400 Commonwealth Drive, Warrendale, PA 15096-0001 U.S.A. Tel: (724) 776-4841 Fax: (724) 776-5760 Web: www.sae.org SAE TECHNICAL PAPER SERIES2005-01-3859 Studies on the Interchangeability of Group III Base Oils in ATF Jack A. Zakarian and Marc De Weerdt ChevronTexaco Global Lubricants Raymond F. Watts Infineum USA LP Powertrain & Fluid Systems Conference and Exhibition San Antonio, Texas USA October 24-27, 2005Downloaded from SAE International by Swinburne Univ Of Technology, Thursday, August 09, 2018By mandate of the Engin eering Meetings Board, th is paper has been approved for SAE publication upon completion of a peer review process by a minimum of three (3) industry experts under the supervision of the session organizer. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,without the prior written permission of SAE. For permission and licensing requests contact: SAE Permissions 400 Commonwealth DriveWarrendale, PA 15096-0001-USAEmail: [email protected]: 724-776-3036Tel: 724-772-4028 For multiple print copies contact: SAE Customer ServiceTel: 877-606-7323 (inside USA and Canada)Tel: 724-776-4970 (outside USA)Fax: 724-776-1615Email: Customer [email protected] ISSN 0148-7191Copyright © 2005 SAE InternationalPositions and opinions advanced in this paper are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of SAE.The author is solely responsible for the content of the paper. A process is available by which discussions will be printed with the pap er if it is publishe d in SAE Transactions. Persons wishing to submit papers to be considered for presentation or publication by SAE should send themanuscript or a 300 word abstract of a proposed manuscript to: Secretary, Engineering Meetings Board, SAE. Printed in USADownloaded from SAE International by Swinburne Univ Of Technology, Thursday, August 09, 20182005-01-3859 Studies on the Interchangeability of Group III Base Oils in ATF Jack A. Zakarian and Marc De Weerdt ChevronTexaco Global Lubricants Raymond F. Watts Infineum USA LP Copyright © 2005 SAE International ABSTRACT We have compared five different, commercially produced, API Group III base oils in a next-generation, OEM automatic transmission fluid (ATF) formulation. One objective of this work is to understand the impact of base oil selection on the performance properties of finished ATF. This may help us to develop technically sound criteria for allowing interchange among premium Group III base oils in both factory-fill and service-fill ATFs. The performance data, measured from lab bench tests, include such properties as seal swell, low temperature viscometrics, oxidation life, and LVFA static and dynamic friction. Certain properties of the base oils, such as low temperature viscosity and oxidation stability, have a strong impact on the ATF performance. However, there are many chemical similarities between the Group III base oils, and this results in little to no differences observed in many performance areas. We also include comparisons of the same formulation made with typical Group I and II base oils. INTRODUCTION The approval of ATF for factory fill is a very long, complicated, and costly process. Because of this, OEMs and their suppliers have generally undertaken approval programs for only one formula composition; that is, for only one base oil combined with one performance additive package and one viscosity modifier. However, the global nature of today’s business and the drive to reduce costs makes it necessary to look at alternate and regional sources of component supply in ATF formulations. In particular, alternate base oil supplies are very desirable because the base oil typically comprises at least 80% of the ATF composition. Historically, OEMs were very reluctant to look at base oil interchange. This is because older, solvent-based technologies p