Quote:
Originally Posted by qwerty
I wonder if the apparent reduction in wear material accumulation over time is not, in fact, a reflection of the oil's inability to maintain said material in suspension.
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I don't think that is the case. I could be wrong about this, but this is my understanding of how the oil functions through reading various articles around the net.
Motor oil is produced with an additive package that bonds to the moving parts through the high pressure contact of the said parts. These additives account for like 3% of the volume of engine oil, but produce 90% of the engine's oil protection. With only 3% of volume, these additives need to be continuosly circulated to start bonding to the engine.
Here is an article on bob's the oil guys website about how one additive works, which is similar to the other types.
Moly Basics - Bob is the Oil Guy
When you change oil often, you introduce an initial cleansing detergent. This detergent attacks and cleans out all contaminants from the previous fill. Though it does a great job of cleaning, the drawback is it also cleans off the existing additive bond and prevents the new additives from forming their bond to the moving parts until the detergent cycle is used up during the first 1000 or 2000 miles. This is why when doing an oil analysis, several UOA's has been posted in various forums show the engine oil's wear rate is actually higher at 3,000 miles, then it is at 7,500 mile and at 10,000 miles. By keeping the engine oil in there longer, the detergent cycle is reduce and the additives get a chance to bond longer which leads to less wear on the engine plus with the added benefit of saving a lot of resources and money.
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