I wanted to share with the group what I learned yesterday in school. We had a guest speaker that is a Triboligist and Lubrication Engineer. I sat in a morning seminar for the students and an afternoon seminar for the instructors. That speaker was Lake Speed Jr. His father is Lake Speed that was a full time NASCAR driver. Lake Sr. is the only American to ever win the World Karting Championship. He beat Ayrton Senna for that Championship. Back to Lake Jr. He describes himself as "an oil geek". He has worked in several NASCAR teams as the oil engineer. He was with Joe Gibbs Racing as the Oil Engineer when they spent untold hours and a couple of million dollars, testing engine oils on the engine dyno.
He covered every aspect of lubrication. Here is a compilation of his seminars. For the morning we covered lubrication and oil analysis in the afternoon.
Engine oil consist of base crude oils and additives. There are only 4 companies that manufacture oil additive in the world. They then sell there products to oil marketers. Meaning all the "brand names" that we are familiar with. They then blend there special blends and bottle them. Now there is a basic testing methods for the quality of oils. They have to meet API specs to bare the API donut that is on the bottle. Now all the donut means is that this particular oil meets the minimum standards of the rating. It can be better than the minimum but it doesn't have to be. And over the counter additives, as much of us already know, are snake oil... He was serious about all the crazy over the counter stuff being useless or actually bad for the engine. He cringed when Slick 50 was brought up. He really disliked the bearing test guy we have seen at the car shows and swap meets. The problem is that the bearing test is bearing steel on bearing steel. No where in the engine do we have bearing steel. Some rear gears are made of bearing steel. If you substituted the bearing guys snake oil with regular gear oil you would show a huge reduction in friction over his snake oil.
I am sure that some of us know and some of us don't that the W in the value stands for Winter not weight. So a 5W-30 oil is capable of flowing at a viscosity value of 5 at start up at -35 Celsius in the winter and maintaining a full lubrication value of 30 at 100 Celsius.
The Winter value is tested by placing the oil in a beaker and taking it down to the required temp and then a rotor, much like a paint mixer, is turned to measure the drag created by the oil. This is measured in centipoise (cP).
The summer value is tested by bringing the oil up to 100 Celsius and then drawing it up through a capillary tube using vacuum. The capillary tube is between 2 round globes and the value is determined by the rate of flow through the capillary from one globe down into the other. Basically the same principle as an Hour Glass. This is measured in centistokes (kinematic viscosity).
Here is a chart that he used in his presentation.
In the right of the chart is a smaller chart. He referenced this small chart several times showing the 3 lubrication phases of oil in an engine. You can see the left side is coefficient of friction and the bottom is Viscosity X Speed divided by Load or PSI. The top line is the Boundary, Mixed and Hydrodynamic lubrication phases of the oil. It also shows what is lubricated in each phase. The boundary is nothing but additive that have been added to the oil. This is start up when there is no oil flow and the most wear occurring. The mixed is cold operation and the transition up to operating temperature. The hydrodynamic is what he called "full film". This is running at operating temperature under full oil pressure. The point of the oil viscosity transition from mixed to hydrodynamic is the critical point and the dyno testing by Joe Gibbs Racing showed that by just moving to the right of that point on the chart was the optimal point for horsepower and reduced wear. Anything to the left of that point led to "oil pan failure". He explained that as rods through the pan...
2 things that he stressed were matching the viscosity to the engine and using an oil temperature gauge. He said that engine clearances when you are building it determine the viscosity needs. Small clearance needs lighter - lower viscosity oils. Larger clearances need heavier - higher viscosity oils. The oil temp also dictates viscosity. The pump just moves fluid. It does not create pressure. The restrictions in the engine make "back" pressure on the pump. Bearing clearances and the valve train are the restrictions. Squeezing the oil through the restrictions produces heat. So by using an oil temperature gauge you can change viscosity and see the temperature change.
The third thing that you need is Oil Analysis. A proper oil analysis will provide you everything that you need to know about your oils lubrication and your engines wear. He never brought it up in the seminars other than how much an oil analysis would/could tell you but when I asked him, after he was done, for a good source to get oil analysis done he offered 3 different sources and they were Caterpillar, Blackstone and Speediagnostix. He showed what you get back from each. Cat gives you some numbers and you have to figure it out for your self. Blackstone gives you some numbers and a couple of sentences about the findings. Speediagnostix gives you all the numbers and a full description of what is found. Speediagnostix is a company started by Lake Speeds daughter. He set it up and laid out the parameters so that you got everything that is possible in your oil analysis. https://www.speediagnostix.com/
He gave a good demonstration about the value of oil analysis. The NASCAR teams break in an engine, take an oil sample. Run a race, take an oil sample. This shows the initial wear and the wear under load. Your daily driver can be sampled at regular oil changes or specific mileage intervals. He told about running 0W-12 oil in his personal Chevrolet truck and the oil analysis showed no difference in wear with the light oil. What he did see was a significant increase in fuel mileage.
He couldn't stress enough the importance of matching the viscosity to the engines intended purpose. He gave the examples of a Pro Stock engine, A NASCAR engine and a Sprint Car engine. Pro Stocks engines run short stints and generate low oil temps, thus they need low viscosity oil. They only produce about 100 degrees Fahrenheit in oil temp so they run a 0W - 5 oil. NASCAR engines run around 220 degrees Fahrenheit oil temps and use a 5W - 20 oil. Sprint car engines run 300 degrees Fahrenheit oil temps and use a 15W - 50 oil.
Break in oil is a must for a fresh engine and he recommends using a high ZDDP oil. Once its broken in get it out and use the oil that the engine needs. If its a daily driver use a synthetic oil in the new engine. If it is going to be a cruiser and a track day car use the synthetic. If it is going to be a cruiser that only goes to car shows then just use Dino oil and save the money. If it is a flat tappet hot rod then use a proper hot rod oil with zinc. He said that engine seals take on the type of oil they see everyday. If you are running Dino oil and switch to Synthetic the seals are going to leak. Run synthetic from the start after break in or run Dino oils. Don't swap back and forth.
I am sure that other things that he talked about will come back to my mind as this is discussed and I will add to this as I can.
Please start a discussion about this and relate your experiences or knowledge about oils. I am sure that I have left things out and possibly have missed a quote of his. But to the best of my memory this is all accurate.
I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Lake speak and he has oil videos on YouTube if you search. He is currently working at Driven Racing Oil. Driven Racing Oil? - Performance Oils, Lubricants, & Cleaners
I hope some of you find this helpful to you.
Doug
He covered every aspect of lubrication. Here is a compilation of his seminars. For the morning we covered lubrication and oil analysis in the afternoon.
Engine oil consist of base crude oils and additives. There are only 4 companies that manufacture oil additive in the world. They then sell there products to oil marketers. Meaning all the "brand names" that we are familiar with. They then blend there special blends and bottle them. Now there is a basic testing methods for the quality of oils. They have to meet API specs to bare the API donut that is on the bottle. Now all the donut means is that this particular oil meets the minimum standards of the rating. It can be better than the minimum but it doesn't have to be. And over the counter additives, as much of us already know, are snake oil... He was serious about all the crazy over the counter stuff being useless or actually bad for the engine. He cringed when Slick 50 was brought up. He really disliked the bearing test guy we have seen at the car shows and swap meets. The problem is that the bearing test is bearing steel on bearing steel. No where in the engine do we have bearing steel. Some rear gears are made of bearing steel. If you substituted the bearing guys snake oil with regular gear oil you would show a huge reduction in friction over his snake oil.
I am sure that some of us know and some of us don't that the W in the value stands for Winter not weight. So a 5W-30 oil is capable of flowing at a viscosity value of 5 at start up at -35 Celsius in the winter and maintaining a full lubrication value of 30 at 100 Celsius.
The Winter value is tested by placing the oil in a beaker and taking it down to the required temp and then a rotor, much like a paint mixer, is turned to measure the drag created by the oil. This is measured in centipoise (cP).
The summer value is tested by bringing the oil up to 100 Celsius and then drawing it up through a capillary tube using vacuum. The capillary tube is between 2 round globes and the value is determined by the rate of flow through the capillary from one globe down into the other. Basically the same principle as an Hour Glass. This is measured in centistokes (kinematic viscosity).
Here is a chart that he used in his presentation.
In the right of the chart is a smaller chart. He referenced this small chart several times showing the 3 lubrication phases of oil in an engine. You can see the left side is coefficient of friction and the bottom is Viscosity X Speed divided by Load or PSI. The top line is the Boundary, Mixed and Hydrodynamic lubrication phases of the oil. It also shows what is lubricated in each phase. The boundary is nothing but additive that have been added to the oil. This is start up when there is no oil flow and the most wear occurring. The mixed is cold operation and the transition up to operating temperature. The hydrodynamic is what he called "full film". This is running at operating temperature under full oil pressure. The point of the oil viscosity transition from mixed to hydrodynamic is the critical point and the dyno testing by Joe Gibbs Racing showed that by just moving to the right of that point on the chart was the optimal point for horsepower and reduced wear. Anything to the left of that point led to "oil pan failure". He explained that as rods through the pan...
2 things that he stressed were matching the viscosity to the engine and using an oil temperature gauge. He said that engine clearances when you are building it determine the viscosity needs. Small clearance needs lighter - lower viscosity oils. Larger clearances need heavier - higher viscosity oils. The oil temp also dictates viscosity. The pump just moves fluid. It does not create pressure. The restrictions in the engine make "back" pressure on the pump. Bearing clearances and the valve train are the restrictions. Squeezing the oil through the restrictions produces heat. So by using an oil temperature gauge you can change viscosity and see the temperature change.
The third thing that you need is Oil Analysis. A proper oil analysis will provide you everything that you need to know about your oils lubrication and your engines wear. He never brought it up in the seminars other than how much an oil analysis would/could tell you but when I asked him, after he was done, for a good source to get oil analysis done he offered 3 different sources and they were Caterpillar, Blackstone and Speediagnostix. He showed what you get back from each. Cat gives you some numbers and you have to figure it out for your self. Blackstone gives you some numbers and a couple of sentences about the findings. Speediagnostix gives you all the numbers and a full description of what is found. Speediagnostix is a company started by Lake Speeds daughter. He set it up and laid out the parameters so that you got everything that is possible in your oil analysis. https://www.speediagnostix.com/
He gave a good demonstration about the value of oil analysis. The NASCAR teams break in an engine, take an oil sample. Run a race, take an oil sample. This shows the initial wear and the wear under load. Your daily driver can be sampled at regular oil changes or specific mileage intervals. He told about running 0W-12 oil in his personal Chevrolet truck and the oil analysis showed no difference in wear with the light oil. What he did see was a significant increase in fuel mileage.
He couldn't stress enough the importance of matching the viscosity to the engines intended purpose. He gave the examples of a Pro Stock engine, A NASCAR engine and a Sprint Car engine. Pro Stocks engines run short stints and generate low oil temps, thus they need low viscosity oil. They only produce about 100 degrees Fahrenheit in oil temp so they run a 0W - 5 oil. NASCAR engines run around 220 degrees Fahrenheit oil temps and use a 5W - 20 oil. Sprint car engines run 300 degrees Fahrenheit oil temps and use a 15W - 50 oil.
Break in oil is a must for a fresh engine and he recommends using a high ZDDP oil. Once its broken in get it out and use the oil that the engine needs. If its a daily driver use a synthetic oil in the new engine. If it is going to be a cruiser and a track day car use the synthetic. If it is going to be a cruiser that only goes to car shows then just use Dino oil and save the money. If it is a flat tappet hot rod then use a proper hot rod oil with zinc. He said that engine seals take on the type of oil they see everyday. If you are running Dino oil and switch to Synthetic the seals are going to leak. Run synthetic from the start after break in or run Dino oils. Don't swap back and forth.
I am sure that other things that he talked about will come back to my mind as this is discussed and I will add to this as I can.
Please start a discussion about this and relate your experiences or knowledge about oils. I am sure that I have left things out and possibly have missed a quote of his. But to the best of my memory this is all accurate.
I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Lake speak and he has oil videos on YouTube if you search. He is currently working at Driven Racing Oil. Driven Racing Oil? - Performance Oils, Lubricants, & Cleaners
I hope some of you find this helpful to you.
Doug
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