Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by 5112121

Finally found a shop selling ACDelco batteries

5112121 — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 22:10:22 +0800

I finally found a shop selling ACDelco batteries

Max Automart Gombak
No 68, JALAN 6/21D,MEDAN IDAMAN GOMBAK OPPOSITE PLAZA IDAMAN,53100 KUALA LUMPUR

Look for the boss Kelvin
0128086801

Online coupons

5112121 — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 10:27:02 +0800

I am wondering if you guys will buy engine oils online from websites like groupons?

of course the engine oil is from a reputable company in USA.

Anyone heard of GoldEagle?

5112121 — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 09:43:47 +0800

As per topic, anyone heard of GoldEagle before?

How to Choose the Right Oil

5112121 — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 16:18:44 +0800

How to Choose the Right Oil

This is probably the number one question that I receive from people. “How do I
know what oil to use for MY vehicle?” There are actually a number of preceding
questions you need to ask yourself long before you can effectively answer this
more general, but extremely important, question.

Motor oil is the most important component of your engine. Without it, your
engine dies. With the wrong oil, your engine dies slowly. Getting it right really
does matter. Use this guide to help you make the best selection possible so that
you can get as much life as possible out of your engine.

MOTOR OIL TYPE

First and foremost, do not overlook the fact that viscosity is not the only criteria
critical to proper motor oil selection. You must choose an oil that is matched to
your application with regards to it's formulation and design, specifically
basestocks and additives used. For example, if you are running a diesel engine,
then you had better be sure the oil you choose is rated for diesel engines.
Similarly, if you are running a gas engine, then the oil should be formulated for
use in gasoline engines.

Of course, sometimes, an oil can be rated for both gas and diesel use. However,
your oil should meet at least the minimum API specifications required for YOUR
vehicle. For instance, if your vehicle manual calls for an API SL oil (which is a
gas engine oil specification), then your oil should specify that it meets/exceeds
that minimum standard (in other words, it should be rated for API SL, SM, ...). It
MAY meet other specifications as well, but it MUST, at a minimum, meet the API
SL specification.

Likewise, if you are running a diesel engine and your owner's manual specifies
that you should only use API CI-4 oils, then you should not use an oil that is
only rated for CH-4. This is not a recent enough specification. However, if the oil
you are considering indicates that it meets API CJ specs, then you're ok, since “J”
comes after “I”. API specs are generally “backwards compatible”, meaning that
the CJ spec also is appropriate for use in vehicles calling for CI, CH, CG, CF, etc.
(all PREVIOUS API diesel classifications).

Moreover, some vehicle manufacturers will specify OEM specific ratings that an
oil must also meet. This is more common with European vehicles, but is
becoming more common with US manufacturers as well. So, if your owner's
manual says that your oil is to meet BMW specification XYZ123, then you had
better make sure that the oil you're considering indicates that it meets that OEM
spec.

SYNTHETIC OR PETROLEUM

This is a question that is actually a relatively critical one IF you have any concern
over how long your vehicle/engine should last. There are plenty of situations
that do NOT warrant the use of synthetic oil, and you may very well be in one of
those situations, depending upon your vehicle, how you drive, where you drive
or how long you intend to keep your vehicle. Of course, it is just as likely that
your situation may very well warrant the use of synthetic oil, and the decision
regarding which you should choose is not necessarily a simple one.

The truth is, there are MANY variables that affect this decision, not the least of
which is just how much trust you put in a synthetic oil to offer enhanced
protection and possibly extended oil drains. Some of the many benefits that
synthetic oils offer can only be taken full advantage of if you actually trust them
to offer those benefits and push the oils beyond what a conventional petroleum
oil could accomplish.

By now, if you've read the preceding chapters of this book, you already know
what you need in order to make an educated decision in this regard.

THE VISCOSITY QUESTION

In most cases you can simply go with the manufacturer's recommended viscosity
grade. Of course, if you're considering a synthetic oil, it is generally very safe to
go to a lesser “w” rating than what is recommended by the manufacturer
(although the higher the quality of the synthetic, the more true that statement is).
For instance, if the manufacturer recommends a 10w30 viscosity (and isn't
already specifying the use of synthetic oil), then you would be safe to use a 5w30
or 0w30 synthetic oil.

Generally (see below for exceptions), if the vehicle manufacturer specifies an
XwY viscosity oil (such as 5w30, where “X” is “5” and “Y” is “30“), under most
circumstances you should stick with the same “Y” value, but can go to a lesser
“X” value to improve cold weather performance and possibly fuel efficiency.

However, in my opinion, you should ONLY do this if you're moving to a
synthetic oil and synthetic is NOT already being specified by the vehicle
manufacturer.

In other words, if your vehicle manufacturer is calling for a 10w30 SYNTHETIC
oil, then, although you MAY be able to go to a 5w30 synthetic oil, I, personally,
would not recommend it without some significant investigation into the issue.
On the other hand, in nearly all cases, if the vehicle manufacturer is calling for a
10w30 oil and does NOT specifically indicate that you should use a synthetic oil,
then, you should be able to EASILY move to a 5w30 synthetic oil, and possibly
even a 0w30 synthetic oil with no trouble at all.

If the manufacturer specifies multiple viscosities that can be used in your vehicle
but does NOT specify the need to use synthetic oil, then a petroleum oil of ANY
of those listed viscosities would be fine, although, the conditions under which
the vehicle will be driven would dictate whether to stay at the “high end” or
“low end” of the viscosity range listed.

Will you be driving in cold temperatures mostly? Go with a lower viscosity.
Congested city driving where engine temps can rise considerably? Heavy
towing (same heat issues)? Do you live in a very hot climate? Stay at the higher
end of the scale.

All of these and other driving conditions should be taken into account in trying
to find the BEST viscosity for your application. However, ANY of the listed
viscosities should be adequate, even if using petroleum oil, since the
manufacturer is not specifying synthetic as being mandatory.

In contrast, if the vehicle OEM is NOT specifically calling for synthetic, but
you're planning on going that direction, then, nearly always, you can safely stick
to the lowest “Y” value listed and could even go to a LOWER “X” value. So, for
instance, if the manufacturer said you could use 10w30 or 10w40 in your vehicle,
unless your application falls under one of the exceptions below, you could safely
stick to an Xw30 oil (using the lowest “Y” value listed) and you could go with a
0w30 or 5w30 oil safely, even though the manufacturer listed only 10w options.

Don't Thicker Oils Offer Greater Protection?

The cop-out answer is SOMETIMES. Thicker isn't always better - even when
using a petroleum oil. Although it is true that heavier viscosity oils (which are
generally thought of as being “thicker”) will hold up better under heavy loads
and high temperatures, this doesn't necessarily make them a better choice for all
applications.

NOTE: When I refer to higher or heavier viscosity oils, I'm referring to the
“second” number of a multi-viscosity specification. In other words, a 10w40
would be heavier than a 10w30 because 40 is higher than 30. I'm not making any
reference to the “w” rating because this doesn't come into play unless you're
referencing cold temperature performance.

You see, on many newer vehicles only 5w30 or 10w30 motor oils are
recommended by the manufacturer. If you choose to use a higher viscosity oil
than what is recommended, at the very least you are likely to reduce
performance of the engine. Fuel economy will likely go down. Engine
performance will likely drop.

In the winter months I would highly recommend that you not use a heavier
grade oil than what is recommended by the manufacturer. In cold start
conditions you could very well be causing more engine wear than when using a
lighter viscosity oil. In the summer months, going to a heavier grade is less of an
issue, but there are still some things to be aware of.

Moving one grade up from the recommended viscosity is not likely to cause any
problems (say from a 10w30 to a 10w40 oil). The differences in pumping and
flow resistance will be slight. Although, as was mentioned, efficiency of the
engine will decrease, the oil will likely still flow adequately through the engine
to maintain proper protection, and, under certain circumstances (heavy load,
high RPM), you MAY see improved protection with this heavier oil.
Moving two grades up from the recommended viscosity (say 10w30 to 20w50) is
a little more extreme and could cause long term engine damage if not short term.
Here's the thing. Although the oil will still probably flow ok through the engine,
it is a considerably heavier viscosity oil. As such it will be more difficult to pump
the oil through the engine.

More friction will be present than with a lighter viscosity oil. More friction
means more heat. In other words, by going to a heavier weight oil, you may
actually be causing more heat build-up within the engine. You'll still be
providing adequate protection from metal to metal contact in the engine by
going with a high viscosity, but the higher viscosity will raise engine
temperatures.

Over the short run, this is no big deal. However, over the long term, when
engine components are chronically run at higher temperatures, they WILL wear
out more quickly. As such, if you intend on keeping the vehicle for awhile, keep
this in mind if you're considering using a heavier weight oil than the
manufacturer recommends.

The key is to generally stay away from viscosity grades that are not mentioned
in your owner's manual. Sometimes vehicle manufacturers will make reference
to the possibility of using a 10w40, 15w40 or 20w50 motor oil, even though they
might recommend a lighter weight oil for most situations.

If this allowance is made, you'll be ok using a heavier grade of oil. You'll
probably see a drop in mpg using the heavier oils, but you will not likely cause
any long term engine problems. I would recommend, however, to stick with the
lower weight recommendations if using a synthetic oil, even if you're running
the engine in higher temp climates. I think you know why by now.

If the manufacturer does not make allowance for heavier weight oils, it would be
my recommendation that you DO NOT use a heavier weight oil in your engine.
Under most circumstances, stick with a viscosity grade that is recommended by
the manufacturer. And, if you do choose to use a heavier weight oil, at least
make sure that you only move up one grade. Never move up two grades.

Exceptions to the Above Rule

1. If yours is a racing application, more investigation would be necessary to
determine the proper viscosity to be using in your engine.
2. If yours is a heavy duty application where your vehicle is being subjected
to EXTREME service such as towing extremely heavy loads, you may
want to consider going to one of the heavier recommended viscosities.
3. If you are not comfortable venturing outside of OEM viscosity
recommendations, then, by all means stick with what your vehicle
manufacturer recommends. OEM viscosity recommendations will be
perfectly safe for your vehicle and will make your selection process easy.

Specialized Cases

It is possible, depending upon how you are using your vehicles or equipment,
that a more extreme divergence from the OEM viscosity recommendation might
be appropriate. However, if you think this may be the case, before making the
decision to diverge entirely from the manufacturer's viscosity recommendation,
please do your homework.

MOTOR OIL QUALITY COMPARISONS

Once you've managed to decide the type and viscosity of oil you should
probably be using, the question then comes down to determining which of the
oils that meet your criteria are the best of the bunch. In most respects, the only
way to really make that determination is to check the specs. It's not a perfect
technique, since the specs can “lie” in some ways, but, it's the best option you've
got.

What do you look for in engine oil?

5112121 — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 12:20:15 +0800

As topic, what do you guys look for in engine oil?

For example, price? OEM certified? Quality? origins? etc..

Do Oil Additives Really Work?

5112121 — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 11:24:37 +0800

Do Oil Additives Really Work

by Robert Sanborn on September 13th, 2006, who was a member of the STLE Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers for 15 years.

With all of the negative articles about oil additives, which have been written and supported extensively by special interest groups, its time to tell the real truth about oil additives. In most cases they perform a positive function and with regular use can provide a number of benefits to vehicles and equipment.
Tested Additives vs Marketing Companies

First, lets get one thing clear, it’s important to distinguish from oil additives developed by companies that have been extensively tested, and others, usually made by individuals, without such testing and documentation. Anyone can put an additive package together and have a label made. There are many on the market, which have no real testing, even though, they claim they do. This is where additives have gotten a bad name.

On the other hand there are a number of companies that sell additives that have extensive research and development teams that have tested their additive packages. For example, Lubrizol www.lubrizol.com whose revenues were over 4 billion dollars for 2005 specializes in additive packages including aftermarket engine and fuel treatments. Anyone doing this kind of volume is not selling snake oil to millions of dumb consumers—just doesn’t happen. And they are only one of several that are very large. Others include Oronite, Ethyl, Infineum, Bardahl, Wynn’s, SFR, Power Up, STP, Slick 50. This is just a partial list of companies that have well documented additive products.

Motor Oil Contains Additives

In actuality additives are used in most all lubricants, because even the best synthetic base oils cannot protect vital parts alone, as it’s the additives that do all of the work. Let’s concentrate on the internal combustion engine in looking at the need for additives. According to the American Petroleum Institute the powerful watchdog for the oil companies, “The temperatures and types of service under which an engine is operated vary markedly. Moderate-speed driving on short trips or stop-and-go driving in traffic uses only a fraction of the available engine power. Because the cooling systems must be capable of meeting the cooling requirements of the engine at high speeds, they may overcool the engine in short-trip driving. In such light-duty service engines and motor oils warm up slowly and often do not reach proper operating temperatures.

Under these conditions automatic chokes will provide the engine with the rich air-fuel mixture it needs to operate smoothly at cold temperatures, but this richness will result in incomplete combustion. Soot and partially oxidized hydrocarbons undergo further oxidation in the crankcase, forming sludge and varnish deposits. These may clog oil screens or plug oil rings, interfering with oil circulation and control, or they may cause hydraulic valve lifters and valves to stick. Corrosive acids are formed that cause wear on piston rings, cylinders, and occasionally on piston skirts. Steam from combustion condenses on cylinder walls and drains into the crankcase. Water, often in combination with acidic gases, may cause valve lifters to rust and stick. It may also create rust deposits on piston pins, rocker arm shafts, and valve stems. Liquid fuel leaking past the piston rings dilutes the oil and reduces its lubricating value. These are some of the effects of engine operation at cold temperatures.

In contrast legal speed limit driving and long trips allow the engine and oil to warm p properly. The choke is open, and the carburetor is feeding the cylinders with a lean, clean burning air-fuel mixture. As a result there little or no incomplete combustion to produce soot other residue. Under these conditions water compensation is not a problem, nor is dilution of the motor oil by raw fuel.” Additives have been developed to address these problems as most of us qualify much of time for driving in severe service conditions. Furthermore, the API goes on to say “Under some conditions it is impossible to maintain a continuous oil film between moving parts, and there is intermittent metal-to-metal contact between the high spots on sliding surfaces. Lubrication engineers call this boundary lubrication. Under these circumstances the load is only partially supported by the oil film. The oil film is ruptured, resulting in significant metal-to-metal contact. When this occurs, the friction generated between the surfaces can produce enough heat to cause on or both of the metals in contact to melt and weld together. Unless counteracted by proper additive treatment, the result is either immediate seizure or the tearing apart and roughening of surfaces.

Boundary lubrication conditions always exist during engine starting and often during the operation of a new or rebuilt engine. Boundary lubrication is also found around the top piston ring where oil supply is limited, temperatures are high, and a reversal of piston motion occurs.

Extreme pressure conditions can develop between heavily loaded parts from lack of lubrication, inadequate clearance, extreme heat, and sometimes as a result of using the wrong type or grade of lubricant for the operating conditions of the engine. Since motor oils do not contain extreme pressure agents this is an area that aftermarket additive manufacturers focus a lot of attention. In modern engines the valve train with its cams, valve lifters, push rods, valve stem tips, and parts of the rocker arms operate under conditions of extreme pressure because they carry heavy loads on very small contact areas. Unit loading, which may be as high as 200,000 pounds per square inch, is many times greater than the loads on the connecting rod bearings or on the piston pins.” Motor oils rarely contain extreme pressure additives, thus premature wear could take place. The preceding has laid the groundwork for the need for additives.

Additives to take care of the deposits and sludge, called detergent/dispersant additives, anti-oxidants to delay the effects of oxidation. Anti-foaming additives are important as if foaming occurs in a motor oil the film strength is reduced allowing wear. And since base oils alone cannot withstand the metal-to-metal contact inside an engine, anti-wear agents are needed. With acids there is also a need for corrosion inhibitors; and in reducing friction in hydrodynamic lubrication such as on the cylinder liners, where metal-to-metal contact does not occur, friction modifiers or lubricity additives are desired to improve engine efficiency and improve mileage.

Motor Oil Contains Additives, but are they Enough?

If additives are a necessity to reducing wear in an engine and are contained in motor oils, then that must be the end of the story right? Not quite. Few people know that the oil companies do not make the specifications for motor oil. They are required to make their motor oils to meet the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) specifications. Motor oil specifications are established by the International Lubricant Standardization and Approval Committee, which consists of the Big Three domestic car manufacturers as well as the Japanese car manufacturers. ILSAC defines the performance characteristics and the chemistry of the oil it will accept for use in its engines; and then the American Petroleum Institute (API) makes sure the oil sold by marketers displaying that label meets the definition.

This isn’t an easy process as the OEM’s are not best of friends as competitors, thus they have driven the cost of this highly political process into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Yes, just to come up with a new specification. ILSAC comes up with a series of Sequence Tests that a motor oil must pass to receive certification. The public is not aware of the fact that, a motor oil formulation going through the process, can fail a Sequence test two times and not have to re-formulate. If the formulation fails three times on a single Sequence test then it must be re-formulated and start over. To control how many additive companies that can supply the complete packages to meet the new warranty specification, ILSAC has proposed the testing process to cost a whopping 1.5 million dollars for diesel motor oil warranty, and over $500,000 for gasoline engine motor oil. That is assuming you pass on the first try other wise the costs can escalate.

With specifications changing so fast, only a few large companies can recover their cost of development in such a short time. When oil companies advertise they exceed the highest standard available it’s the only one so it’s also the lowest standard. Regardless of how good your motor oil is there is only one standard, currently GF-4 for gasoline engines and CJ-4 for diesel engines. There is no incentive to improve beyond the lowest passing standard because it costs money to add additives that do the work. Motor oil companies often cut additives to the core to exceed the standard by the narrowest of margins to cut costs and maximize revenues. In summary, the oil companies make their motor oils to the OEM’s standards not theirs!

Why Don’t OEMs Recommend Oil Additives?

Two questions are always asked when discussing oil additives and whether they work or not and they are: Why doesn’t the OEM’s recommend oil additives and why doesn’t the oil companies get into the additive business if they are so good.

First, it seems fairly obviously why the OEM’s do not want to recommend oil additives as they have spent millions of dollars protecting their engineering. When I say protecting their engineering I mean using a fluid to insure that the engine, on average, lasts as long as they engineered it to last. They are in the business of selling cars and they know to be competitive it has to last a certain amount of time, but then they want you to purchase a new car. They do not want to have to test other additive products as they have spent money to develop their specification.

This does not mean that oil additives can’t be beneficial as a Sequence Wear Test was run by SFR Corporation with the leading selling motor oil in the United States—once without the additive and once with the leading motor oil and 5% SFR’s additive package SFR 100. The test was run by a large testing facility certified to conduct tests for motor oil warranty approval. The results of these expensive tests showed that the additive package reduced the overall wear of the leading motor oil by 17% and on the exhaust lobe part of the test the results were an outstanding 80-90% reduction in wear using the additive.

When OEM’s are developing their own specifications they are not going to say their specification needs help in performance by using an additive as it’s against their best interest. However, no OEM will state that the use of an additive in itself will void a warranty. The reason is that they must run the battery of tests which costs from $500,000 to 1, 500,000 per test. This doesn’t mean that an additive could not hurt or destroy an engine and that is why the leading additive suppliers have performed extensive testing to validate their product.

If Oil Additives are so Good Why Don’t the Oil Companies Make Them?

Why aren’t the oil companies involved in the additive market? Truth is they are the leaders in the development of aftermarket oil additives. Many of the additives used in the aftermarket industry are actually purchased from the oil companies. The oil companies, with their big budgets, can provide hundreds of thousands of dollars of testing to validate additive performance. The public is unaware of this though as most all oil companies run their additive divisions as separate companies under their corporate umbrella. They include Infineum for Exxon/Mobil, Oronite for Chevron/Texaco and then there is Ethyl who is well known for its tetraethyl lead previously found in all gasoline. Shell has their own as does Castrol. Quaker State owned Slick 50 additive company, and I cannot see them buying this company if the product would not have any benefit as the liability would be too great if the products would not perform. Chevron sells Techron today an aftermarket gasoline treatment, Valvoline has marketed aftermarket additives as well as others including the additive leader Lubrizol.

One must realize the following: The oil companies make products to meet the OEM’s requirements not theirs. You could call an oil company up right now and ask if oil could be made better and your response would be similar to this: We have over 150 chemists in this building alone and if motor oil could be made better, we would be the ones to do it. On the other hand we could call their additive division and say we want a heavy duty performing oil that would out perform the current specification and they could fax you a product with hundreds of thousands of dollars of testing documentation.

It all boils down to special interest groups protecting their special interests. The OEM’s and the major oil companies all protect their interests. It’s hard for an oil company not to defend their oil as the best there is, but in reality we know the specification was created by the OEM. This is the main reason why so many articles have been posted about why additives do not work. A magazine writer doing an article on additives will go to a source that he or she thinks is an expert, and thus they call someone up at the oil company. That person reinforces that their oil is the best and doesn’t need additional additives. Even the specialty motor oil marketers such as Amsoil support the notion that oil additives are not needed. They do not want competition from additive companies because in their mind all you need is their oil. Unfortunately, being a (MLM) multi-level marketing company, most all are part-time, thus more laymen in the business than any other oil marketing company. Their dealers go to great lengths supporting articles that additives do not work. What a paradox, because if additives do not work, than why is their motor oil better than anyone else’s. Doesn’t take much thought to figure that one out.
Mobil Admits to Using Additional Additives

To support the issue of additives all one has to do is look at Mobil’s new marketing campaign. They still claim their oil meets GF-4 or the new specification that API certifies, but they are now calling for extended drain intervals. And, if you read anything about Mobil’s new products is that it has to do with additional additives being used, mainly detergents. From their literature it states: Mobil Clean 7500 is a synthetic blend formulation with a boosted level of cleaning performance, 18 percent beyond the level of even our premium Mobil Clean 5000 conventional motor oil, to keep your engine cleaner longer.

Additives are what make motor oil what it is and additives are what make aftermarket additive manufacturers their gains in performance. It’s all based on testing both engine and fleet tests. Additives have been around for years and auto parts stores devote entire rows of products related to additives. Additive manufacturers are seen as nuisances because the OEM’s engineer their products to last on average a certain amount of time and the oil companies make their products to meet the OEM’s needs. So if you want to find out about additives you wouldn’t ask the OEM’s or oil companies but the testing laboratories like Southwest Research Institute and Auto Research Laboratories Inc. that performs thousands of tests each year. I am including some links to additive suppliers and testing companies so that you can see the tremendous amount of data that is available from large substantial companies.

They include:

www.wynnsusa.com
www.lubrizol.com
www.infineum.com
www.stp.com
www.slick50.com
www.bardahl.com
www.oronite.com

Written by Robert H. Sanborn, who was a member of the STLE Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers for 15 years.

Kia Power Auto Parts

5112121 — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 10:44:51 +0800

Has anyone been to Kia Power Auto Parts in Segambut?
I am curious about their price on the parts they sell.

how do you defog/clean your headlights?

5112121 — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 12:29:21 +0800

As topic title, do you clean it or replace the old with a new headlight?

Curious... Where do you bought your engine oil?

5112121 — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 10:51:51 +0800

Hi guys.

I am very curious about one thing. I would like to know where do you guys bought your engine oil in Selangor and KL? I would like to do more research on good deals and good oils.

Thanks