I've never had any experience with a pure ester based oil, but what you've said here has gotten me to thinking about the smell of Castrol's Syntec. Even though it's primarily a Group III based oil, it does have a healthy dose of Group V esters in it. Could its unique (totally non-petroleum) smell be the result of the esters in the blend?
The "smell" of new oil?
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i notice with comparing castrol gtx and penzioil...penz is much lighter in smell than castrol...and when the car is running penz is much cleaner...castrol is more smelleyer of carbon...just some thought...i thought i was the only guy who smelt it hehe
I smelled a bottle of Shell Rotella T Snthetic that our walmart was throwing out - had a very distinct petroleum odor, which surprised me.
Super-Tech Snthetic smelled like nothing. I checked both 5w30 and 10w30.
Maybe you were sniffing the dino SuperTech.
Here's that other thread:
http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=000196
http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=000196
Then there is Marvel Mystery Oil, smells like wintergreen or peppermint
Very astute observation, XHVI! According to a white paper that Chevron distributed on the internet (a reprint of a presentation at some petroleum libricant forum a year earlier), Group IIs and Group IIIs are also odorless and tasteless and generally nontoxic - the latter more so for Group IIIs. (It went on to support your assumption about PAOs, too.) Since the additive package is delivered via a conventional solvent refined carrier oil, it's my suspicion that the petroleum odor of most current dino motor oils is the result of that carrier oil - up to 20% by volume in some cases from what I've read. A "sweet" odor, conventional or synthetic, if almost a sure sign of ester addition. (That does not mean that all esters are pleasant smelling. Skunk and stink bug juice are also esters. So is the characteristic odor of feces - nature's little ways of dissuading us against really stupidly partaking of dangerous, toxic and/or diseased substances. Same goes for rotting flesh or vegitation - our little friends, esters, are again being produced in the process.) I learned something a few months back on the Encarta site that for some reason surprised me, though maybe it shouldn't have: only mineral oils are NOT esters. ALL vegetable and animal fats ARE esters. I'll make one of my periodic fearless predictions: in the coming decade there'll be a radical shift to increased reliance on vegetable sources for lubrication technology. Particularly "seed" oils (inclusive of seeds, nuts, legumes, and beans). I believe this'll come about partly from international political realities and partly from necessary technology breakthroughs. Scoff all ya' want, guys. We'll see who has the last laugh. (On a lighter note, during World War I, the airplanes of the time "lived" on castor oil because it, alone, was up to the stress of high performance aircraft engines. Seals, such as they were, were merely an afterthought to insure enough oil remained with the engine for the duration of a patrol. Pilots, in their open cockpits, were exposed to a constant oil mist which was unavoidably inhaled. Those hardy pilots were, indeed, "regular" guys...)
-Ray Haeffele
I read somewhere that the oil mist was the predominent reason for the scarf around the face. To collect a lot of the mist before they ingested it.
(used to run my 2 stroke mower on castor oil blend only 'cause I liked the smell it made)
edited 'cause I'm having issues with quotes.
[ January 19, 2003, 01:06 AM: Message edited by: Shannow ]
Motor oil has a very faint smell of gear oil if you know what gear oil smell like which is very powerful cause it has a lot of EP additives. Then motor oil has very little EP additives because that's what I smell.
Leo
Leo
Entertaining thread, Somebody sniff Lube Control and describe it please.
My sniffer isn't as good as it used to be.... this stuff has the most distinct odor like synergyn motor oil x 10 and apricots.
Ray H.,
Freeman Dyson would agree with you . I continue to work on veggie based lubes. The problem is that like switching power sources for the automobile, the oil companies will control the transition to plant products as lubricants.
Auto-RX is non vegetable based but a good example of what bio based formulas can do vs. a traditional solvent.
[ January 22, 2003, 10:19 AM: Message edited by: Terry ]
My sniffer isn't as good as it used to be.... this stuff has the most distinct odor like synergyn motor oil x 10 and apricots.
Ray H.,
Auto-RX is non vegetable based but a good example of what bio based formulas can do vs. a traditional solvent.
[ January 22, 2003, 10:19 AM: Message edited by: Terry ]
MolaKule
Staff member
GMAN_II,
"A fully hydroprocessed Group II or Group III base oil will be water-white, so it's the additives that give the finished motor oil its color. I would assume that PAO is water-white as well."
PAO and most esters are water-white and clear as well. I have PAO's and a number of liquid esters and without proper labelling and manufacturing certs, you couldn't tell the difference, either by smell or color.
As for color, there are many lubricant dyes available for adding to oils. Dye colors are sometimes used to distinguish products.
Most trucking oils have added dyes to make them darker since soot will darken it very fast and you don't want to contrast the clean and dirty oils too much.
Satterfi,
Are you sure you haven't been adding a little ethanol to your morning coffee? It's too bad they don't have oil smelling Boutiques for us guys to sit around and compare while the girls shop!
"A fully hydroprocessed Group II or Group III base oil will be water-white, so it's the additives that give the finished motor oil its color. I would assume that PAO is water-white as well."
PAO and most esters are water-white and clear as well. I have PAO's and a number of liquid esters and without proper labelling and manufacturing certs, you couldn't tell the difference, either by smell or color.
As for color, there are many lubricant dyes available for adding to oils. Dye colors are sometimes used to distinguish products.
Most trucking oils have added dyes to make them darker since soot will darken it very fast and you don't want to contrast the clean and dirty oils too much.
Satterfi,
Are you sure you haven't been adding a little ethanol to your morning coffee? It's too bad they don't have oil smelling Boutiques for us guys to sit around and compare while the girls shop!
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