The standards writing organization recently approved the viscosity grade, which will take its place this spring in the SAE J300 Standard as a lighter-weight alternative to SAE 20 and other non-winter engine oil grades.

Moving Viscosity Limits

The SAE J300 Engine Oil Viscosity Classification Task Force agreed on the limits for the new grade last summer, according to Mike Covitch of Lubrizol, who chairs the task force. SAE 16 then was balloted through SAE Technical Committee 1 on Engine Oils, and recently advanced to full approval, he advised.

The new grades kinematic viscosity limits were set for a minimum of 6.1 square millimeters per second and a maximum of 8.2 mm2/s, both at 100 degrees C. Its minimum high-temperature high-shear rate viscosity is 2.3 mPasec at 150 C. These limits got the official nod from the SAE Fuels & Lubricants Council at its 5 December meeting in Norfolk, Virgina, United States.

In addition, Covitch pointed out, the updated SAE J300 standard will require tweaking the kinematic viscosity limit at 100 C for SAE 20 engine oils. The current minimum KV100 limit for SAE xW-20 oils is 5.6 mm2/s, but that will rise to 6.9 mm2/s when the revised standard is published in April.

SAE staff were asked to set an early April 2013 publication date for the new version of SAE J300, to give other industry committees – such as the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), the Technical Association of the European Lubricant Industry (ATIEL), the American Petro-leum Institute (API) and the International Lubricants Specification and Approval Committee (ILSAC) – time to revise their stay-in-grade requirements for SAE xW-20 oils, if they wish to do so.

The concern, explained Covitch, is that some current SAE xW-20 oils on the market might shear out-of-grade according to the new J300s limits, whereas they were classified as stay-in-grade under the old standard. Although SAE J300 is a new-oil viscosity classification standard, the EOVC is aware that J300 is also used to characterize a lubricants suitability for continued use during service.

Covitch said ACEA, API and others groups that set engine oil specifications have the option of retaining the current 5.6 mm2/s minimum KV100 for stay-in-grade viscosity if they wish, but the new-oil minimum for SAE xW-20 will be 6.9 mm2/s as of April 2013.

Organizationally, the EOVC task force is part of SAE TC-1, the forum where all ballots to revise J300 are conducted. Passing ballots proceed to the Fuels & Lubricants Council level. Passing the F&LC ballot is the final stage for approval of a new revision to SAE Standards under its jurisdiction.

At least initially, the new SAE 16 grade is not expected to have much impact on most engine oil markets, since it is being specified by only one automaker – Honda – for 2013 model year engines. Honda said tests show that its existing engines can gain fuel economy benefits and maintain adequate durability from oils with viscosity grades lower than SAE 0W-20.

With so much focus on fuel economy, it may not be long before other automakers also begin to employ the new viscosity grade. Presumably, the main deterrent would be concerns about whether lubricants that thin can protect engines. Its safe to say that other original equipment manufacturers will be monitoring Hondas experience the next few years.

Work on GF-6 Underway

Fuel economy will again be a major focus for the next passenger car motor oil specification from ILSAC, an official from Toyota Motors told the Lubricants Russia conference in Moscow in November. Minoru Yamashita said the next spec will probably require higher scores for fuel economy improvement on the Sequence VID test and that it will likely increase the distance for which oils must retain fuel economy performance – from approximately 13,000 kilometers to 16,000 km.

ILSAC represents U.S. and Japanese automakers, and its GF series of passenger car motor oil specs are companions to API S series standards. Though developed in the United States, both API and ILSAC standards are referenced in many parts of the world. According to Yamashita, IL-SAC wants to write GF-6 in time to begin licensing the spec in January of 2015.

Automakers are seeking improvements in areas other than fuel economy. Yamashita said GF-6 will probably require improved robustness and better wear protection and require oils to demonstrate that they do not cause pre-ignition at low engine speeds. In addition to the Sequence VID, automakers are updating or replacing tests that measure oxidation stability and piston deposits, valve train wear along with sludge and deposits.