hello everyone and welcome in this video
I have teamed up with Valvoline and had
discussions with their engineers about
carbon buildup in modern engines and
what role engine oil plays in those
carbon deposits forming so we're going
to be focusing on three questions why do
modern engines have carbon buildup
how can engine oil help prevent carbon
deposits and how do you know if the oil
you're buying helps prevent carbon
buildup so let's get right into it
why do modern engines have carbon
problems well unlike many older engines
modern engines are trending towards
turbocharged downsized direct injection
engines for efficiency benefits but
these changes have created unique
challenges for newer engines which have
higher internal pressures and
temperatures and a lack of port
injectors looking at the intake valve on
a gasoline engine with direct injection
we need to think about all of the
different ways that contaminants can
contact these intake valves first off
blow by from combustion can reach the
intake valves through the positive
crankcase ventilation system which
prevents the crankcase pressure from
getting too high the PCV system also
means that as the lighter part of the
engine oil evaporates it can pass by the
intake valves you can also have exhaust
gases routed back to the intake valves
through an exhaust gas recirculation
system typically used for emission
purposes which carry combustion
contaminants remaining exhaust gases can
also contact the intake valve from
inside the combustion chamber when the
intake valve opens finally engine oil
can leak down the valve guides and
contact the intake valves especially as
oil viscosities continue to become
thinner for efficiency purposes now
import injected engines and even more so
with the right additives the fuel can
wash the intake valves as the engine is
used so the likelihood of carbon
deposits forming on the intake valves is
significantly reduced
and while port injected and dual
injection engines are still common today
there are 38 million vehicles in the
United States alone using direct
injection so what if direct injection is
all you have well this leads us to our
next question
how can engine oil help prevent carbon
deposits well indirect injection engines
the oil itself is really all you've got
to actively protect your intake valves
the oil itself is composed of about
80% base oil and 20% additives both of
which play a role in fighting carbon
deposits from a base oil standpoint you
don't want molecules that break down or
evaporate with heat but at the same time
they should have good flow
characteristics at low temperatures this
means you don't want overly large or
overly small molecules molecules that
aren't fully saturated with hydrogen or
overly long straight chain molecules the
wrong molecular structure can break down
with heat and form deposit precursors
these precursors will attach to intake
valves Pistons and cylinder walls and
form deposits this is where the
additives come in particularly
detergents and dispersants detergents
have a hydrocarbon tail and a polar head
usually a metal so what does this mean
well it means one end the polar head
likes to bond to metallic surfaces while
the other end of flex deposits and
prevents them from bonding to the metal
surface
if precursors can't contact the metal
surfaces they can't form deposits now
dispersants also have a hydrocarbon tail
and a polar head however the tail is a
bit longer than detergents and the polar
head isn't quite as strong the
hydrocarbon tail likes oil while the
polar head likes water metals and
contaminants basically the things you
don't want so as a deposit precursor is
floating around in the oil the
dispersants will attach to it keeping
the contaminant suspended so it doesn't
attach to metal surfaces from there it
can either be filtered out as it passes
through the oil filter or kept suspended
until you change the oil this is
actually why you'll see oil turned black
even soon after an oil change this means
the oil is doing its job and holding the
contaminants suspended rather than
allowing them to gunk up your engine now
valve aleene's modern engine oil was
designed for turbocharged gasoline
direct injection engines which leads us
to our final question how do you know if
the oil you're buying helps to prevent
carbon deposits well it all comes down
to testing on the back of the bottle
you'll see the certifications the oil
has passed such as AP is n L SEC GF v as
well as manufacturer tests and
specifications like GM's decks one Gen 2
each of these certifications have
respective tests that must be passed in
order for the manufacturers to feel
comfortable allowing an engine oil to be
used
their car the American Petroleum
Institute API has also recently
published a new classification as sin
Plus which adds testing to ensure
engines are protected against low-speed
pre-ignition a requirement that
Valvoline has made sure all of their
passenger car engine oils pass
Valvoline 'he's goal with modern engine
was to also design for protection
against carbon buildup in addition to L
SPI their claim is that on average
they've exceeded piston and intake valve
deposit tests set by the industry with a
30 percent margin in addition to the
engine oil you choose it's also
obviously important to change your oil
regularly and top off oil as needed
remember that if oil is burned off
you'll have less oil in your engine so
the remaining oil now has to work even
harder to keep your engine clean and
efficient so a huge thank you to
Valvoline for their support and insight
shared and if you have any questions or
comments feel free to leave them below
thanks for watching