Formula Shell SL: is GF-4 ~equivalent to SM?

[UncleS2]

Made a few trips into 2 different Walgreens today to buy some cheap Formula Shell, & as I figured, it was all SL-rated. Later I noticed that most of the 5w30 was GF-3, also as I figured. But what surprised me was that a couple of qts of 5w30, and *all* the 10w30 I found, was GF-4!

Question:
1. Is SL oil that passes GF-4 equivalent to SM oil? i.e., since all SM seems to be GF-4, is all GF-4 equivalent to SM?

All this oil was in white bottles, & my guess is that the SL/GF-4 was made "in transition" from SL to SM.

If this has all been hashed out before, I couldn't find it by searching. TIA

 

[Triple_Se7en]

The SL stuff is generally more robust than the SM.
I would grab the SL first & never look back at the SM I left standing on the store shelf.

 

[Quest]

Nope. Passing GF-4 doesn't always mean that it will instantly classify as SM in SAE classification.

Aftrerall, these are 2 different engineering board/standards authority that has different requirements for motor oil classification....

 

[UncleS2]

777, all the Formula shell at Walgreen's so far is SL, haven't seen a single qt of SM.

Thanks, Quest.
I may try to get a couple of oil changes worth extra, say another 9-10 qts or so. Especially for the hot half of the year, the Shell 10w30 with Lube Control might be a real bang-for-the-buck sleeper!

 

[Dave Hess]

Shell is a fine oil for a 5-6K OCI.

I have never seen GF4 SM rated Formula Shell....even at Shell gas stations.

 

[Quest]

LT4 vette,

Actually, I'm now using 5W30 formula shell in 4L white jugs that are ILSAC GF-4/API SM rated. These are all made/blended by Shell Canada and I believe it's from Calgary refineries...

 

[Ray H]

Late SL oils were actually SM, but couldn't be identified as such in the API donut until November 30th, 2004 (though it was permitted to identify them as ILSAC GF-4). GF-4 coincided with SM. The Japanese automakers, who are involved with their American counterparts in developing the ILSAC standards, are also represented on the various automaker committees that finalized the API SM standard. Lube Report discussed all this in the final several months leading up to the official intro date for SM. The full articles are nicely archived on Lube Report's site for anyone willing to educate himself.