SSAAI is working his way through Oil Glup, Part 4
The lubricant industry operates on a deep tension between marketing myths and physical chemistry. Regulators and consumers obsess over arbitrary standards, OEM approvals, and used oil tests, treating them as absolute truths. In reality, legal battles over what is synthetic show that industry standards are shaped by corporate power rather than scientific purity.
At the molecular level, lubrication is a delicate balance of solubility and dispersancy. Modern trends favor dry base oils like PAO and GTL, which lack natural solubility. To prevent deposits, manufacturers overload these fluids with polymer dispersants. This creates a temporary suspension rather than a true solution. Over time, these polymers break down, causing rapid fluid...