In this edition, we want to bring the attention of the motoring public to the illegal sales of base oil as engine oil, and to warn that API: SA rated motor oil brand is actually available in Nigeria and the fact that many motorists use it in their vehicles without any knowledge of the impending danger they are causing to their precious car engines.
It is no longer a new sight on our streets and major roads to find roadside sales of unblended base oil as engine oil to unsuspecting motorists, mechanics and okada riders (local parlance for commercial motorcycle riders), especially in areas spotted for high traffic jams. These activities are illegal and unethical! Despite the fact that hawking in traffic jams on our local highways is highly prohibited and constitute traffic offence, their activities have continued to thrive and proliferate from urban areas to even the rural settlements unabated.
Surprisingly, some motorists consider the presence of these roadside oil hawkers as a welcomed development and big relief! A danfo bus driver (local parlance for commercial bus driver) once narrated his experience to me- how the presence of a roadside base oil hawking had saved his day. He was traveling to Ilorin town from Lagos and somewhere along the lonely highway of Ondo, the oil pressure of his bus had suddenly dropped, indicating that he urgently needed to top-up. He needed to buy a gallon of genuine engine oil, which was only available at a petrol station about15 mile away from where he had abruptly stopped the journey due to the sharp drop in the oil level. He said half a mile down the road, he spotted a roadside unblended oil hawker, who provided him with 4-litres of base oil in order to replenish the dropped volume.
Do you know the damage such unblended oil might cause to that bus engine? Some engines may be subjected to top-up due to the ages of such engines, but the inter-mingling of oils could be very dangerous to engines because different oils have different formulas and chemistry for the additives used. For instance, once you top-up a lube with unblended base oil or a particular lube with another type of lube, the type of chemical reactions that such engines will undergo remains untold. It is advisable to always use the same type of lube for your engine. These days, some leading lube manufacturers have now come up with smaller lube pack sizes from 500ml, 1litres to 2litres in order to forestall the inter-mingling of oil.
Unfortunately, only a few motorists are aware of the dangers of using unblended base oil as lube, even under an emergency they would not be compelled to buy or use base oil in their car engines!
The contention is that, what they are selling to unsuspecting motorists in the pretext that “oil na oil”, is really base oil, and base oil naturally is unadditized and not a lubricant- this means that unblended base oil has no additives and as such can not guarantee engine protection. The inevitable presence of additives blended with base oil produces lubricant (lube), while it is additives that give base oil a characteristic function in application so that the newly achieved blend of oil product becomes suitable for engine operation. Thousands of engines of several vehicle brands in Nigeria have suffered setbacks and failures resulting from sludge problems, which are simply caused by the use of inferior lubricants or base oil used as lubes in these engines.
Most vehicle owners are horrified to learn that the oils they bought from roadside unblended oil hawkers and installed into their vehicles, are inferior, not protected and will damage their engines. One would have thought that with all those government agencies (DPR, SON) and consumer watchdog organizations, someone would have done something about it by now or at least expose the TRUTH to the motoring public.
Another form that base oil has been subtly sold straight as engine oil to the uninformed motoring public unchecked, is the importation of a particular motor oil brand rated API: SA by some unscrupulous businessmen to sell unblended oil. The fact that it is packaged in beautiful cans does not make it a better motor oil to buy (or use). Don’t be deceived!
Ninety-nine percent of motorists who patronize this API: SA rated motor oils have no idea what they are buying into their car engines, that, it is actually base oil and nothing else! Did I hear you say, how can that be?
Let me explain! In 1960, when the American Petroleum Institute (API that sets oil quality standard) decided to come up with the API motor oil quality-rating scheme, they decided to start with the letter ‘A’ to represent motor oil that is basically base oil (mineral oil) with no additives added to it. So that the lowest possible API rating for motor oil is API: SA – this rating is obsolete and it is rating for which no testing is required, as it is same thing as pure mineral oil with nothing else in it. It does not have any of the following additives to protect and improve the performance of the engine such as antioxidants which controls oxidation, dispersants control sludge and varnish, anti-wear agents minimizes valve train wear, anti-foamants retard foaming in oil, anti-corrosion prevention corrosion, lubricity additives improves metal wetting, viscosity modifiers, etc. These additives are very essential for reliable engine operation if well-blended motor oil is to be utilized.
Furthermore, API: SA motor oils were supposed to be used on low compression automobile engines, which were manufactured around the 1930s. With the 21st century high-tech trends, it will be a disaster and unsatisfactory to attempt to use an API: SA rated motor oil in today’s sophisticated car engines.
Incidentally, enough API: SA rated motor oils are imported, and sold in Nigeria on daily basis to satisfy a growing population of users (motorists). Perhaps, the reason for its thriving patronage may not be unconnected with the fact that it is too thick in texture and also comes as SAE 40 viscosity (which are boldly written on their containers).
Surprisingly, in Nigeria, when an oil is ‘too thick’, it is easily misunderstood as good quality oil. But on the contrary, high quality oils these days come very light in viscosity and yet performs excellently well. This wrong mentality has really affected the general acceptance of the state-of-the-art oils (lubes), hence the attraction for base oil. There is yet another wrong mentality about the way many motorists assess oil, they are apt to say that ‘oil na oil!’ Meaning that whether it is base oil or well-blended lubricant, they are all one and the same thing- this is a wrong assumption.
Currently, in the lube market, you have better motor oils with better API: SF, SG, SH, SL which are very common to come by. But API: SM rating is the best in the market, and only a few oil majors already produce it. Note also that API: SA, SB, SC and SD quality ratings are now obsolete in the industry.
It has been argued that many consumers, who patronize any of the inferior oils, do so because they claim that the unblended base oil and API: SA rated motor oil are sold cheaper than the genuine lubricant products. For instance, some users buy base oil for as low as =N=700 per gallon as against =N=1,200 per 4litres of a typical genuine engine oil, but might end up spending over =N=15,000 to repair the resultant damage done to the engine. So, in reality, using a genuine well-blended lube gives you a rest of mind to know that you are not going to suffer any breakdown and you will not be spending more on maintenance than you ought to!
However, now you know better, and know that each time you buy an API: SA rated motor oil, you are actually paying for a product (unblended base oil) that is 77-years out of date for modern cars. Would you strive to buy the highest possible quality rating, or would you rather choose the lowest possible quality? The choice is your!
The sales of unblended base oil as engine oil is quite a menace and has become the number one substandard oil sold in Nigeria. How can the motoring public be protected?
Since the importation and sales of API: SA rated motor oil to unsuspecting consumers has remained unchecked by the relevant authorities (SON, DPR); in our opinion, it is an ill practice to sell this product without displaying proper information. They should at least label such product with a warning label such as “CAUTION: This oil is rated API: SA. It contains No additives and not suitable for use in petrol powered automotive engines built after 1930. Such use in modern engines may cause unsatisfactory engine performance or equipment harm.”
This way any motorist or mechanic, who attempts to buy it, will be doing so out of his own volition. And so, my only advice to the motoring public is become educated on motor oil quality. This column also advocates that vehicle owners adhere strictly to vehicle manufacturer recommended motor oil quality rating to guide their choice of oil quality to be used.
Unfortunately, only a few motorists are aware of the dangers of using unblended base oil as lube, even under an emergency they would not be compelled to buy or use base oil in their car engines!
On the other hand, the illegal activities of both the roadside hawkers of unblended oil and importers of API: SA rated motor oil are undermining the efforts of genuine manufacturers of lubricants while the economic and mechanical hazards it poses to the country and patronizing motorists respectively remains untold.
We encourage motorists to spend time to educate themselves on motor oils by keeping a tab on this column every month. Do you have a comment or complaint, please you can text or email it to me and it shall be attended to promptly.
“For sound driving insist on genuine lubricants! Don’t use base oil as lube!! Don’t patronize roadside sale of base oil
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