The term automotive lubricants is a broad term that can be used to represent a wide variety of automotive products. Automotive lubricants are critical for protecting and extending the life of the most expensive parts of your car or truck, but using the wrong lubricant for the wrong purpose can be both destructive and costly.
Are you familiar with the many different kinds of automotive lubricants and their varying uses? If not - or if you just need a refresher, we’ve broken it all down for you!
First off, we will discuss the most common automotive lubricant. Can you guess what it is? That’s right . . .
ENGINE OIL
Sometimes referred to as motor oil, engine oil is replaced through regular oil changes. The formulation of engine oil is specifically created to help reduce foaming and to prevent the engine from breaking down and corroding over time. As such, It is an important component of routine vehicle maintenance.
AUTOMOTIVE GREASE
Just as there are many different types of lubricants, there are also many different uses for automotive grease. The most common is wheel bearing grease, which comes in both standard and high-temperature formats. Wheel bearing grease functions in steering and suspension to prevent wear and tear. Audible squeaking can often be heard when grease is needed, and it is often applied by attaching a grease gun to grease fittings. In addition to wheel bearing grease, there are also waterproof greases for metal to metal joints and electronic greases that won’t conduct electricity for electrical connections.
GEAR OIL
Gear Oil is used in scenarios where lubrication is needed under extremely high temperatures, such as in a vehicle’s differential or manual transmission. The viscosity of gear oil is higher - around 75. This means that industrial gear oil is thicker in consistency and, therefore, better suited to high-temperature environments.
TRANSMISSION OIL
Transmission oil is a brightly colored lubricant that helps to keep your transmission running smoothly. It does so by serving a variety of functions, including lubricating, cooling, protecting and conditioning the transmission and its many moving parts. The bright coloration of transmission fluid makes it easy to detect leaks so that you can keep your transmission running smoothly.
ELECTRIC VEHICLE LUBRICANTS
Electric vehicles have seen a surge in popularity in recent years creating a need for an entirely new type of automotive lubricant designed specifically for these unique vehicles. The result is electric vehicle lubricants formulated precisely for the high-tech powertrains of electric vehicles and the high temperatures and fluctuations in power flow that come along with these types of engines.
Now that you have a little better understanding of some of the different types of automotive lubricants, we hope that you will contact General Petroleum, Inc. for any and all of your vehicles’ lubrication needs. We proudly offer ExxonMobil lubricants and other top automotive products, so give us a call to see how we can help keep your vehicles running smoothly!