All You Need to Know About Oil Cold Flow

Engineers agree that most engine wear occurs during cold starts. While the exact percentage depends on several factors and is difficult to define, the reasons include the following…

• A richer air/fuel mixture at startup washes oil from the cylinder walls
• Condensation forms inside the engine that causes rust and corrosion
• Cold piston rings and cylinders don’t seal as well, causing combustion gases to “blow by” the rings and contaminate the oil
• Gravity causes much of the oil to fall back into the oil sump, leaving components unprotected
• Cold oil doesn’t flow immediately at startup, temporarily starving the engine of oil

While all these factors are important, lack of oil due to poor cold-flow properties is the biggest culprit. Fortunately, there’s something you can do about it.

“Cold” isn’t just for winter

First, it’s important to define a “cold” start. While true that oil thickens more in sub-zero winter weather and causes increased starting difficulty, an engine is considered “cold” after it’s sat long enough to cool to ambient temperature, typically overnight. Even in warm climates, cold-start wear is a problem. The oil inside your engine cools as it sits overnight. As it cools, its viscosity increases (it thickens). When it’s time to start your vehicle in the morning, the thicker oil doesn’t flow through the engine as readily as it does when it’s at operating temperature. It’s during this time that vital engine parts can operate without lubrication, increasing wear. The problem is more pronounced the colder it gets, particularly if you’re using conventional motor oil.

Waxes solidify in the cold

Conventional lubricants contain paraffins, or waxes, that solidify when the temperature drops. These waxes cause the oil to thicken. In the comparison shown in the video, we cooled a conventional oil and AMSOIL Signature Series 5W-30 Synthetic Motor Oil to -40ºC. The conventional oil thickened so much it barely flowed from the beaker. If that oil were inside your engine on a cold morning, it could prevent the crankshaft from spinning fast enough to start the engine, leaving you stranded. Even if the engine started, you wouldn’t be out of the woods. Thick, cold oil can fail to flow through the tiny screen openings on the oil pickup tube, starving the engine of oil for several vital moments before the oil begins to heat up and flow throughout the engine. In addition, thick oil can fail to flow through the tiny passages in the crankshaft to lubricate the main bearings. Similar oil passages in the camshaft ensure the engine’s upper end is lubricated. The further away from the oil pump these oil passages reside, the longer it takes the oil to reach components at startup, placing your engine at increased risk of wear.