Cold Pumpability Characteristics of Engine Oils Predicted by a Bench Test

The cold pumpability characteristics of nine commercial crankcase oils were evaluated using a V-8 engine and a bench test. These nine oils included most of the SAE viscosity classifications.

The engine data were used for evaluating the ability of the bench test to predict the cold pumpability properties of crankcase oils. Additional tests were conducted to study some unusual cold pumping properties of two of the oils. One of these oils was very soak-time sensitive, while the other was found to improve in pumpability after only brief use in the test engine.