Quote:
About a year ago Valvoline conducted a survey of various 5W-30 conventional products on shear stability and stay-in-grade performance. We went to our local Advance Auto Parts and purchased quarts of the products listed below. We noted that each product was currently labeled with the API SM donut and carried the ILSAC GF-4 starburst. I have included the results of the ASTM D6278 Kurt Orbahn (Bosch diesel injector) test which is typically used to evaluate stay-in-grade shear performance for engine oils. The current API requirement for BOI or VGRA (baseoil interchange or viscosity grade readacross) purposes for a 5W-30 stay-in-grade limit is 8.5cSt. Any 5W-30 that shears below this viscosity does not meet this API requirement for BOI or VGRA. The 8.5cSt viscosity limit is actually below the SAE J300 lower viscosity limit of 9.3cSt. for a SAE 30 grade because the Kurt Orbahn test is more severe than the Seq VIII engine test used to evaluate shear stability when running an API oil licensing program. European ACEA requirements are more severe requiring a higher performance level and a stay-in-grade pass uses the SAE J300 viscosity lower limits. So a 5W-30 must retain a minimum of 9.3cSt after the test. Out of all the oils tested, only the Valvoline oil showed the ACEA level of stay-in-grade performance.
Product Name Valvoline Premium Conv, Castrol GTX, Havoline,Mobil Clean 5000, Quaker State, Pennzoil
SAE Grade all 5W-30
Kinematic Viscosity @40C,cSt: 60.17, 60.59, 54.90, 60.16, 62.46, 61.07
Kinematic Viscosity @100C,cSt: 10.66, 10.59, 9.71, 10.55, 10.43, 10.49
ASTM D6278 Kurt Orbahn Shear (30 pass)
Kin Vis @ 100C, cSt after Shear: 9.42, 9.04, 8.89, 8.8, 8.68, 8.63
From Valvman. 2008.
About a year ago Valvoline conducted a survey of various 5W-30 conventional products on shear stability and stay-in-grade performance. We went to our local Advance Auto Parts and purchased quarts of the products listed below. We noted that each product was currently labeled with the API SM donut and carried the ILSAC GF-4 starburst. I have included the results of the ASTM D6278 Kurt Orbahn (Bosch diesel injector) test which is typically used to evaluate stay-in-grade shear performance for engine oils. The current API requirement for BOI or VGRA (baseoil interchange or viscosity grade readacross) purposes for a 5W-30 stay-in-grade limit is 8.5cSt. Any 5W-30 that shears below this viscosity does not meet this API requirement for BOI or VGRA. The 8.5cSt viscosity limit is actually below the SAE J300 lower viscosity limit of 9.3cSt. for a SAE 30 grade because the Kurt Orbahn test is more severe than the Seq VIII engine test used to evaluate shear stability when running an API oil licensing program. European ACEA requirements are more severe requiring a higher performance level and a stay-in-grade pass uses the SAE J300 viscosity lower limits. So a 5W-30 must retain a minimum of 9.3cSt after the test. Out of all the oils tested, only the Valvoline oil showed the ACEA level of stay-in-grade performance.
Product Name Valvoline Premium Conv, Castrol GTX, Havoline,Mobil Clean 5000, Quaker State, Pennzoil
SAE Grade all 5W-30
Kinematic Viscosity @40C,cSt: 60.17, 60.59, 54.90, 60.16, 62.46, 61.07
Kinematic Viscosity @100C,cSt: 10.66, 10.59, 9.71, 10.55, 10.43, 10.49
ASTM D6278 Kurt Orbahn Shear (30 pass)
Kin Vis @ 100C, cSt after Shear: 9.42, 9.04, 8.89, 8.8, 8.68, 8.63
From Valvman. 2008.