Common Car Maintenance Failures

Just like the human health, a car's periodic maintenance is a watchword for every car owner or prospectives to avoid "stories that touch the heart".

A large proportion of car owners would probably admit to having knowledge of at least a component or function of their car being either out of action, or not functioning properly. So, it won't come as a surprise to hear that the majority of cars inspected in a recent United states study revealed that majority of cars needed at least one issue fixed or attended to.

The study was carried out by a non-profit Car care Council, who sent inspectors to work across the U.S. checking things like hoses, wipers, lighting, belts, tyres, air filters and lubricants/fluids.

The result of the survey revealed that eight(8) out of ten(10) vehicles were found to need some type of service.

Most common Car maintenance Failures:

• Engine Oil- About 22% of vehicles tested had low, overfull or dirty oil.
• Belts/Hoses- 18% of belts were unsatisfactory and at least 12% of vehicles needed a new hose
• Air filters - Nearly one(1) out of every five(5) vehicles inspected needed a new filter.
• Check Engine Light – 14% of vehicles had an illuminated check engine light
• Batteries – Battery cables, clamps and terminals were found to be in need of repair on 18% of vehicles inspected

“By implementing a proactive auto care plan, car owners can identify and fix small issues now before they become more costly repairs later.”-- Care council

You can also read::
For Gasoline engines ---http://www.lubestoday.com/2016/04/api-gasoline-engine-oil-category.html
For Diesel engines ---http://www.lubestoday.com/2016/04/api-diesel-engine-oil-category.html

Source:BehindTheWheel

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JOBS: Lubricant Sales Specialist in Saudi Arabia

Ever heard of Saudi Aramco? Well, its a long known corporation, famous for its leadership in oil exploration, Production and refining. Lots of Nigerians and Africans alike have benefited massively from this types of offers to work for Saudi Aramco. This time, it's seeking experienced professionals to join it's Refining and marketing LFP (Lubricants Finished Product) team.

There is an immediate requirement to recruit an expert in sales, with field experience and the capacity to analyze the variables of the market. Upon joining the team in Saudi Arabia, you will be given a comprehensive briefing on and be expected to familiarize yourself with Saudi Aramcos current LFP business plan as well as future plans and ambitions.

JOB TYPE: PERMANENT
SALARY/RATE: N/A
LOCATION: SAUDI ARABIA
DATE POSTED: 12/07/2017
EXPIRY DATE: 10/08/2017
JOB REFERENCE: 14588BR

In your first 3-6 months, you will be participating heavily in developing business plans, marketing and sales strategies and be developing the first draft line of products and associated augmented offerings. By the end of your first year, you and the team will have made ground in developing relationships with potential customers, including distributors, car dealerships, gas stations, etc.

Minimum Requirements

As the successful candidate, you will hold a Bachelors degree in Sales/Marketing/Chemical Engineering or a business-related subject.

An 8+ years of experience in sales, having worked in an industrial LFP sales department accounts and customers through different market channels will be an added advantage.

For the Job responsibilities and other details about the job, click the link below:

APPLY HERE

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TOTAL Nigeria empowers students with Skills

TOTAL Nigeria Plc. has held the 2017 edition of the its famous Total Job show. It is an employee engagement activity designed to increase career awareness among senior secondary school students, help model students' behaviour through examples and re-enforce in the students, the link between classroom learning and work requirement.

A statement from the Corporate Affairs Manager, Mr. Albert Mabuyaku, a representative of the Company's Managing director, Mr. Jean-Phillipe Tores, revealed that the initiative also hoped to help prepare students to have great dreams, become responsible future leaders and also become positive change agents wherever they may find themselves. The forum held at the Total Lubricant Blending Plant, Koko, Delta state.

About 50 senior secondary school students were selected from Beach Secondary School,  Iwere College and Omateye Secondary School, Ajagbodudu, all within the Koko community of Delta state to participate in the event.

During the event, the students were walked through the pre-requisite safety brief, which according to Mabuyak, was a crucial part of Total's core values. He also said the students were kitted with the appropriate personal protective equipments.


Source: theNationOnline

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Whats in my Motor Oil

While the simplicity of this question might actually make some Industry experts boastfully make a comment, there are lots of new car owners and members now who wish to understand a lot more about what really makes up their motor oil. If you are one of those, then  you are in luck as this is made just for you. To the professionals, the blenders, chemists and purists alike, don't get too picky as this is written in the average man's term. 

The truth is, the composition of a motor oil might mean different things to different persons. To a Lubricant blender, it is simply a resulting liquid of the mixture of other three liquids at elevated temperature. To a lubricant formulator, a motor oil is a complex blend of 12-14 ingredients which are carefully balanced in the right proportion for use and also tested to meet all industry specifications and market claims. To a lubricant consumer however, for the most part, its a mysterious golden fluid with hazy-looking numbers and letters that all make same assertions of being the best product available for your car.

The making of a motor lubricant by various oil producers may contain many individual components, however, most oils are made by simply blending three major fluids in varying proportion per use:

1)Base oil

2)Viscosity Index Improver (Additive)

3)Detergent Inhibitor Package (Additive)

Base oil

On account of our earlier post HERE, we established that base oils generally constitute about 80-90% of the finished motor oil as they play a very important role. The temperature range at which a finished lubricant product can operate, its lubricity, cleanliness and volatility is dependent on the structure and stability of the base oils which dictates the flow characteristics of the oil. The major categories of base oils are mineral oils and synthetics. 

Mineral base oils are gotten from crude oil after a Vacuum & Atmospheric distillation process. The lighter more volatile components of crude oil are stripped away to make gasoline and other fuels, and the heaviest components are used in asphalt and tar. The middle components however have the right viscosity and thickness for lubricants after an extensive cleaning up (Dewaxing, removal of unsaturated hydrocarbons, Nitrogen and sulphur compounds removal). Sadly, even with the emergence of more effective modern processing techniques, this clean up is never a 100% process as some of these contaminants usually remain in the base oil after the process. It's these residual components that limit the capabilities of mineral oils, usually by triggering  breakdown reactions at high temperatures or freezing up when cold. These intrinsic weakness limit the temperature range in which mineral lubricants are applicable and also shortens the useful life of the finished lubricant. Mineral oils are further subdivided into three subgroups (Group I, Group II, Group III) that differ by the degree of processing they undergo. Higher groups have been subjected to hydro-treating or cracking to open aromatic(ringed) molecules, eliminate unstable double bonds, and remove other undesirables. This extra treating yields water-white clear liquid with higher VIs, enhanced oxidative stability and lower volatility. Group IIIs are a controversial class of mineral oils, due to its been sometimes dubbed as synthetics because of the severe processing it undergoes. There is an ongoing debate among purists about this assertion, hence, we won't be taking a side.

Synthetic base oils are artificially manufactured through the advanced knowledge of molecule building process. This enables relatively pure and simple chemical building blocks be reacted together or synthesized into new, larger molecules. This results in a synthetic base stock consisting only of the pre-selected molecules and has no undesirable weak links that inhibits performance. Hence, instead of trying to clean up a naturally occurring mineral base oil to acceptable levels with a constant eye on cost, the synthetic chemist is able to focus on optimum performance in a specific application with the knowledge that he can build the necessary molecules to achieve it. In general, synthetic base oils offer higher flash points,higher oxidative and thermal stability,higher lubricity, higher VI,  lower pour  points, lower volatility,  better engine cleanliness and better fuel economy. The amount and balance of these improvements vary by synthetic type, and can be quite significant for the engine and user. The most common types of synthetic base oils are Esters, Polyalphaolefins(PAOs), Alkylated Naphthenes(ANs) and more recently Group IIIs. These different types are often blended together (or even with mineral oils), to create the balance of the properties so desired.

Viscosity Index Improver

For the non-engineering reader, viscosity in its simplest term is a name given to the internal friction that exists between adjacent layers of a fluid. Hence a liquid like palm oil can be said to have a higher degree of viscosity than water. In the chemistry of things, all organic liquids will thin out(become water like and eventually evaporate) when heated and thicken out when cooled, but they all don't do this at the same rate. Hence, a viscosity index is simply a scale to compare the rate of viscosity range with temperature among different fluids. A fluid that thins more on heating(thus thickening more upon cooling) has lower VI than one that thins less and thickens less. Simply put, higher VI oils experience less viscosity changes when temperature ranges. This is a good lubricant property for use in wide temperature range applications. Further expository on VI improvers will be unveiled in coming posts.

Detergent Inhibitor package

DI packs are generally made by additive companies, the largest of which are Lubrizol (an independent), Oronite (a chevron Texaco company) and Infineum (ExxonMobil/Shell joint venture). Apart from manufacturing lubricant additives, these companies also produce fuel additives for gasoline and diesel engines. A DI package is a thick dark fluid containing most of the performance additives needed to formulate an oil. The development and testing cost

of this pack are very high that they are beyond the reach of many oil blenders and marketers, hence most import their packs from these companies.

The DI pack for a regular SM/CF passenger car motor oil consits of the following:

Dispersants

Detergents

Friction modifiers

Seal conditioners

Zinc Dialklydithiophosphatte

Antioxidants

Rust and corrosion inhibitors

Pour point deppressants

Anti-Foams

Diluent oils

SEE HERE FOR THE MEANING OF SM/CF 

An extensive sketch of this individual make up of a DI pack will be done in coming posts. However the meanings of these lubricant terms can be gotten HERE

Finished DI packages also varies in chemistry, balance and dosage according tho the kind of oil being made. This is the job of formulators and Lubricant Chemists.

Conclusion

As can be seen, lubricants come in different composition, all having a range of applicability. It's the car owners' responsibility to seek out counsel on the best lubricant for their particular cars under the operating conditions. For the average car owner, driving conditions are mild enough for conventional mineral oils to work satisfactorily, provided they are changed relatively frequently. For those users with high performance engines, severe climates, hard driving or utilizing long drain intervals, synthetics will offer good value and may even be required. 

Buying that latest Formatic in town is just appealing, however finding the right lubricant with just the needed components for the smooth running of the engines is what a wise car owner will seek out.

Do you have issues with your current set of lubricant, kindly drop a comment for specialists to help out. We love comments.

Source: Bobistheoilguy

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WEEK ONE: LubesToday Weekly Competition

You think you can crack a Lubricant terminology puzzle?? 

Solve the lubricant cross word puzzle below to contest for the weekly prize, kindly adhere strictly to the rules of participation.

RULES OF PARTICIPATION

1. All answers will be sent via email, hence your email needs be verified.
2. Verify your email, by CLICKING HERE.
3. Check your email for activation link.
4. Then, Proceed to send your answers to email lubestoday@gmail.com from the verified email.
5. Please note, only answers from verified email will be considered for winning.
6. Only ONE answer is eligible per email each week.
7. Answer format should be; CLUE: KEY. e.g Up-to-date lubricant Industry trend: LubesToday
8. Special points will be awarded for answers that include snapped pictures of their filled out puzzle.
9. Submission deadline is Monday, 12th July by 12 noon.

Goodluck

Check the link below for rules of participation as well as a list of weekly winners.

LUBESTODAY QUIZ PORTAL

HINT: All answers can be found on THIS ARTICLE.

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North Star obtains permission to plug and abandon Injection well suspected to have caused the 2011 earthquake

As part of a post evaluation studies performed to ascertain the cause of major disasters, a 4.0 magnitude earthquake that occurred on Dec. 31,2011 as well as smaller quakes have been linked to the Northstar 1 injection well.

Learn more about Injection well

The Ohio department of Natural resurces recently released a copy of the permit, which was dated June 6 and gives the owner the permission to cement the well at various locations across its 9,192 feet of depth.

The main purpose of plugging a well is so that Oil, gas, water or other fluids are confined to the reservoir rock in which it occurs, and such well, once plugged and abandoned, is unlikely to return to use.

Research into the causes of the 4.0 earthquake by the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University indicated that as many as 109 tremors between January 2011 and February 2012 were directly linked to the Northstar 1 injection well, which is on the city’s West Side. Researchers found that the first earthquake was recorded in the city 13 days after the well came online in December 2010 and continued to be responsible for the tremors that persisted into 2012.

The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Geophysical Research Solid Earth.in 2012, the ODNR released a similar report that strongly suggested the well played a part in the earthquakes after the agency said operators drilled too deeply into a layer of basement rock, known as the Precambrian, 9,000 feet below the earth’s surface.When liquid was pumped at high pressure into the rocks, it caused them to crack, acting as a lubricant that allowed the rocks to slip under the weight of those above them, triggering the tremors, including the six quakes that could be felt throughout Youngstown and surrounding cities and towns.

North Star disposal has until June 6, 2019 to plug this well.

Source:The Vindicator

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Phoenix Petroleum Unveils Oil Terminal in Cebu, Philipine

Phoenix Petroleum Philipines Inc. has on Thursday confirmed the unveiling of a new oil terminal in the the Consolacion province, Cebu. The cebu terminal is estimated to have a capacity of 15 million litres and can store diesel, gasoline, jet fuel, Industrial fuel oil and special fuel oil.

The Phoenix Petroleum president and Chief executive Officer Dennis Uy was quoted as saying the unveiling of the new terminal will serve to strengthen the company's foothold in the Cebu Province Fuels market, thus improving their supply reliability in serving the needs of it's commercial and retail businesses.

The launch of this new terminal will ultimately better serve the fuel and lubricant needs of the company's retail network and various commercial customers in the Visayas.

Source:Gmanet

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