The Petroleum Quality Institute of America

IN THE NEWS   CONSUMER ALERTS! Click Bottles for Details February 8, 2012: PQIA completes analysis of 5 samples of passenger car motor oil. Whereas 4 look fine, PQIA issues a Consumer Alert on one.  Click Bottles for details.    DHTML scripts provided by Dynamic Drive     The results of the test conducted on a 10W-30  meet requirements.   Click Bottles for details.     Lubricant Reviews   January 20, 2012 PQIA reports on six new samples; issues a Consumer Alert on one.  Click here  for details.   November  2011 PQIA completes analysis of 5 more samples of passenger car motor oil. Whereas 4 look fine, PQIA issues an Advisory on one due to labeling issues. Click Bottles for details. November 28, 2011 PQIA Reports on Six Brands of 5W-30 Motor Oils. Click here for details November 18, 2011   PQIA tested three brands of 10W-40 motor oils and issues a Consumer Alert on  MaxiGuard. Click here for Alert. Click bottle below for details on the 10W-40 oils tested. November 7, 2011 Test results are in on major brands of API SN ILSAC GF-5 5W-30 engine oil... All look good. Click bottles below for test results Click bottles below for more test results

Click here for the 5W-30 brands tested

Click here for the 10W-30 brands tested

BUYER BEWARE

PQIA issued Consumer Alerts for two brands of motor oils (Liberty 5W-30 and Everclear 5W-30) purchased at Wickliffe Shell, Austintown, OH on January 6, 2011. As noted in those alerts, the test results on the samples indicate the products do not meet any known specifications for engine oils and can cause damage to passenger car engines. 

PQIA contacted Shell about this issue and our test data. We received a prompt reply from Lisa Davis, President for Shell Lubricants, Americas, and Davis said that while the retail stores at Shell gas stations are independently owned, Shell plans to work with its retail business through its Motor Oil Matters program to educate the retailers about the importance of oil quality. Click here for more on that story and Shell's response.

In an effort to see if such education had occurred and/or had an impact, PQIA revisited Wickliffe Shell, Austintown, OH on July 13, 2011.  Unfortunately, to our disappointment the Bullseye Motor Oil product was still on the shelves, and the new test results clearly show the product still does not meet its labeled specifications, and based on the data, this product can damage passenger car engines.   

Further, rather than seeing this product replaced with quality engine oil, an additional brand (Star Petroleum High Mileage Formula, 10W-30 API SB) has been added to the shelf that also does not meet its labeled specifications, and based on the test data, can cause damage to a passenger car engines.

The Petroleum Quality Institute of America will continue to pursue this issue in an effort to protect consumers from these off-spec, and damaging motor oils.

Five of the 11 engine oils recently tested have issues...

The results are in for the Petroleum Quality Institute of America's most recent round of quality testing on passenger car engine oils. Eleven oil brands were randomly purchased in five states: California, Nevada, Georgia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Whereas the tests conducted on six of the brands indicate the products meet the specifications stated on the labels, others did not. In addition, there are a number of labeling issues to consider when purchasing some of these products. Click here for details.  

CONSUMER ALERT! - Issued March 9, 2011

Everclear 5W-30 Motor Oil, API SC/CC	Liberty Gold Plus SMO 5W-30 Motor Oil	Bullseye Automotive Products High Mileage 10W-30 Motor Oil (SC/CC)

Now for the good news... TEST RESULTS FOR THE SAMPLES BELOW LOOK GOOD...

Click for data on 5W-30 Engine Oils shown above

Two West Coast Sample Results are in, both look good.

Click for data on 10W-30 Engine Oils shown above

The good news... other than one off-spec NOACK Volitility result, all other test results for all of the samples look good...

Click for data on 5W-30 Engine Oils shown above

PQIA issues advisories on engine oil samples tested in June, 2010.

ALERT:Test results find three of the six samples of engine oils PQIA purchased in the Mid-Atlantic States fail to meet their labeled API/ILSAC specifications. In addition, one of the brands labeled SA "5-30" is not an API SA, SAE 5W-30. Instead, it more closely resembles a heavy duty engine oil and is clearly not an SAE 5W-30.

Click bottles for test data on the 5W-30s that passed and those that didn't. And click link below for the one 10W-30 tested.

Click for data on 5W-30 Engine Oils

Click for data on 10W-30 Engine Oil

Test Results for Private Label Look Good - but, alarms are tripped for one

Ten brands of Private Label-a PCEO in quart bottles were purchased by PQIA at retail outlets. Blind samples were prepared by PQIA and sent to Intertek Automotive Research in San Antonio, Texas for chemical and physical analysis.

The samples include both 5W-30 and 10W-30 viscosity grades. The variations in grades is a function of the random sampling process and the fact that some locations sampled did not have 5W-30 engine oil available.

ALERT: All but one of the private label samples tested show data indicative of what one would expect to see for an API SM GF-4 engine oil. One brand (PittPenn), however, gives serious cause for concern. Click here for alert.

Click for test results

The Data are in: The Majors Look Good

In an effort to assess where the bar is set for passenger car engine oil (PCEO), the Petroleum Quality Institute of America (PQIA) made the decision to test 10 brands of PCEO produced by major oil companies. The results are in and the major brands tested look good.

Ten brands of PCEO in quart bottles were purchased by PQIA at retail outlets in New Jersey. Blind samples were prepared by PQIA and sent to Intertek Automotive Research in San Antonio, Texas for chemical and physical analysis.

Click for the data on the Major Brands