As the temperatures rise and the days become longer, your fleet faces a unique set of challenges. Potential breakdowns and costly downtime can put additional stress on your fleet. To mitigate these effects, selecting the right lubricants, paired with proactive maintenance, can help lower these risks and keep your trucks running all summer long.
The effects of high temperatures on lubricants and fleet performance
High temperatures can be brutal, causing heavy-duty lubricants to undergo several changes that can have an adverse effect on vehicle performance:
- Thermal breakdown: High temperatures prompt the breakdown of the molecular structure of engine oils, leading to reduced viscosity. This breakdown makes the oil thinner and reduces its protective properties. This can increase wear and tear on components over time.
- Evaporation: Heat accelerates the evaporation of lighter components in the oils, which can result in a loss of volume and essential additives. This can lead to increased oil consumption, shortened drain intervals, and increased maintenance frequency.
- Oxidation and degradation: Heat and oxygen exposure can cause lubricants to oxidize, forming sludge and deposits that can clog engine passages and reduce efficiency. Oxidation also depletes the engine oils’ antioxidant additives, accelerating oil degradation. High temperatures also cause grease to harden and sludge, resulting in poor flow, loss of lubricity over time, and increasing the risk of corrosion.
- Grease softening or bleeding: High operating temperatures can cause grease to soften excessively or bleed (release oil), reducing its ability to stay in place and properly lubricate parts like wheel bearings and joints.
- Additive depletion: Extreme temperatures can accelerate the depletion of the dispersants, detergents, and anti-wear additives in the oil. These additives are crucial to maintaining engine cleanliness, preventing deposits, and reducing friction.
- Contamination sensitivity: Softened grease can more easily absorb dust, dirt, and moisture, especially in dry or dusty summer environments. This can turn the grease abrasive or corrosive.
Choosing the right lubricant is key to optimizing the maintenance and performance of your fleet’s engines. When selecting engine oils for extreme temperatures, consider the following:
- Viscosity grade: Follow the original equipment manufacturer's recommendation. These grades are recommended according to the expected ambient temperatures, especially starting temperatures.
- Performance level and engine compatibility: The American Petroleum Institute assigns distinct designations to engine oils, indicating their compatibility with specific engine types. Make sure to follow the API designations for your engine needs.
- Use of synthetic/synthetic-blend products: Synthetic and synthetic-blend oils are better designed to handle extreme temperatures. CITGO CITGARD 700 Synthetic Blend Engine Oils deliver the performance needed for newer engine designs while improving performance in older engines. These premium heavy-duty engine oils are engineered with a proprietary additive technology that protects engines running at higher operating temperatures and fuel injection pressures, while meeting tighter wear limits and lower emission requirements.
There are a few basic steps to take before purchasing a grease:
- Refer to owner’s manual: Look to your vehicle’s owner’s manual for the recommended greases, required specifications from the OEM, and regreasing intervals.
- Consider operating temperatures and environments: The temperature will let you know how the grease will flow and pump. Some greases have been formulated to be more cold-resistant. The lower numbers (000 to 1) are softer and easier to pump over longer distances. Number 2 greases are recommended in many cases by manufacturers due to their ability to stay in place over wider and more normal temperature ranges.
It's important to explore each type of grease and find one that is best suited for your application needs. A heavy-duty or quality multipurpose grease, like Mystik JT-6 High-Temp #2 Grease, provides superior protection and excellent multi-purpose properties in varying extreme applications.
This high-temperature, lithium-complex grease provides a wide operating temperature range, with a high dropping point and low-temperature pumpability. It can effectively protect your equipment against wear, contamination, and environmental factors while prolonging the life of bearings and other components.
When choosing a grease, consider the following important factors:
- Its ability to handle extreme pressures.
- Its overall mobility and pumpability. This ensures that components are protected in fluctuating temperatures and environmental changes.
- Its ability to resist corrosion from both freshwater and saltwater sources.
- Its water washout resistance, for environmental conditions and truck washdowns. This will prevent failures and damage and will increase the component’s overall service life.
Finally, to make the best grease selection, you must always keep in mind:
- The overall age and health of the equipment.
- Environmental factors and conditions.
- Your preferred method of grease application.
- Your desired greasing intervals.
Preventive maintenance can help mitigate the season’s harsh effects
CITGO LubeAlert Fluid Condition Monitoring Service can be used for predictive and preventive equipment maintenance. This state-of-the-art service provides valuable insights into equipment condition and conveniently helps to plan your vehicle's maintenance activities. LubeAlert makes fluid analysis simple by collecting data samples while in the field. Using LubeAlert can help increase operational efficiency and production, decrease maintenance costs, and reduce summer downtime.
By selecting the right lubricant and implementing preventative maintenance with tools like LubeAlert, you can help mitigate the adverse effects of rising temperatures on your fleet, ensuring optimal equipment performance and cost savings.
Contact your supplier about choosing the right combination of heavy-duty engine oils and greases that will work together for your specific heavy-duty needs, such as the premium line of CITGO CITGARD heavy-duty engine oils and Mystik JT-6 high-performance greases, for your optimized fleet operation.
