Meeting in Detroit last week, ILSAC/Oil, the inter-industry committee responsible for gasoline engine oil upgrades, kicked off planning for the next one, GF-5. Although this new engine oil isn’t scheduled to enter commercial service until 2009, three dozen technical specialists representing auto manufacturers, engine oil marketers, independent test laboratories and chemical additive companies assembled for the first in a series of meetings that will extend over the next few years. The Oct....

The sagging U.S. lubricant market may have finally reached bottom. Sales during the second quarter increased 3 percent from the same period of 2003, according to the latest statistics from the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association. Demand had fallen for at least 14 consecutive quarters. NPRAs Quarterly Index of Lubricant Sales, released Oct. 4, showed sales of automotive lubricants for the April-to-June period were up 4.9 percent year-to-year, while industrial lubricants rose 6.6 perce...

Its one thing to go under the hood to try to pinpoint a cars malfunction. Imagine trying to troubleshoot on a space-age dune buggy from 75 million miles away. The latter has been one of the countless activities going on over the summer at the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administrations Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The lab, which is managedby the California Institute of Technology, is responsible for managing the Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. Spirit was hampered fo...