Valvoline Restore & Protect---Any Formulation Change Recently?

[ZeeOSix]

Mine are marked GF-6, too. Have they changed it on the jugs yet?

What's the date code on the oil jugs?

This Valvoline R&P spec sheet dated 8/19/2025 shows it meets SQ and GF-7A. Valvoline is apparently using old bottle labels but the oil in them will meet the SQ/GF-7A spec. Also see the email response below I got from them when I asked what was going on.

This is what Valvoline told me when I bought Valvoline Extended Protection and saw that the bottle date code was only 6 weeks old but showed the SP and GF-6A specs.

 

[Japanese]

What's the date code on the oil jugs?

This Valvoline R&P spec sheet dated 8/19/2025 shows it meets SQ and GF-7A. Valvoline is apparently using old bottle labels but the oil in them will meet the SQ/GF-7A spec. Also see the email response below I got from them when I asked what was going on.

View attachment 347545

This is what Valvoline told me when I bought Valvoline Extended Protection and saw that the bottle date code was only 6 weeks old but showed the SP and GF-6A specs.

View attachment 347546

I haven't seen the VRP in grades 0W-20, 5W-20, and 5W-30 with the new API SQ label.

This is the new API SQ label which currently only 0W-16 has:

And those other 3 grades still come with the API SP label:

 

[ZeeOSix]

I haven't seen the VRP in grades 0W-20, 5W-20, and 5W-30 with the new API SQ label.

This is the new API SQ label which currently only 0W-16 has:

View attachment 347578

And those other 3 grades still come with the API SP label:
View attachment 347579

What's the back of the jugs say ... the front doesn't show anything about API/ILSAC specs. Those API 'shields" are different because 0W-16 and below has a different API shield (GF-xB instead of GF-xA) on purpose, so people don't put it in engines that are not specified for 0W-16 and lower viscosity.

Only viscosities of xW-16 (a GF-xB speced oil) and lower get this API shield:

 

[Japanese]

What's the back of the jugs say ... the front doesn't show anything about API/ILSAC specs. Those API 'shields" are different because 0W-16 and below has a different API shield (GF-xB instead of GF-xA) on purpose, so people don't put it in engines that are not specified for 0W-16 and lower viscosity.

Only viscosities of xW-16 (a GF-xB speced oil) and lower get this API shield:
View attachment 347585

The black label is API SQ and the white label is API SP. That's all.

 

[ZeeOSix]

The black label is API SQ and the white label is API SP. That's all.

Got an example of front and back of the same exact variety and viscosity showing the color of the label represents the API/ILSAC spec?

Regardless, as I showed in the email response from Valvoline, the oil in the bottles labeled SP/GF-6 meet the specs of SQ/GF-7, and Valvoline is using up old labels per email commutation as shown in post 21. Unless the date code is so old on the bottle that it's before the spec sheet effective date.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Off of Valvoline's website.

https://www.valvolineglobal.com/en/blog/frequently-asked-questions/gf-7-faqs/