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The general requirements of the ACEA Oil Sequences requires compliance to EELQMS, the European Engine Lubricants Quality Management System that defines the conditions to claim ACEA Oil Sequences. Any claims must be based on credible data and controlled tests from accredited test laboratories both bench testing as well as a series of engine tests.
Taken together these tests make up a performance test data set which is contained within a Candidate Data Package demonstrating what tests the candidate oil can meet. Evidence of this performance test data should be made available for auditing and assessment purposes under Section 10.2 of the ATIEL Code of Practice.
The ATIEL Code of Practice forms an integral part of EELQMS and its purpose is to provide a basis and mechanism for standardising practices when developing, manufacturing or marketing engine lubricants for which compliance with the ACEA Engine Oil Sequences is claimed.
ACEA claims can only be made by oil companies or distributors who have signed the EELQMS oil marketers “Letter of Conformance” (LoC) – a list is available on the website of Services to Associations and Industry in the Lubricants Sector or SAIL. These LoC signatories must be certified against ISO 9001 or a comparable and recognised quality management system such as IATF 16949.
SAIL facilitates surveys of products claiming ACEA where products are collected from the “global” market for testing and review.
Since 2021 the ACEA Engine Oil Sequences for Light and Heavy Duty are no longer combined and comprise instead of three documents. The first is the general requirements for both Light and Heavy Duty with the latest issue dated December 2024. The second document is the ACEA 2023 Engine Oil Sequences for Light Duty, typically passenger cars and light commercial vehicles and issued on September 12, 2023. The third and final document is the ACEA 2024 Engine Oil Sequences for Heavy Duty including on and off highway vehicles, and the latest revision was issued on December 18, 2024.
What of the future for ACEA Light Duty Engine Oil Sequences? Legislation “forces” OEMs to redesign engines and aftertreatment systems periodically and
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in line with emerging regulations. These have an immediate effect on the performance of the engine oils in the manufacturers’ engines which necessitate the development of new specifications.
The sequences never stand still and already discussions are taking place between ACEA, ATC and ATIEL over the next generation of sequences – ACEA Light Duty 2027. Within these discussions the replacement and introduction of several bench and engine tests are under review, Vehicle engines are constantly being developed, improved and new series introduced to the market so the vehicle continues to perform in line with regulator demands and vehicle owners’ expectations.
The focus of this development is again the internal combustion engine to take account of alternate fuels such as biodiesel, biofuels, bioethanol and synthetic fuels with the aim of no additional ACEA categories. A gasoline only category is potentially under review and is being driven by fuel economy, but there is currently no inclusion planned for sustainability requirements.
ACEA thinks that there is no need for an international industry specification for battery cooling essential for both electric vehicles, or EVs, and hybrids since OEMs do work with suppliers to develop these fluids for factory fill and they are seen as fill for life. For EV cooling lubrication fluids necessary for both the transmission and e-Motor, discussions are underway and continuing.
The potential introduction of an ACEA Light Duty gasoline only category would ensure optimised fuel economy for gasoline cars which comes as a result of pressure from the European Union. This category relates to the SAE 0W-20 viscosity which is increasingly common in modern vehicles. The basis for gasoline tests and limits have already been defined in ACEA C6-23 and ACEA C7-23 but with JASO FE of minimum 0.6%.and potentially an LSPI test on used oil
The challenge is that any development of replacement and new tests takes time. Will the gasoline only category provide the fuel economy needed since the M271EVO engine test requirement may potentially affects FE, and a gasoline only category will contain two European tests, four US tests and one Japanese test?
Just as the Light Duty Engine Oil Sequences need to evolve over time, so do the heavy-duty sequences.
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