market needs. For instance, in North America virtually all passenger cars have gasoline engines. In Europe, over 40% of passenger cars have diesel engines. In North America, passenger car motor oils are engineered to meet the recommended OEM oil drain intervals of between 3,000 and 7,500 miles depending upon the type of driving—severe or normal. In Europe, oils are engineered for longer drain intervals, often exceeding 20,000 miles. The components needed to meet these needs are usually quite similar, but the way we formulate them into a performance package can be quite different. Our formulated performance packages are then supplied to oil marketers, who blend them with base oil, viscosity modifier, and pour point depressant to create the finished motor oil.

The effect of emission's regulation

Since the 1970s, legislation to reduce exhaust emissions has been driving automotive engine design and lubricant innovation. In Europe, imminent Euro 4 standards will require cars to use new forms of exhaust aftertreatment. This, in turn, will require the creation of new oil chemistries.

The International Lubricants Standardization and Approval Committee (ILSAC), a group of international automobile manufacturers, has drafted the ILSAC GF-4 minimum performance standard for gasoline-fueled passenger car engine oils. This standard is designed, primarily, to meet the stringent 2004 U.S. emission requirements. The demands that ILSAC GF-4 will place on oil performance, fuel economy and engine durability are so rigorous that a new class of motor oils will have to be engineered.

Frequently-Asked Questions

Q.What are the main lubrication problems in passenger car engines?
A.Lubrication problems for passenger car engines fall primarily into the following areas:

• Low-temperature or light-duty operation. This is when a car makes a lot of short trips that never allow the engine to reach its optimum operating temperature. Partially burned fuel byproducts can result in sludge deposits and excessive rust.
• High-temperature oxidation. Engine operating temperatures today are extremely high while the amount of oil in the sump is small, as little as four quarts. This severe heat stress on the oil can accelerate oil oxidation, resulting in oil thickening, loss of lubricating properties, varnish and piston deposits.
• Passenger car engines deliver high horsepower in relation to the size and weight of engine components. This places great stress on engine parts such as the valvetrain, which strains to provide the high cam lift and spring loads required for efficiency and high engine speeds.
• The use of air-pollution control devices such as positive crankcase ventilation and exhaust gas recirculation can increase the heat stress on an oil and increase the amount of contaminants in the oil.

All these lubrication problems can be significantly reduced or eliminated by using high-quality oils that are changed at recommended intervals.

Q.How can I be sure I'm getting high-quality oil?
A.Throughout the world there are many differences in the oils. In general, name brand oil meets or exceeds automobile manufacturer specifications, industry standards and governmental regulations. Users should use the type of oil recommended in their vehicle handbook/owners manual or an oil that claims to be approved by the manufacturer of their vehicle. After this, owners may look to an industry standard, such as from JASO, ACEA or API, for guidance. In North America, the American Petroleum Institute (API) licenses the Service Symbol or "doughnut" on oil bottles, telling purchasers the oil's viscosity grade, its service classification and whether or not it is energy conserving. API also licenses the ILSAC Certification Mark or "starburst symbol" to be placed on the front of oil bottles, certifying that those oils are the appropriate oil for gasoline-powered passenger cars, light trucks, minivans and SUVs.