can Oil be TOO slippery ?

[raynorshine]

-can Oil be too slippery....ya with all these newfangled additives...yadda yadda..

-i always thought oil was supposed to be slippery... and provide a film between metal so no contact...reduce friction...act as a coolant...many functions...

-flame shields activated...flame away

[Walter R. Malik]

-can Oil be too slippery....ya with all these newfangled additives...yadda yadda..

-i always thought oil was supposed to be slippery... and provide a film between metal so no contact...reduce friction...act as a coolant...many functions...

-flame shields activated...flame away

I don't know about oil but, grease can.
When roller bearings merely slide instead of roll, it is too slippery for THAT application.

[Calypso]

One mystery case of 1000+ hp BBF massive blow by at dyno break in with one of those new nano-oils. Could not find the reason from bore prep, roundness or rings. Did seal up the next time around with different oil.

[Kevin Johnson]

Brief answer: yes.

A somewhat recent case, but unrelated to the second question (with respect to ring sealing) was when automotive oils became unsuitable for use in motorcycle wet clutches. I had to replace the clutch pack in my Benelli Sei because of this.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friction_modifier

[englertracing]

I have wondered if roller bearing engines like motocross bikes use end up skating on the slippery oils, some have seprate engine and trans oil.

[modok]

Probably has more to do with the amount of oil rather than the type.
Roller bearings often PREFER to have only a light misting of lubricant. Every now and then people discover that directly submerging or spraying roller bearings them with oil increases friction, or even INCREASES wear.....strangely enough.

The question worded kinda funny but, yea.....
engine oil does many different jobs.
It's a coolant
film lubrication
boundary lubrication
prevents corrosion
keeps the parts CLEAN
ect ect.

different kinds of oil can be better at one thing, worse at another. Very common.
Concern should be aimed at whatever weak link in the chain happens to be.

[Kevin Johnson]

https://www.nationalbronze.com/Tribolog ... ition).pdf

If you do a search within the text of the term "slippery" you will find it mentioned obliquely a few times in footnotes. If you change the search term to "slip" you will find it used more precisely and extensively. My suggestion is that "slippery" is too broad a term in tribology but you should be able to narrow the particular effect or quality you are interested in by reading the text surrounding the use of the term "slip."

This might encourage the reader to pursue a career in lubricants.

"The condition of no-slip, today described by physical adsorption, brought Hardy to the idea of boundary lubrication."

[Truckedup]

Brief answer: yes.

A somewhat recent case, but unrelated to the second question (with respect to ring sealing) was when automotive oils became unsuitable for use in motorcycle wet clutches. I had to replace the clutch pack in my Benelli Sei because of this.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friction_modifier

Also a bit unrelated......on bikes that share engine and transmission oil, the gears shear the oil and can cause it to break down sooner .Look for the Jaso rating ......

[Circlotron]

I once knew a guy who put some magic oil additive (PTFE based?) in a Peugeot 504 manual gearbox and it was slippery enough that the synchros refused to work.

[Krooser]

I once knew a guy who put some magic oil additive (PTFE based?) in a Peugeot 504 manual gearbox and it was slippery enough that the synchros refused to work.

I had a similar issue with a TR3A Triumph.

[pdq67]

I always wondered about solid roller lifter wheels SK-8'ing if the oil was too slippery.

I will say that 100 percent pure soy biodiesel is a known lube. It does work in small amounts when added to the oil as well as fuel.

I think the Canadian Air Force did a study on the stuff and came to this conclusion.

pdq67

[wwmtlineman]

Harley-Davidson used to say that synthetic oils were too slippery for the roller bearings in the engines until they came out with their own synthetic, then it was ok

[raynorshine]

Probably has more to do with the amount of oil rather than the type.
Roller bearings often PREFER to have only a light misting of lubricant. Every now and then people discover that directly submerging or spraying roller bearings them with oil increases friction, or even INCREASES wear.....strangely enough.

The question worded kinda funny but, yea.....
engine oil does many different jobs.
It's a coolant
film lubrication
boundary lubrication
prevents corrosion
keeps the parts CLEAN
ect ect.

different kinds of oil can be better at one thing, worse at another. Very common.
Concern should be aimed at whatever weak link in the chain happens to be.

i agree the wording is funny, but you get what i mean...its like can water be too "wet"

[CamKing]

"Slippery" probably isn't the best word.
"Adhesiveness " is probably a better word.
If an oil doesn't have enough adhesive properties, that can be an issue. That's the issue with some synthetic oils on flat tappet cams.
If the oil doesn't leave a sufficient layer of oil on the lobes and lifter faces, what's there is easily scraped off, and there's no protective barrier between the 2 metal surfaces rubbing against each other.

[Dan Timberlake]

Ball and roller bearings have a published "minimum" load to prevent skidding. Something on the order of 10% of the basic dynamic load.

If an electric motor is direct coupled to a fan or pump, and a roller bearing ( much greater radial load capacity, like for belt drive apps) is installed the rollers will skid, make high frequency vibration, and eventually dig little pot holes where they re-enter the load zone and have to rev up to speed.