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Reply to "Synlube"

SynLube does not normally change viscosity very much during its lifetime. In normal dino oils, thickening occurs when the shorter carbon chains are burned off in engine operation while the molecules in SynLube's components are uniform. BTW, the API still considers an oil fit for service even if the viscosity has increased over 300% from its unused condition.

The source of dino lube basestock is the residue from refinery operations which is about two quarts per barrel of crude (API SA). It contains long carbon chains all the way from those that go into asphalt to very short ones that make baby oil. The shorter chains are more volatile and burn off making the oil thicker. Just what specific reaction to heat an oil has is dependent upon the type of crude from which it was derived.

TIMER wrote: No , the better oils will eventualy thicken but never shear below what they started as.
Actually they do according to SynLube: The long chain polymer molecules that are present in most multi-viscosity oils to give them a high viscosity index can however, shear under stress and become shorter or smaller molecules. This loss of multi-viscosity property is sometimes referred to as "Viscosity Break-Down" a term that was introduced by CASTROL in their GTX Motor Oil commercials.
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