Low Temperature Starting and Pumpability Requirements of European automotive Engines - Part 2

Studies are continuing in Europe to define the low temperature starting and pumpability requirements of automotive engines and to develop test procedures to predict lubricant performance under these conditions. A new liquid-bath Brookfield viscosity procedure has been shown to predict oil pumpability performance as accurately as the mini-rotary viscometer procedure and has been proposed for incorporation into SAE J300 as an alternative to ASTM D 3829. Round-robin testing of modified cold cranking simulator and mini-rotary viscometer methods has also been completed and a new CEC IGL-8 subgroup has been established to investigate the low temperature rheology of base oils currently available in Europe in order to define optimised cooling cycles for the liquid-bath Brookfield and mini-rotary viscometer techniques. Evaluation of engine oil performance at low temperatures in motored and fired engines at T.U. Hannover continues to indicate that engine design features may have a more significant impact on pumpability performance than oil formulation.