This is a guest post about one of the sponsors of the FamousBloggers CommentLuv $3550 CASH PRIZES Blogging Contest by Stephanie Suesan Smith. Stephanie is a Master Gardener who offers gardening advice based on years of experience and extensive course training.
Buying oil is enough to drive you to drink! Not only are there several brands of oil, but there are funny number and letter combination that are supposed to tell you what kind of oil it is.
Why don’t they just use English, instead of 10W-30, SAE5W-30, and all those other things?
The SAE stands for Society of Automotive Engineers. This group developed the initial standards for automobiles in the United States. During World War II, these standards spread around the world.
The number is a measure of viscosity, or the ability to flow. Molasses has a much higher viscosity than water, for example. So the higher the number, the thicker the oil. This thickness is measured at around 100 degrees Celsius, or 210 degrees Fahrenheit. That is the approximate temperature inside a running engine.