“The new CK-4 and FA-4 oils represent the most significant change in the heavy-duty engine oil industry in the last decade,” said Barnaby Ngai, category portfolio manager for heavy-duty engine & driveline oils. “With the launch, we are one of the first [oil companies] with both product lines available globally.”
Petro-Canada Lubricants formally unveiled its new PC-11 heavy-duty engine oils at a press conference ahead of the December 1 launch.
“New engine oils have to do more than previous engine oil categories,” said John Pettingill, product specialist. “The new CK-4 oils can do everything and then some compared to CJ-4,” adding that oxidation control, shear stability and aeration control are key drivers in the new category.
Petro-Canada Lubricants says performance tests showed the new Duron next generation CK-4 oils yielded a 53 percent improvement in tappet wear and 55 percent improvement in cam wear compared to previous-generation Duron-E CJ-4 oils.
Petro-Canada Lubricants recognizes the confusion that can arise from the added complexity of PC-11’s split categories from both OEM and fleet perspectives.
“OEMs have different positions – some will be FA-4 factory fill out of the gate and may or may not mandate its use in service fill,” said Ngai. “Some are going with CK-4 and are not likely to adopt FA-4 right away. With OEMs taking different approaches, that adds confusion in the marketplace.”
From a fleet perspective, Petro-Canada Lubricants says the new PC-11 oils won’t affect every business the same. To avoid potential misapplication during service oil changes, the Duron Advanced FA-4 engine oil has gold packaging, while the CK-4 engine oils are packaged in black or silver.
“There are varying degrees of knowledge in the marketplace, and education needs to happen at all levels throughout decision-making,” said Ngai.
“CK-4 is an upgrade to the CJ-4 lube specification and can be completely backwards compatible with older diesel engine oil categories,” added Tony Weatherill, global marketing director, automotive and transportation. “But using FA-4 in older engines could damage hardware. We recommend fleets consult with OEMs to determine if the new FA-4 oil can work in an older engine design.”
The company also launched the educational website Duronthetougherthebetter.com that contains FAQs, videos, product overviews and comparisons to the previous CJ-4 category oils to help fleet equipment managers and owner-operators make the right choices when switching to PC-11 oils.
