Abstract: Vehicle owners or other users may obtain a motor vehicle engine oil having user desired enhancements, by using a wide area computer network, such as the Internet. In a preferred embodiment an electronic questionnaire is displayed on the user's computer screen, and the user answers inquiries about the environment of the use and desired operational characteristics of the desired oil, as well as information about the vehicle, ambient temperature, average driving distance, normal type of driving, and customer interest in fuel economy, cold weather starting, engine longevity and extended oil drain intervals and also to provide a centralized facility with information sufficient to determine what standard or customized motor oil would be most suitable for the user. A customized motor oil may be produced having a baseline motor oil from about 50 percent to 99.9 percent of the quality baseline oil with the remaining portion being customization additives.

Abstract: The present invention relates to an improvement in a capillary tube viscometer which includes light sensitive triggering means for timing the flow of oil between two points therein. The improvement includes optic fibers that are positioned on the tube at selected places. In addition, the tube includes impulse receiving means wherein the voltage received from start and stop positions are passed to triggering means and measuring means to translate the same into figures for manual or automatic calculation of time for the flow of oil.