SM/GF-4 showing up at Wally World

[farrarfan1]

I was just at the WalMart in Clarksville,In. Havoline 5W30 states it meets GF-4 and SM in the description on the back but still shows SL in the donut.Price went up to $1.42 a quart ( same as Motorcraft) from $1.26. Mobil Drive Clean dino says it meets GF-4 but doesn't mention SM anywhere. Price stayed the same at $1.17 a quart.Glad to see the Havoline meeting the new standard but wonder if the price increase is a sign of things to come.

 

[Farticus]

The Walmart in Saint John, New Brunswick stocks Castrol GTX which has the SM/GF-4 rating on it. I looked at just about every different brand of oil there, and the Castrol GTX was the only one I found with the new rating. These were the bottles with the 'now even better protection' on the front of the bottle.

 

[Motorbike]

The SM will not be on the API donut until November as I understand even though some oils will have the SM - GF-4 product in the bottle before hand

 

[MikeR]

Bottles of Castrol GTX are showing up here that read "Exceeds API SM, etc." but still only show SL in the donut. Apparently they can advertise that the product exceeds the future spec, but can't use the insignia yet, as they can't yet be certified.

mr

 

[farrarfan1]

I was there again today (sad isn't it) and found the Castrol GTX that that mentioned the new rating was 5W20.The 30 weights still said GF-3. I was just wondering if price increases are on the horizon since the Havoline has been $1.26 forever. I did see where Advance Auto has a rebate on Havoline that makes it $.88 a quart after rebate. Must be clearing out the old to make room for the new.

 

[Farticus]

Yeah, I suppose I should have said that it's still an API SL rated oil, but reading the back of the bottle it says 'Exceeds API SM, ILSAC GF-4 rating' In this case, is this a true SM rated oil or not? The stuff I picked up is a 5w30.

 

[G-MAN]

quote:

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Originally posted by Farticus:
Yeah, I suppose I should have said that it's still an API SL rated oil, but reading the back of the bottle it says 'Exceeds API SM, ILSAC GF-4 rating' In this case, is this a true SM rated oil or not? The stuff I picked up is a 5w30.

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Here is what it means: "The stuff in this bottle exceeds the upcoming SM and GF-4 ratings, but because of the API rules, we can't use the 'official' API SM and ILSAC GF-4 rating symbols yet."

Once the SM and GF-4 specs were finalized, most oil companies immediately started to reformulate and test their oils against those specs. API always sets a lag time between releasing the spec and the "shelf date" for using the actual new rating and symbol. We saw the same thing a couple of years ago with SL and GF-3. The first oil I remember seeing with "Exceeds the new GF-3 Spec" on the label was Mobil Drive Clean.

 

[drm7]

What is the new standard going to improve? Are we going to get better lubrication or is there another reason for the new rating? What is the driving force behind new ratings anyway?

 

[Pablo]

Lowering the P. Period.