Am I obsessing over nothing with esters?

[Palut]

As I've stated many times before, my car ('95 Accord 4cyl) is used in pizza delivery, and sees many starts each day. Am I being overly cautious in wanting to use only oils that have some ester content (such as Delvac 1 or GC) to minimize startup wear? I figure that if the esters help the oil stick to engine parts, then I'll get less wear on each start. Do esters make much of a difference at all in warm start protection, or am I splitting hairs?

 

[Ugly3]

Cold start pumpability is the real benefit you get from synthetic oils. Warm starts are easy and while synthetics are better but not that much better.

 

[Asteroid]

GTX Start Up this is the oil you need for your Pizza Deliveries Ive used it for some time in 5 Cabs.No complaints very happy Go to www.castrolusa.com

 

[Ugly3]

Look up the old Consumer Reports article on NYC taxi cabs. They could fine no difference between oils conventional or synthetic or in OCIs from 3,000 to 6,000 miles.

 

[Leo]

Problem is, taxis never seem to turn off their car. Well at least here in Australia!

 

[TallPaul]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ugly3:
Look up the old Consumer Reports article on NYC taxi cabs. They could fine no difference between oils conventional or synthetic or in OCIs from 3,000 to 6,000 miles.

---

But they did not have Castrol Start Up back then.

 

[Jelly]

LEFT-CLICK On Link:

NYC Taxi Oil Test

[ October 05, 2004, 12:12 PM: Message edited by: Jelly ]

 

[Palut]

My question is: Take 2 synthetics, one containing some esters, and one not. Would the one with esters provide better startup protection than the one without esters?

 

[T-Keith]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Jelly:
LEFT-CLICK On Link:

NYC Taxi Oil Test

---

I middle clicked on it.

But it still doesn't work.

 

[MolaKule]

quote:

---

My question is: Take 2 synthetics, one containing some esters, and one not. Would the one with esters provide better startup protection than the one without esters?

---

The one with the esters should give better startup and cold-flow protection, but don't forget that starting viscosity plays a major role as well. I.E., use of a 50 weight PA/ester-based oil won't help in Siberia.

Most full synthetics such as Mobil 1, Redline, RP, etc, use a certain amount of base oil esters.

 

[Palut]

Thanks everyone!

 

[dropitby]

http://www.streetortrack.com/accusump-kits.asp Get a preoiler avoid dry start up.

 

[tom slick]

do warm startups really matter? there is still a film of oil on everything when the engine is still warm and you get oil pressure very quickly.
I'd bet your starter is getting more wear than your engine.

 

[MGBV8]

On basis that most wear is from cold start up short journey the NYC test did little to stress oil.

Synths are more for extended drain or high oil temp. If you exclude latter then Group III would be the cheaper and perhaps better choice even compared to say a GI or GII +PAO blend?

 

[MolaKule]

PAO-ester fluids flow easier than do mineral oils.

Recall there are three basic lubrication regimes:
1. hydrodynamic - full oil film between moving parts provides best wear relief and lowest friction,
2. mixed-boundary - partial oil film and AW additives provide wear relief,
3. boundary lubrication - the AW adds and ester molecules prevent metal-metal wear when there is no oil film.

The best protection is via hydrodynamic lubrication, so the sooner the oil is under pressure and flowing, the better. The faster the oil film is established, the better.

On cold starts, mixed-boundary lubrication is the norm. A very thin film of oil is present from say the night before AND the AW adds prevent excessive wear. The stronger the oil film (oil molecules left from the night before) the more wear protection one would receive, especially on cam lobes. Esters are high polarity molecules that attract themnselves to metal better than mineral oil molecules, so an ester-based oil should provide better cold temp startup protection, with all other conditions being equal.

BTW, you're in good company since OBSESSION is what BITOG is all about.

 

[LSVTEC 91 Civic]

Is Castrol GTX Startup all hype and marketing gimmick?

 

[sxg6]

jelly sent me the taxi file, it can be found below

http://home.comcast.net/~dsmphotos/NYCTaxiOilTest.pdf

 

[Ugly3]

Jelly, thanks for posting the link. I like that study, it shows just how much difference there was between brands and types. Live and learn.

 

[Audi Junkie]

I find the cure for start-up wear and most lubrication issues is a Xanax.

 

[Palut]

Sounds like its a good choice to continue using ester based oils in applications where there are lots of startups, warm or cold. I can get M1 T&S (Delvac 1) at the local Wal-Mart or Schucks, and two of the three Autozones in my area only carry Castrol 0w30 in German form, no made in USA stuff at all!

So I've got two readily available ester based oils to choose from! Even if it makes no difference at all since most of my starts are warm starts, the thought of little ester molecules clinging to my engine for dear life will give me a warm and fuzzy feeling, and help me sleep better!