Delay unlikely to cause "significant problems" according to regulatory experts.
Following last month's OATS update on the ill-fated ACEA 2018 engine oil sequences, reports have now emerged that the sequences will definitely be delayed until at least the middle of 2020 - almost two years behind schedule.
According to the latest news from Lube Report, the recent UNITI Mineral Oil Technology Congress in Stuttgart, Germany, revealed the latest delays but also a degree of unity amongst the key stakeholders, that rushing to complete the sequences was not in anybody's interests.
The focus was primarily on the heavy-duty diesel section of the sequences, with the complexity of new tests being introduced causing delays, including for the low-viscocity lube F-class specification. In an interview with Lube Report, Bengt Otterholm of Volvo Trucks stated: "...there is no rush. We’d rather wait and be done with the process as opposed to issuing something that contains nothing new. We [ACEA] are in full agreement on it, and that’s what we’ll do.”
Clearly this view, along with a similar statement that the delay will not cause "significant problems" to the industry, is supported by the likes of Spanish lubes producer, Cepsa, which has released a new range of high-performance heavy-duty vehicle products based on the current API and ACEA specs.
There was also an admission by Otterholm that confused communications between European regulator, ACEA, and its US counterpart, ILSAC, had impacted on completion of the passenger car sequences. According to Lube Report, Otterholm claims this has now been resolved. However, with ILSAC's 2016 GF-6 sequences now delayed for allowable use until 2020, the US organisation continues to face its own testing complexities - an issue that had already been concerning Japanese manufacturers last year.