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Engine owners eventually need to make an important decision about how to best care for their engines, with detergent oil or non detergent motor oil .  Even though detergent oil has not been widely used for many decades, it is the predominant type of oil used today.  Whether you choose to use detergent oil or choose non detergent oil, it will depend on the engine manufacturer’s recommendations.

The amount of detergent included in detergent oil is often up for debate with many engine oil experts.  There are mechanics that disagree on the chemical content of detergent oil, some say that it is not present, but a chemical that prevents carbon deposits from coagulating together and forming oil sludge.  The oil filter would then remove the bits of carbon before they became a problem for the performance of the engine.

Non detergent motor oil is also used in other applications such as inside transmissions or used as gear lubricants, depending on manufacturers’ guidelines.  As standard operating procedure, reference your engine’s owner’s manual before using a new or untested lubricant, as the impact of a new lubricant can be serious.  If you have access to an Internet connection, you can get almost any information about your engine, motor, or transmission online, direct from the manufacturers.

In addition to ND oil or non detergent motor oil, there is also HD oil, which is high detergent oil.  Higher amounts of detergent are present in high detergent motor oil as one may suspect.  Again, it is important to verify that your engine can use or needs to use higher detergent motor oil before using it.  It varies by auto tech, but high detergent oil can be used as a viable solution for some engines.  Instead of using a more harsh engine cleaner, some like to use motor oil with a higher level of detergent because the cleaning process is more subtle and will be less likely to separate chunks of carbon that could harm engine lubrication.  Some auto mechanics are adamant however that flushing oil should never be used as it may be harmful to older seals.

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