Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/748284
38 | Overdrive | November 2016 D ec. 1 begins the intro- duction of two new heavy-duty diesel engine oil classifi cations within the new proposed cat- egory, PC-11. Oil makers aren't saying how much prices will rise, but they be- lieve any extra cost should be recovered partially through what is expected to be improved fuel economy and reduced engine wear. The choice of which PC-11 oil to use is straightforward: • CK-4 oils, a replacement for CJ-4 oils currently on the market, will be fully backward-compatible with engines using CJ-4. • FA-4 oils feature a lower viscosity and will be recommended almost exclu- sively for 2017 and newer model-year engines. The transition has begun, though many customers have not realized it. Shell Lubricants began selling CK-4 formulations last summer, labeling them CJ-4 since they cannot be licensed as CK-4 until Dec. 1. Dan Arcy, global OEM technical manager, says buyers received all of the benefi ts of CK-4: improved engine oxidation, oil shearing and oil aeration, and better counterac- tion of soot-related oil degradation. "Those bottles will have a label change Dec. 1 and will start claiming CK-4," Arcy says. There won't be any nega- tive outcomes if a user mixes CK-4 and CJ-4, he says. "The result would still perform better than CJ-4 alone, but not to the maximum performance of pure CK-4." CK-4 oils will be off ered in all of the same viscosity grades as today's CJ-4 oils, says Shawn Whitacre, Chevron Delo's senior staff engineer and chairman of the Heavy-Duty Engine Oil Classifi ca- tion Panel of the American Society for Testing and Materials. Owners of new engines can rest assured that FA-4 has been proven to protect engines just as well as CK-4 and CJ-4 despite its lower viscosity, while also off ering the same improved performance and engine-life benefi ts as CK-4, says Kevin Ferrick of the American Petro- leum Institute. The oils have been in development for fi ve years, including widespread testing. ExxonMobil adds more than 1.5 million miles of testing each month through its fl eet partners, says engineer Paul Cigala. As is the case any time one transitions to a new type of lubricant, there could be changes in typical oil analysis properties, such as levels of calcium, magnesium, zinc and phosphorus, Whitacre says. Analysis reports from before and after the transition might be dissimilar, but that shouldn't be a problem. At the boiling point of 212 degrees, he says, "depend- ing on viscosity grade selection, you also might see a change in the typical viscos- ity." New oils, easy choice New oils, easy choice BY JASON CANNON If you use CJ-4 oil today, your replacement will be CK-4, one of two PC-11 classifications.