In August’s Equipment & Maintenance department, we reported on the progress of a new oil classification for new engines using exhaust-gas recirculation (EGR) to curb NOx emissions. Most diesel engines will use EGR to meet Environmental Protection Agency emissions requirements, beginning in October 2002.
ChevronTexaco, Richmond, Calif., informs us that the American Society for Testing & Materials (ASTM) Heavy-Duty Engine Oil Classification Panel recently voted and approved the tests and limits for the new classification. As a result, the API CI-4 (formerly Proposed Category 9, or PC-9) specifications are now official and part of ASTM D 4485.
The first licensed claim in the API donut on oil containers can be made starting September 5, 2002. In the interim you should expect to see references to products meeting the requirements of API CI-4 says Jim McGeehan, ChevronTexaco’s manager, engine oil technology. McGeehan says that the existing formulation of its Delo 400 Multigrade, which was introduced in November 1998, meets all the requirements of API CI-4 – without reformulation.
