Laying up oil...what's special about it?

[theironduke]

Went to look at a car yesterday which hasn't been used over the winter (well, started routinely but not driven) and i thought the oil looked odd..turns out it was laying up oil.

What is different about the stuff and whats the advantage of it over normal oil for sstanding engines?

[HellDiver]

It's sticky stuff, very like chainsaw chain oil.

[Major Fallout]

It sticks like hell.

Say you sprayed a steel plate with WD40 and put it outside in the rain, after about a month it would have washed off and started to rust. Well the thick sticky stuff stays for longer.

[jon-]

If it has layup oil in why is it being started?

[Puddenchucker]

Even storage/preservation oils require the engine to be run at regular intervals to ensure an adequate coating remains on the engine internals, this also allows for limited driving of the vehicle.

e.g.

http://www.millersoils.net/M3_cgi/millers2.cgi?pro...

[jon-]

Learn something new every day I'd have thought cranking it without a spark would have sufficed.