A guide to understanding an engine oil technical data sheet

For a lot of people, the information supplied by oil companies can be confusing, “this engine oil is approved for ….”, “or this lubricant meets the specifications for that….”.

The only way to be sure what exactly the oil is suitable for is to look at the technical data sheets and where there are OEM approvals claimed to seek the OEM approval letters for that exact product by brand and name.

The datasheet lists all the details of the product, and once you understand how to read these you will understand the exact performance levels of the product.

To help you read and understand these technical data sheets take a look at the Total Quartz INEO MC3 5W-30 engine oil technical data sheet and explain the different parts to it.

Most oil manufacturers technical data sheets will follow a similar format and should have the same information included in their documents.
This is the technical data sheet for Total Quartz INEO MC3 5W-30 and below is an explanation of each part.

Product Name – This is simply the product name.

Company Logo/Name – The oil manufacturer’s name and logo.

Product Description – A quick description of the product.

Range of Use – This is an outline of the product and its uses and make up.

Performance – This is the section in which the standards, approvals are listed.

• International Standards: In the case of this product it meets the standards set down by ACEA (European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association) C3 & API (American Petroleum Institute) SN/CF and exceeds any lower standards than these.

• Manufacturer Approval: For this product you can see that it has approvals from Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Kia & General Motors. Each of these manufacturers has their own standards which after tests this product has been approved by the manufacturers for use in their cars which require these standards.

• Conforms to/Meets the specifications: As you can see from this added section from another technical data sheet (image above), some products may have this section. This section refers to the fact that the oil manufacturer has tested the product and it meets the requirements of these engine manufacturers but has not been approved by the manufacturers. Some oil products may not have any approvals and just have a meets specifi- cation section.

Customer Advantages – this will list the advantages you will gain by using this product, these advantages can be very beneficial to your engine.

Specifications – this table outlines what the product has been tested for, the method it was tested, the units the result is in and the result.

• Kinematic Viscosity; the resistance of the oil movement at various temps listed.(IE how fast the oil flows at the given temper- atures)

• Pour Point; the min temp at which the oil is pourable at.

• OC Flash Point; the temp at which the oil will become flammable

• TBN; this is the Total Base Number and refers to the ash content of the oil.

Address – This is the main address of the oil manufacturer.

Date – this is the date at which this current datasheet was published.

Every oil manufacturer should have these datasheets & OEM approval letters available upon request from their customers. Finol Oils has them available upon request when you call 01 4555 484 and the company has also made the date sheets and safety data sheets available on its website at www.caroil.ie