When we think about oil additives, we may not have good perception about these products. Some of us may even think that additives don’t work at all and they are just scam to steal our money. In reality, all motor oils already contain additives. This is especially true for synthetic oil. Additives are designed to address various problems inside out engine, especially if we often operate the car in very severe conditions. In general, we should make sure that there’s always a thin film of oil that coats all moving parts inside our car. Direct contact points between metal surfaces needs to be lubricated to prevent abrasion, reduce heat build up and improve energy efficiency. Additives are needed to make sure that the film of oil is always present on metal surfaces.
If the oil film disappears, then we may get direct contact between metal surfaces. Even if contact happens intermittently due to insufficient lubrication, the cumulative effects can be destructive enough, because it happens with high frequency. In some cases, the heat build up can cause some metal surface to melt and become welded, potentially causing catastrophic failure of the engine. Lack of lubrication can cause high pressure conditions. So, there is a direct correlation why additives are needed to reduce wear and tear. However, it is quite obvious that manufactures of motor oil never really recommend the use of additives to improve the performance of their products. These manufacturers have spent a lot of money and time to ensure the reliability.
However, independent tests show that the use of additives can reduce the rate of wear and tear by about 17 percent. Even so, it’s against their own best interest, if OEM is advising car owners to use additives. Even so, most car manufacturers don’t say that the use of additives will void the warranty. So, this further confirms that additives may have positive impacts on the performance of motor oils. So, it is safe to assume that additives can help to reduce the rate of wear and tear of car engine. However, the effect can vary depending on the type of car and the brand of additives. When choosing additives, it is important to choose only products made by well known manufacturers. If the additive is released by a manufacturer that we never heard before, there’s a possibility that it will end up ruining our car.
Most of the time, things already work well without any kind of additives. In reality, your motor oil already contains all the additives that you need. You should get optimum performance that you need to make sure that your car is working in the most appropriate manner. If you are interested in using an additive product for your car, you should read reviews to make sure that it is actually working. The product should work like what’s advertised and more importantly, the product shouldn’t cause any kind problem with the car. It will be really costly if you end up spending thousands of dollars due to damage on your engine and transmission.
