Oil Viscosity Grades

When you buy oil, you need to get the right grade for your vehicle. Different engines require oils with different viscosity grades. There are plenty of different grades out there and putting the wrong oil into your vehicle could possibly cause problems. Look in your owner’s manual for guidance on which oil you should have in your vehicle. If you have any further questions, ask a service technician.

Why Oil Viscosity Matters

The working parts of an engine are lubricated with oil. Without oil, or without the right kind of oil, the engine would have more friction, which results in more wear. This in turn means that you’ll have to replace engine parts much more frequently. Oils with a higher viscosity have a higher level of lubrication. However, oil with lower viscosity provides a quicker flow over engine parts.

What the Numbers and Letters Mean

Even if you know that the numbers and letters on the label of a quart of oil refer to the viscosity, you still might not know exactly what those numbers mean. You may see things like SAE 30, or 5W-30. SAE refers to the Society of Automotive Engineers, and the number is one grade of oil (oil grades range from 5 to 50). When you see oil grades with several different numbers it’s a multi-grade oil. Anytime you see the letter W with the numbers, it means the oil will work well in cold weather. Multi-grade oils haven’t always existed. Before, people would have to change their oil depending on the season. The oil you used in summer wasn’t going to work in the winter due to the drop in temperature. Now there are multi-grade oils, and it’s unnecessary to change oil due to temperatures unless you live in an area of the world that has very extreme temperature changes.

Further Oil Questions?

If you have any further questions about oil viscosity grades or what types of oil are right for your vehicle, feel free to contact Hubler’s service department with your questions. Hubler’s certified technicians will be able to answer any questions you have.

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