The Garage 54 team braved the extremely cold conditions to perform an experiment on the impact of extremely low temperatures on engine oil.
It’s not unusual for drivers to encounter difficulties because of the viscosity of their engine oil in regions that frequently experience severe winter weather.
The video shows how the oil in the team’s Lada responds to temperature changes using a transparent sump and rocker cover, making it obvious that the oil grows thicker and more difficult to flow as the temperature drops.
The crew notices that the timing chain has a difficult time dispersing the thick oil, and the oil pump struggles to pump the oil.
In Australia, the vast majority of people don’t have to worry about such extreme temperatures, but it’s interesting to see how other regions of the world deal with them and why certain cars have engine block heaters.
This is a good illustration of why you should let your engine warm up gradually and reduce your revs and load for a while so that the oil can reach the right viscosity before lubricating your engine.
We are grateful to Garage 54 for enduring the chilly weather in our place.
