Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/625735
commercial carrier journal | january 2016 47 EquipmEnt: PC-11 OIL have today will work with PC-11 oils," he says. "There should be no impact on the filter, although a lower-viscosity oil should provide less restriction as it flows through the filter, which can help improve engine efficiency and fuel economy." The split category explained PC-11 will be different in that it is what lubricant suppliers are calling a "split category." In essence, this is because the new oil formulations will be required to service both older and new-generation diesel engines. But industry experts stress that care- ful thought is being given as to how these two oils will be marketed, pack- aged and presented to the industry to minimize confusion. "PC-11A (CK-4) oils will replace today's lubricants and will be com- pletely backwards-compatible with all current vehicles," Arcy says. "They will be designed with improved oxi- dation resistance, shear stability and aeration control." The second oil, designated FA-4, also will meet those new require- ments while adding lower-viscosity grades. "These oils are designed for next-generation diesel engines to help maximize fuel economy without sacrificing engine protection," he says. That requirement reinforced the need for a split category be- cause some older engines were not designed to operate with lower- viscosity grades. "Testing already has confirmed that the new oils will deliver fuel economy boosts from 2 to 4 percent depending on the engine and application," Arcy says. PC-11 will not affect every busi- ness the same, says Paul Cigala, commercial vehicles applications engineer for ExxonMobil Fuels & Lubricants. "It's possible that some fleets will only see a small impact from PC-11," says Cigala, who cites an example of a fleet operating older equipment and mixed engine types. In this scenario, he says, the fleet only may need to transition from its current CJ-4 engine oil to the newer CK-4 formulation. This also would apply to off-highway equipment used in operations such as mining and construction, which are expected to use only the CK-4 formulation for the time being. "In comparison, a fleet with a mix of older and newer equipment may choose to stock both CK-4 and FA-4 formulations," Cigala says. "CK-4 oils will be suitable for use in both older and newer equipment, but if the fleet is looking to enhance the fuel economy of its newer engines, it will likely decide to use the new FA-4 formulation." Fleets operating newer trucks with advanced engines should consult their OEM for recommendations on using both CK-4 and FA-4 formu- lations, Cigala says. "While some OEMs may factory-fill newer engines with FA-4 oils, they will likely not require fleet managers to fill with FA-4 oils," he says. "We anticipate that some fleets will want to be the earliest adopters of the highest-per- forming newer engines, along with high-performance FA-4 oils. These fleets will probably share a commit- ment to meeting aggressive sustain- ability-related goals." Whitacre says that from a fleet per- spective, the split category designa- tion primarily reflects 30-weight oils, since 40-weight oils have viscosity that is much higher than the FA-4 category will allow. However, he cau- tions that there is the possibility of confusion with 30-weight oils within the PC-11 framework. Both 10w-30 and 5w-30 PC-11 formulations could be marketed as CK-4 or FA-4 depending on their high-temperature high-shear (HTHS) viscosity, Whitacre says. "Some will be backwards-compatible and will meet the CK-4 require- ments," he says. "But there will also be a new subcategory called FA-4 that will encompass oils that are thinner." For those reasons, Whitacre stress- es that work is ongoing at API to fig- ure out exactly how the industry will communicate all of this information to fleets, technicians and drivers. "People have historically focused on the SAE viscosity grade when selecting heavy-duty engine oil," he says. "Now the emphasis will be on both the SAE grade and the API category. Those criteria will be more important than ever before, especial- ly for both low-viscosity or conven- tional formulations." The new oil formulations will be required to service both older and new-generation diesel engines.