Oil Types: What You Need to Know for Your Car
When you hear engine oil, a lubricant designed to reduce friction and protect engine parts under high heat and pressure. Also known as motor oil, it's the lifeblood of your car’s engine. The wrong kind can cause knocking, overheating, or even total engine failure. And it’s not just about brand names—oil types matter more than you think. There’s synthetic, semi-synthetic, and conventional oil, each with different base stocks and additives. Synthetic oil flows better in cold weather, lasts longer, and handles high heat better than conventional. But if your car’s manual says 10W-40 conventional, throwing in full synthetic might not help—and could even cause leaks in older engines.
Then there’s oil viscosity, a measure of how thick or thin the oil is at different temperatures. That number like 5W-30? The first part (5W) tells you how well it flows when cold. The second (30) tells you how thick it stays when hot. If you live in the UK and use 20W-50 all year, you’re making your engine work harder in winter. And if you’re driving a high-mileage car, there are special high-mileage oil, engine oil formulated with seal conditioners and additives to reduce leaks and wear in older engines. These aren’t marketing fluff—they’re designed for engines that have worn seals and internal gaps.
What you’re seeing in the posts below isn’t random. It’s a collection of real problems people face because they didn’t know the difference between oil types. One driver added the wrong oil and ended up with a seized engine. Another kept topping up instead of changing, and didn’t realize the oil had turned to sludge. Someone else swapped to synthetic too early and got oil leaks. These aren’t rare mistakes—they’re common, and they’re avoidable. You don’t need to be a mechanic to pick the right oil. You just need to know what your car actually needs, what the numbers mean, and what happens when you ignore it. Below, you’ll find clear, no-fluff guides on how to check your oil, what to do if you made a mistake, and how to avoid costly damage before it starts.
