Oh no, another redundant thick/thin thread. Maybe, but I want to start fresh with a re-framed argument. I ask that you try to play along for a moment.
All right, I'll accept that an oil can be too thin. At that point, I begin to imagine a bell curve with an ideal viscosity for a given add package and a given application/engine. So, I have to also grant that an oil can be too viscous. Ok. Oil can be too thin and oil can be to thick. The real discussion then is how do we tell (for a given add package and given application) when an oil is outside the acceptable range. Since there will never be consensus on how much wear is acceptable, let's say that we seek the viscosity that produces the peak of the curve (in this case the curve describes the lack of wear, otherwise it would be a valley representing the lowest wear).
I recognize that this value will be confounded with many other things - peak and average load, temp, and rpm, fuel, behavior, engine, add package, ect.
For this discussion, let's try to accept that something like acetone would be too thin to use as a base for an engine lubricant and that tar/asphalt would be too thick. Let's also accept that a frictionless lubricant will not be found and that a balance between wear and fuel economy is a personal preference and is not a part of the question.
How do we find peak of the bell curve? How do we describe it? Is there reason to believe that the bell curve is some other shape? Is there a thresh hold on each end that will produce some sort of nearly square-wave shape instead of a bell? If we use a base that is very polar and electrostatically sticks to the metal will we get a different answer to the question?
Anyone willing to begin...
All right, I'll accept that an oil can be too thin. At that point, I begin to imagine a bell curve with an ideal viscosity for a given add package and a given application/engine. So, I have to also grant that an oil can be too viscous. Ok. Oil can be too thin and oil can be to thick. The real discussion then is how do we tell (for a given add package and given application) when an oil is outside the acceptable range. Since there will never be consensus on how much wear is acceptable, let's say that we seek the viscosity that produces the peak of the curve (in this case the curve describes the lack of wear, otherwise it would be a valley representing the lowest wear).
I recognize that this value will be confounded with many other things - peak and average load, temp, and rpm, fuel, behavior, engine, add package, ect.
For this discussion, let's try to accept that something like acetone would be too thin to use as a base for an engine lubricant and that tar/asphalt would be too thick. Let's also accept that a frictionless lubricant will not be found and that a balance between wear and fuel economy is a personal preference and is not a part of the question.
How do we find peak of the bell curve? How do we describe it? Is there reason to believe that the bell curve is some other shape? Is there a thresh hold on each end that will produce some sort of nearly square-wave shape instead of a bell? If we use a base that is very polar and electrostatically sticks to the metal will we get a different answer to the question?
Anyone willing to begin...