Malaysia will be revising its engine oil standards to include American Petroleum Institute performance specifications and bench tests requirements. The standard applies to crankcase oils used gasoline and diesel engines, as well as high-speed industrial diesel engines.
The Department of Standards Malaysia announced its third revision of its engine oil standard and is seeking a public consultation on the matter. The Malaysian standard was developed by the Technical Committee on Petroleum Lubricants under the authority of the National Standards Committee on Petroleum and Gas. Members of the Technical Committee include government officials and major lubricant blenders, such as Chevron Malaysia Ltd. and Petronas Lubricants International.
The proposed standards will replace the current standards, also known as MS 376:2010, Engine oils-Specification, after public consultation and upon approval.
The proposed revision would align the country’s engine oil specifications with API performance standards. The revision includes the following:
● API performance standards such as API SP and API SN for automotive gasoline engine or spark ignition engine and API CK-4 and API CJ-4 for commercial diesel engine or compression ignition engines;
● introduction of the International Lubricants Standardization and Approval Committee’s ILSAC GF-5 standard for passenger car engine oils;
● engine oil classification system for commercial diesel engines such as API FA-4, “for certain XW-30 oils formulated for use in high-speed four-stroke cycle diesel engines designed to meet greenhouse gas emission standards. These oils are formulated for use in on-highway applications with diesel fuel sulfur content of up to 15 parts per million,” according to the draft;
● updated viscosity grades for engine oils based on SAE J300; the current standard is based on SAE J300 December 1999;
● engine and bench test requirements and performance criteria for gasoline and diesel engine performance for API SJ, SL, SM, SN, SN Plus and SP, while removing API SH from the current standard.
API SH was introduced in 1992 for use in gasoline engines and “is not suitable for use in most gasoline-powered automotive engines built after 1996 and may not provide adequate protection against build-up of engine sludge, oxidation or wear,” according to the draft. API has also stopped licensing engine oils for this specification, which is considered obsolete.
The Malaysia Department of Standards announced the public consultation on Jan. 1. The public consultation will end Feb. 28. Companies interested in participating in the consultation can obtain the relevant forms available on the country’s Unified Public Consultation website. After a public consultation, the Department of Standards will review the draft again to see if further amendments are needed to finalize the standard. However, no further information was given for the date of finalization or enforcement.
Each lubricant product will be allowed to have a certification mark from a certification body when the product complies with the standard requirements. The current engine oil specification was last updated in 2010.
For more information, visit the Malaysia Government’s Unified Public Consultation website entry on the proposed revisions to the engine oils specification.