Clarification on Rotella JASO-MA "Certification"

The CalSci stuff is pretty much out of date.

JASO has updated their standards in 2006. MA is the higher friction and MB is lower friction. Within MA, MA2 is the higher friction half of the MA standard, and MA1 is the lower friction MA standard (still above MB, though). For the highest friction oil, get JASO MA2.

So it appears that Shell has tested their Rotella oils in-house and found that they meet the JASO T904:2006 standard for MA. OK with me.

2010_FX4, do you actually have a five year warranty, or is it an extended protection plan? This is important...what the stealer calls an extended warranty is actually not a warranty. It is a prepaid repair contract. Read the paperwork of that extended protection contract to know exactly what you must do to keep it in force. As always, believe nothing that the dealer told you. What you have on paper is the only thing that is real.
 
Originally Posted By: 2010_FX4
Received this from Shell:

Rotella T6 5w-40 and Rotella T Triple Protection 15w-40 meet the performance requirements of JASO MA and JASO DH2. This means we have tested these products and warranty them for use in these applications.

Shell Technical


Too "weasley" for me so I sent this (am waiting for a response):

Are they JASO certified -- yes or no?

Based upon the initial response, I would say that you are totally correct--Rotella is NOT JASO certified--it only meets the performance requirements and Shell will warranty that it does.

PS...If could I get my hands on some of the Gulf Pride 4T 20W-50 I would run that instead (I do not think it is sold in the US). Hmmm...perhaps I need to contact one of the guys in one of our overseas offices
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Shell says they "test and warranty" for the certification requirements. They are providing a manufacturer's warranty to you for the performance of the product in the service described. To me, that means as much as an official "paid for" seal on a bottle.
 
Im Not a die hard Rotella fan just yet, im in my own personal testing period.. i have it in my lawn tractor, its in my Polaris Ranger, and when the time comes im going to put it in my motorcycles.. so far im pleased with the Rotella in my Lawn tractor SAE30WT as far as my Polaris Ranger goes (these machines are VERY, VERY, hard on oil), I had 16 moderate/hard hours on my 09 700XP and after the machine was up to temperature there was a audable ticking from the top end of the motor.. I drained and replaced with the same oil and filter (only new) and the ticking is gone.. I dont know what to make of that.. but with 3 hours on the fresh oil change and zero ticking it has me scratching my head.
 
Originally Posted By: Ken2
The CalSci stuff is pretty much out of date.

JASO has updated their standards in 2006. MA is the higher friction and MB is lower friction. Within MA, MA2 is the higher friction half of the MA standard, and MA1 is the lower friction MA standard (still above MB, though). For the highest friction oil, get JASO MA2.

So it appears that Shell has tested their Rotella oils in-house and found that they meet the JASO T904:2006 standard for MA. OK with me.



Yeah, and I think the reason they updated and split MA into MA and MA2 is possibly to allow future use of PCMO type oil for MA for lower friction and more fuel efficiency. Maybe with new clutch designs? Do we know that even now a given SM, SN PCMO 10W40 or 20W50 wouldn't meet MA? I'd assume that 10W30 PCMO would have too much friction modifiers and I'm not recomending PCMO or anything with it's lower ZDDP, but just curious.
 
For whatever it is worth: Shell Oil is a very credible company. Motorcycle lubrication is a MICROSCOPIC part of their sales....the last thing they would do is lie about an oil specification for a motorcycle and set themselves up for a false advertising claim. I suspect they decided to put MA on the bottles just to be "nice" to the bike users as a courtesy to confirm it is OK for bikes. I am sure they could care less about a few gallons of oil being used in bikes. This is a multi-billion dollar company and has large labs and chemical analysis capabilities. If they say it "meets" JASO MA you can be sure it does. I worked for a company that was a supplier to Shell; trust me, from what I could see they are very picky and quality oriented. That said, the bottomline is that there are many people using T-6 and 15W-40 petro oil with complete success in bikes...we see that here all the time in the Forum comments. Personally, I am glad they don't simply put T-6 or the Petro oil in a different colored bottle and call it "motorcycle oil" and charge twice as much for it. ....No...I don't work for Shell....but I do run T-6 in my Honda Interceptor,
and ran it in two dirt bikes....with zero problems.
 
reading on the new GM dexos I + II spec, it was stated that beside the initial certification cost there is a royalty per qt-gals of oil that is sold adding to the cost-profit margin
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: dirtydannyd
FYI, Shell advance motorcycle oil does not have the JASO-MA certification either and does not appear on the list. It's probably because it costs $$$ to get the certification. They know what the specs should be to meet the JASO standard so they meet it, and if they would fork out the $$$ they would be able to display the certification on their bottle (like what Motul have done).

Just to clarify, it is up to each oil manufacturer to perform the necessary tests to show compliance with a JASO spec. The results of these tests are then submitted to a JASO panel/management for review and approval of the application. The JASO panel does not perform any additional tests. They either approve or reject the application. It sounds like Shell has done the first part but has not done the second part, which is a bit strange because according to JASO documentation, the management fee is only about $500 (40,000 Yen). This seems like a small price to pay to be able to carry the official JASO logo. Makes you wonder why Shell would not pay the fee. But maybe they treat their Rotella line as HDEO mainly and the JASO spec is just an added bonus and not its main purpose.

That's it in a nutshell. You would have a loyal following of diesel freaks that would refuse to put motorcycle oil in their OTR or jacked up F250's....
 
I asked this question to Shell a year ago. Their reply was it is JASO MA certified and if you have any problems in your motorcycle with their oil they would cover the warranty and full repair. I have the email reply saved from Shell.

Email reply:

Rotella T 6 does have the JASO MA and JASO DH2 approvals and is
suitable for use in motorcycles. The Rotella T6 warranty is
unaffected.

Regards,

Shell Technical
 
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And, the JASO DH2 standard is a diesel engine oil standard. Nothing to do with motorcycles. The JASO 4T standard is the 4 stroke motorcycle engine standard. JASO MA is the wet clutch standard.
 
I know it's an old conversation but I wanted to see if anyone else ever got to the bottom of this. I have two Yamaha Grizzly ATVs calling for 10w40 JASO MA2 oil. I noticed Walmart had the 5w40 Rotella t6 full synthetic for like $5.75 per qt and thought I'd run it as it has the JASO MA2 on the PDS. I like the 5w part because I run it often in winter. I've always been concerned with wet clutch protection and shearing of 0w or 5w oils but Rotella makes the claim about how in testing it stays in grade and resists sheering. So is the consensus that Rotella T6 5w40 full synthetic will protect fine in a wet clutch CVT application like ATV's?
 
Originally Posted by dirtydannyd
I just want to clarify something with all this stuff about Rotella T6 being JASO-MA "certified".

It's my understanding that it isn't JASO-MA certified. A JASO-MA "certified" oil has undergone the testing to be allowed to display the certificate on the bottle like what Motul has.

This is the JASO-MA certificate and I believe it's present on some 'motorcycle oils' such as Motul et al.:


Rotella T6 does not have this. They have the API certificate (round stamp on the right) but that's it as far as "certifications" go.


So I guess you could say that people wouldn't use it becuase it is not JASO-MA certified.
Fair enough, the manufacturer "claims" it meet JASO-MA, however this has not been certified. At the end of the day, the manufacturer can "claim" anything they want, right?

At the end of the day, it is a good oil and does seem suitable for motorcycles as plenty of oil analysis' have shown. All I'm trying to do here is to cut through the hype and get to the facts regarding oils that "meet a particular standard" as opposed to oils that "are certified and have undergone certification".

I'm not trying to dump on this product. It's a great product. But you don't just say "it's certified" becuase it isn't. Just like a guy in a white coat in a hospital isn't a "certified" doctor without the proper certificate even though he might have the knowledge to provide you with medical care.

Oh, and FYI I'm not drumming up business for motorcycle oils. Personally, I use Delo 400 15W/40 Multigrade in my 1050 Speed Triple and in my TTR250 dirtbike
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Correct, Rotella is not a certified/registered Jaso oil.
Shell Rotella only claims to meet the standard. Many reputable motor oil manufactures will properly register and display the Jaso Certification Symbol on the bottle when they do.
WITH THAT SAID however, I do not think Jaso actually certifies or tests any oil. I believe the oil manufacturer simply registers his/her oil product that it meets the standards that Jaso prints which is available on their website. I am not 100% sure on this but do not see anyplace where Jaso tests any oil.
 
Originally Posted by Jake777
I know it's an old conversation but I wanted to see if anyone else ever got to the bottom of this. I have two Yamaha Grizzly ATVs calling for 10w40 JASO MA2 oil. I noticed Walmart had the 5w40 Rotella t6 full synthetic for like $5.75 per qt and thought I'd run it as it has the JASO MA2 on the PDS. I like the 5w part because I run it often in winter. I've always been concerned with wet clutch protection and shearing of 0w or 5w oils but Rotella makes the claim about how in testing it stays in grade and resists sheering. So is the consensus that Rotella T6 5w40 full synthetic will protect fine in a wet clutch CVT application like ATV's?



Certified, no. It does not carry the JASO label with number nor is it on JASO's "approved" list.

That said, Shell would not put on their bottle that it "Meets performance requirements of ... JASO MA/MA2" if it was not tested and shown to be safe to use in those applications.
I would use it in any JASO application.
Heck, I use Peak HDEO 15w-40 syn-blend in my bike now, and it mentions nothing about JASO on the bottle or website.
 
blupupher you are living on the edge, I tell ya'... How did it ever occur to you that HDEO's are made to meet similar specs and they are interchangeable when it comes to shared sumps no matter what designation it has or doesn't have? Or that Shell wouldn't just put it on there without any rationale to back it up? I haven't heard of an HDEO causing a clutch issue with a clutch in good repair or a warranty claim being denied.

You my friend, get the thinking man award.

Thinking about it, if a 20w50 shears down to a 40 wt, a 10w40 shears down to a 30 weight, the manufacturer could say you don't have the proper weight in there. Or if it calls for a 10w30 and it is sheared down to a 20 weight. "No sir, your receipts don't mean anything, it says you bought the proper oil but the test says otherwise".

With respect to what we talk about around here, no manufacturer states that they plan for the oil to shear out of grade.

Your bike has a problem. In the heat of summer you limp into the dealer on a hundred degree Fahrenheit day. The oil test comes back as a 30 wt which was not rated for that high of an ambient temperature in your bike.

Sure, far fetched and not a reality of what would happen any more than running an oil that meets requirements would not be acceptable... Or could it happen?
 
any certification costs $$$ + generally any oil above a 30W is good with wet clutches
 
Originally Posted by benjy
any certification costs $$$ + generally any oil above a 30W is good with wet clutches


The holy trinity of science is 1)Reason 2)Observation 3)Experience...
employing those tools we observe that the primary cause clutch slip
are high mileage... clutch slip is not related to any 30/40/50
grade... mileage is the constant among all of the clutches that begin
to slip... oil choice whether JASO approved or not is not a
constant... High mileage is the constant where all clutches begin to
loose grip due to normal glazing and contaminates that build up over
use...

[Linked Image from vfrdiscussion.com]
 
I've registered many 4T and 2T oils with JALOS.

Rotella is not on the list but there are six Shell Advance oils registered as JASO MA or MA2.

JALOS does not test oils. They register oils based on manufacturer data and site. Most of the data is generated by additive package manufacturers. The system is just for registration. They hate any term that implies their approval such as "certified by".

Cost to register one grade of oil from one manufacturing site is 40,000 Japanese Yen or about USD365.00.
 
Originally Posted by RDMgr
I've registered many 4T and 2T oils with JALOS.

Rotella is not on the list but there are six Shell Advance oils registered as JASO MA or MA2.

JALOS does not test oils. They register oils based on manufacturer data and site. Most of the data is generated by additive package manufacturers. The system is just for registration. They hate any term that implies their approval such as "certified by".

Cost to register one grade of oil from one manufacturing site is 40,000 Japanese Yen or about USD365.00.


Thanks for the insider clarification... since JALOS is one of the six organizations under JASO but does your registration with JALOS also authorize you to advertise JASO???
 
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JASO sets the standard. JALOS has the responsibility for the review and registration. Once this is done you have the right to use the mark on your labels. The documents submitted for review include the technical performance data and label design.
 
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