Oil viscosity test

dean from bozeman

dean from bozeman

Well-known member
Here's a question for you old timers or someone who learned from an old timer. Is there a "homegrown" method to determine an oil's viscosity?

Basically, how can you tell whether a car has winter or summer oil?

I remember the Prell shampoo commercial when I was a kid. They would put a pearl into a bottle of Prell and it would slowly sink to the bottom. Now is there a way to test motor oil.
 
We use to measure paint viscosity by pouring a sample into a calibrated cup (about the size of a rattle can lid) with a hole on the bottom. Drain time was noted and compared to a table for the approximate viscosity. Can probably develop your own system recording drain time for know oil viscosities. Old heads probably just watched as they poured.
 
Thanks Pluck. I've found a site that may help me solve the problem. I will report results at a future time. Now if I can just get my hands on a graduated cylinder...or make my own.
 
dean from bozeman said:
Here's a question for you old timers or someone who learned from an old timer. Is there a "homegrown" method to determine an oil's viscosity?

Basically, how can you tell whether a car has winter or summer oil?

I remember the Prell shampoo commercial when I was a kid. They would put a pearl into a bottle of Prell and it would slowly sink to the bottom. Now is there a way to test motor oil.
Click to expand...


Why do you assume it has either summer or winter oil, rather than mutigrade oil such as 10w40 for both winter and summer? Very very few people use monograde oil thesedays.
 
dean from bozeman said:
Here's a question for you old timers or someone who learned from an old timer. Is there a "homegrown" method to determine an oil's viscosity?

Basically, how can you tell whether a car has winter or summer oil?

I remember the Prell shampoo commercial when I was a kid. They would put a pearl into a bottle of Prell and it would slowly sink to the bottom. Now is there a way to test motor oil.
Click to expand...




If you have to severely whip the horse to get it to pull your car, you have summer oil (Grandpa's method ). When Dad told me the story he had a sad look and said "That was mean!"
 
On the farm, Dad had two kinds of oil - SAE 30 and SAE 20W - that he bought in bulk from the Texaco distributor and carried home in small unmarked drums.
When he forgot which was which, he dipped a screwdriver in up to the handle and counted the seconds it took for a drop to fall. Worked every time.
 
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