Was just reading up on oil viscosity again and I came across this. Talk about a smart product. It basically solves the problem of engine start-up wear totally!!
What the additive manufacturers tell you is true - when you start your engine, there really is very little oil in the right place - most of it is in the sump. There is another alternative. I found a site called AutoEngineLube.com and they seem to be offering an interesting alternative. They have a system which uses a cylinder of pressurised oil and a solenoid valve, all connected to the regular oil system. It works with only one moving part, (the solenoid valve - duh!). When the key is turned on it opens the valve and the oil that was trapped in the tank the previous time it was running goes back into the oil gallery in 1 or 2 seconds and the low oil pressure light will flash off. There's likely to still be a little lag before full-on lubrication gets to the main bearings, but from what I can tell, this system will massively reduce that lag compared to starting from cold - it pressurises the system before the starter engages. Of course an engine that has set up for a few months and is completely dry will take a few more seconds. When the engine is turned off the solenoid valve shuts off in 30 milliseconds so you end up with pressure on the tank equal to the pressure the last time it was running. The tank will hold more than enough oil to accomplish this. Its completely over engineered as the tank is rated for over a thousand pounds and the hose is good for 300lb. Because the valve is designed for an industrial application with an expected duty life of several million cycles, AutoEngineLube give it a lifetime warranty. It only uses previously filtered oil from the gallery so no damage can be done by it in any way.
Their system comes as a kit and requires some menial installation - most savvy home mechanics should be able to do it. I'm not sure how it would affect the warranty on a car engine. In theory, if it works, it ought to make no difference but you know what manufacturers are like - if you even sneeze on your engine, it's likely to void the warranty.
Pop over and check them out if you're interested. If you end up buying one of these, I'd like to know what sort of results you get so I can add an objective review to my site. www.AutoEngineLube.com can be found here. Another site sells a similar product, but electrical - www.PreLuber.com can be found here.
Their system comes as a kit and requires some menial installation - most savvy home mechanics should be able to do it. I'm not sure how it would affect the warranty on a car engine. In theory, if it works, it ought to make no difference but you know what manufacturers are like - if you even sneeze on your engine, it's likely to void the warranty.
Pop over and check them out if you're interested. If you end up buying one of these, I'd like to know what sort of results you get so I can add an objective review to my site. www.AutoEngineLube.com can be found here. Another site sells a similar product, but electrical - www.PreLuber.com can be found here.
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