ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - 28

batch of BB pistons is being made.
Ford is ordering a seven-year supply
of these pistons. Reference oil 222
is no longer available and will be
replaced by reference oil 224 with
a target of five events per test.
BOI/VGRA has already been put in
place for API SN PLUS.

The need to meet the performance requirements
of two new, and five replacement, engine tests
while balancing the new durability and deposit
improvements against new fuel economy
requirements is extremely challenging.
amount of industry resources. Keeping
up to date with all the test developments
is an important part of understanding
the FAU timing concerns.
SEQUENCE IIIH

Batch 5 pistons brought the test
back to the precision matrix severity,
434-3 has been accepted as the new
reference oil and everything was
running on target, with no issues.
However, at the November AOAP
meeting, unexpectedly, and without
any explanation, ILSAC declared that
the proposed limit for weighted piston
deposits is being dropped from 5.0
to 4.5 as ILSAC appears to be taking
into account the trade-off of deposit
improvement and fuel economy.
BOI/VGRA data sets and proposed
guidelines are currently in progress.
SEQUENCE IVB

Oil consumption and ferrous-wearmetals-at-end-of-test (FEWMEOT)
data indicate that establishing a longer
break-in period will provide better test
repeatability as it will reduce carryover
concerns. The Surveillance Panel
(SP) is testing an increased break-in
period as it continues to work on
test improvements. New engines will
undergo a break-in procedure, adding
a 50-hour test prior to running candidate or reference oils. It remains to be
seen if these changes have improved

28

FEBRUARY 2019

| COMPOUNDINGS | ILMA.ORG

the test, and currently testing is
underway using two reference oils.
There is a large candidate data set for
the Sequence IVB, which the industry
statisticians are analyzing to seek any
additional improvements that could
be made.
The lubricant test monitoring system
(LTMS) for FEWMEOT was successfully implemented in November. BOI/
VGRA matrix testing is expected to
start in the first quarter of 2019, once
the SP agrees the test is in its final form.
SEQUENCE VH

LTMS and registration are both in
place. The Sequence V surveillance
panel successfully approved a new fuel
batch just in time to be able to continue testing without a significant time
outage at either independent lab. API
BOI/VGRA data sets and proposed
guidelines are currently in progress.
SEQUENCE VIE

Matrix testing is close to completion.
SEQUENCE VIF

Lubricants Group has successfully
balloted BOI/VGRA guidelines for
the Sequence VIF.
SEQUENCE IX

Though an active test, there are some
issues due to changes in hardware
and reference oils. The new batch of
pistons (BC) were tried and found to
be too severe, and, as a result, a new

SEQUENCE X

BOI/VGRA data sets are being
analyzed, and proposed guidelines are
in development.

Compromise Is Essential
The need to meet the performance
requirements of two new, and five
replacement, engine tests while balancing the new durability and deposit
improvements against new fuel
economy requirements is extremely
challenging. Lubricants must be
reformulated into a single ILSAC
GF-6 core chemistry that matches
the desired performance limits and
deployed across the ever-widening
scope of base stocks and viscosity
grades required by the market. In
our view, meeting the current ILSAC
GF-6 draft specification will be a
challenge for lubricant formulators,
not only in terms of achieving the
required technical performance, but
also in regard to the time needed to
define this formulation space and
the final ILSAC GF-6 performance
window.
Compromise, in the final stages of
the ILSAC GF-6 process, between all
stakeholders will undoubtedly be necessary if there is any hope of meeting
the desired timing for the specification
introduction. If we are not careful, we
could be in a position where almost
a decade has passed between the
drafting of the needs statement and an
FAU date.
Evans monitors developments in the North
American passenger car lubricant specifications
for Infineum.
http://www.ILMA.ORG
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019

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