ACEA category performance claims must be valid and compliant, warns ATIEL.
With a change in methodology and increased scope of examining lubricants products, ATIEL's 2015 survey has found no evidence of any fails that could be termed a ‘major non-conformance’ (i.e. likely to lead to accelerated engine failure in the short term).
The technical association of the European lubcricants industry |
However, some products have failed to meet all the required specifications by making partial and incomplete claims, or the manufacturers themselves are making incompatible ACEA claims.
According to the regulations, combined performance claims against two or more categories within the ACEA Oil Sequences on the same lubricant formulation may be possible, but ALL the associated chemical limits and physical testing requirements must be met.
There are a number of unlikely combinations and many which are simply not possible, such as ACEA A3/B4, C3.
ATIEL has advised that limits and specifications can change between different releases of the ACEA Oil Sequences (2008/2010/2012 etc).