By Christian P. Koop

The fluid many of us refer to as the lifeblood of the engine or motor continues to evolve rapidly to meet ever-changing engine manufacturer requirements.

Many of these changes have been necessary because of technological improvements; however, many of the formulation changes in oil were developed mainly because of the ever-tightening emission regulations by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). These were for cars and light trucks first and later medium and heavy trucks. I fondly remember that when I was a young mechanic apprentice (technician in today’s lingo) working in a garage , selecting the correct oil for the engine I was working on was very simple. Not so anymore, and if you don’t use the correct type for your emergency response vehicle (ERV) engine-whether gas or diesel-you could decrease fuel economy and, in worst-case scenarios, even cause serious damage. Failure to use the correct motor oil could not only lead to premature hard part damage but also compromise auxiliary systems like fuel, catalytic converters, and diesel particulate filters (DPFs). If damage happens to occur during the engine warranty period, the manufacturer could void the warranty.

Meeting Requirements

Although most engine manufacturers would like you to use the oil they market, you don’t have to as long as the oil you use meets the engine manufacturer’s specification requirements. This is where it can get complicated. Previously in the United States, we relied solely on the American Petroleum Institute (API) rating to determine the correct oil for an engine. There are other agencies that have come about because of increased demand for ensuring the correct oil is being used in modern engines. These are the International Lubricant Standardization and Approval Committee (ILSAC) specification for domestic and Asian vehicles and the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) specification for European OEMs. Ironically, with the increasing number of rating agencies, the manufacturers still felt it necessary to develop their own motor oils.

Here is what typically happens: An engine manufacturer designs an engine to meet either an emissions or a performance standard. When it fails to meet that threshold with industry-standard lubricants, all bets are off, and if it takes a different oil to do so, so be it! A few may remember back in 2011 when General Motors (GM) came out with its own oil specification named dexos1 for gasoline engines and dexos2 for diesels. Dexos motor oil is a synthetic, and in the quest for improved fuel economy, many manufacturers have been switching from conventional to synthetic because it has been proven to reduce friction and increase fuel economy. In the owner’s manuals, GM warned that failure to use oil that did not meet its specs would void the warranty if a failure was attributed to lubrication. More recently, Ford Motor Company rejected the latest diesel oil spec: CK-4 (API rating), which replaces the CJ-4 spec that had been in place since 2006. Ford has now formulated its own oil for use in its diesels, stating that the old spec was causing excessive abrasive wear.

More than Lubrication

Keep in mind that oil has a tough job to perform in a modern engine because it has to seal, cool, clean, and protect in addition to its basic lubrication requirements. Modern oil comprises many chemical additives to help it do its job in today’s engines. Some of the major areas for which motor oil provides protection follow:

• Abrasive Wear: This is wear that occurs when contaminants such as dirt, soot, silica, and other particles suspended and carried by the oil get in between two metals inside the engine and cause wear.
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