ASTM D6984-07
Historical Standard: ASTM D6984-07 Standard Test Method for Evaluation of Automotive Engine Oils in the Sequence IIIF, Spark-Ignition Engine
SUPERSEDED (see Active link, below)
ASTM D6984
1. Scope
1.1 This test method covers an engine test procedure for evaluating automotive engine oils for certain high-temperature performance characteristics, including oil thickening, varnish deposition, oil consumption, as well as engine wear. Such oils include both single viscosity grade and multiviscosity grade oils that are used in both spark-ignition, gasoline-fueled engines, as well as in diesel engines.
Note 1Companion test methods used to evaluate engine oil performance for specification requirements are discussed in SAE J304.
1.2 The values stated in SI or other units are to be regarded as the standard. The values given in parentheses are provided for information only.
1.3 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory requirements prior to use.
1.4 This test method is arranged as follows:
| Subject | Section |
| Scope | 1 |
| Referenced Documents | 2 |
| Terminology | 3 |
| Summary of Test Method | 4 |
| Significance and Use | 5 |
| Apparatus | 6 |
| Laboratory | 6.1 |
| Drawings | 6.2 |
| Specified Equipment | 6.3 |
| Test Engine | 6.4 |
| Engine Parts | 6.4.1 |
| Engine Speed and Load Control | 6.5 |
| Sequence IIIF Fluid Conditioning Module | 6.6 |
| Engine Cooling System | 6.6.1 |
| Flushing Tank | 6.7 |
| Coolant Mixing Tank | 6.8 |
| Condenser Cooling Systems | 6.9 |
| Engine Oil-Cooling System | 6.10 |
| Fuel System | 6.11 |
| Induction Air Supply Humidity, Temperature, and Pressure | 6.12 |
| Temperature Measurement | 6.13 |
| Thermocouple Location | 6.13.1 |
| Air-to-Fuel Ratio Determination | 6.14 |
| Injector Flow Testing | 6.14.1 |
| Exhaust and Exhaust Back Pressure Systems | 6.15 |
| Blowby Flow Rate Measurement | 6.16 |
| Pressure Measurement and Sensor Location | 6.17 |
| Reagents and Materials | 7 |
| Test Fuel | 7.1 |
| Engine and Condenser Coolant | 7.2 |
| Coolant Additive | 7.3 |
| Coolant Preparation | 7.4 |
| Pre-Test Cleaning Materials | 7.5 |
| Sealing and Anti-seize Compounds | 7.6 |
| Test Oil Sample Requirements | 8 |
| Preparation of Apparatus | 9 |
| Condenser Cleaning | 9.1 |
| Intake Manifold Cleaning | 9.3 |
| Cleaning of Engine Parts (other than the block and heads) | 9.4 |
| Engine Block Cleaning | 9.5 |
| Cylinder Head Cleaning | 9.6 |
| Engine Build-up Procedure | 9.7 |
| General Information | 9.7.1 |
| Special Parts | 9.7.2 |
| Hardware Information | 9.7.3 |
| Fastener Torque Specifications and Torquing Procedures | 9.7.4 |
| Parts Replacement | 9.8 |
| Engine Block Preparation | 9.9 |
| Piston Fitting and Numbering | 9.10 |
| Piston Ring Fitting | 9.10.1 |
| Pre-Test Camshaft and Lifter Measurements | 9.11 |
| Camshaft Bearing Installation | 9.12 |
| Camshaft Installation | 9.13 |
| Main Bearings | 9.14 |
| Crankshaft Installation | 9.14.1 |
| Main Bearing Cap Installation | 9.14.2 |
| Crankshaft Sprocket | 9.15 |
| Camshaft Sprocket and Timing Chain | 9.16 |
| Crankshaft End Play | 9.17 |
| Piston Pin Installation | 9.18 |
| Piston Installation | 9.18.1 |
| Harmonic Balancer | 9.19 |
| Connecting Rod Bearings | 9.20 |
| Engine Front Cover | 9.21 |
| Coolant Inlet Adapter | 9.22 |
| Oil Dipstick Hole | 9.23 |
| Oil Pan | 9.24 |
| Cylinder Head Assembly | 9.25 |
| Adjustment of Valve Spring Loads | 9.26 |
| Cylinder Head Installation | 9.27 |
| Hydraulic Valve Lifters | 9.28 |
| Pushrods | 9.29 |
| Valve Train Loading | 9.30 |
| Intake Manifold | 9.31 |
| Rocker Covers | 9.32 |
| Water Inlet Adapter | 9.33 |
| Condenser | 9.34 |
| Coolant Outlet Adapter | 9.35 |
| External Oil Cooling System | 9.36 |
| Oil Sample Valve | 9.37 |
| Ignition System | 9.38 |
| Throttle Body | 9.39 |
| Accessory Drive Units | 9.40 |
| Exhaust Manifolds, Water-Cooled | 9.41 |
| Engine Flywheel | 9.42 |
| Pressure Checking of Engine Coolant System | 9.43 |
| Lifting of Assembled Engines | 9.44 |
| Mounting the Engine on the Test Stand | 9.45 |
| External Cooling System Cleaning | 9.46 |
| Engine Coolant Jacket Cleaning (Flushing) | 9.47 |
| Coolant Charging | 9.48 |
| Test Oil Charging | 9.49 |
| Engine Oil Pump Priming | 9.50 |
| Calibration | 10 |
| Laboratory and Engine Test Stand Calibration | 10.1 |
| Testing of Reference Oils | 10.2 |
| Reference Oil Test Frequency | 10.3 |
| Reporting of Reference Oil Test Results | 10.4 |
| Evaluation of Reference Oil Test Results | 10.5 |
| Status of Non-Reference Oil Tests Relative to ReferenceOil Test | 10.6 |
| Status of Test Stands Used for Non-Standard Tests | 10.7 |
| Data Acquisition and Control | 10.8 |
| Sample Rate | 10.8.1 |
| Measurement Accuracy | 10.8.2 |
| Temperature | 10.8.3 |
| Pressure | 10.8.4 |
| Flow | 10.8.5 |
| Speed | 10.8.6 |
| Load | 10.8.7 |
| Measurement Resolution | 10.8.8 |
| System Time Response | 10.8.9 |
| Quality Index | 10.8.10 |
| Engine Operating Procedure | 11 |
| Dipstick and Hole Plug | 11.1 |
| Dipstick Hole O-ring | 11.2 |
| Engine Start-up and Shutdown Procedures | 11.3 |
| Start-up | 11.4 |
| Scheduled Shutdown | 11.5 |
| Non-Scheduled Shutdowns | 11.6 |
| Oil Sampling | 11.7 |
| Oil Leveling | 11.8 |
| Air-to-Fuel-Ratio Measurement and Control | 11.9 |
| Air-to-Fuel Ratio Verification | 11.10 |
| Blowby Flow Rate Measurement | 11.11 |
| NO x Determinations | 11.12 |
| Data Recording | 11.13 |
| Initial Run (10 min) | 11.14 |
| Engine Oil Quality Testing (80 h) | 11.15 |
| Test Termination | 11.16 |
| Determination of Test Results | 12 |
| Engine Disassembly | 12.2 |
| Preparation of Parts for Rating of Sticking, Deposits, and Plugging | 12.3 |
| Piston Deposit Rating | 12.4 |
| Post-Test Camshaft and Lifter Wear Measurements | 12.5 |
| End-of Test Used Oil Sample Testing | 12.6 |
| Viscosity Test | 12.7 |
| Testing Oil Samples for Wear Metals | 12.8 |
| Blowby Flow Rate Measurements | 12.9 |
| Oil Consumption Computation | 12.10 |
| Photographs of Test Parts | 12.11 |
| Retention of Representative Test Parts | 12.12 |
| Severity Adjustments | 12.13 |
| Determination of Operational Validity | 12.14 |
| Report | 13 |
| Report Forms | 13.1 |
| Use of SI Units | 13.2 |
| Precision of Reported Units | 13.3 |
| Deviations from Test Operational Limits | 13.4 |
| Precision and Bias | 14 |
| Keywords | 15 |
| Annexes | Annex A1 |
| The Role of the ASTM Test Monitoring Center (TMC) and the Calibration Program | Annex A2 |
| Sequence IIIF Test Parts Replacement Guidelines | Annex A3 |
| Sequence IIIF Determination Volume of Engine Oil in Pan | Annex A4 |
| Sequence IIIF Test Fuel Analysis | Annex A5 |
| Sequence IIIF Test Reporting | Annex A6 |
| Sequence IIIF Test Air-to-Fuel Ratio Control Flow Chart | Annex A7 |
| Sequence IIIF Test Set Points and Control States | Annex A8 |
| Sequence IIIF Quality Index Upper and Lower Values | Annex A9 |
| Sequence IIIF Engine Oil Level Worksheet | Annex A12 |
| Blowby Flow Rate Determination | Annex A12 |
| Safety Precautions | Annex A13 |
| Sequence IIIF Blueprint Listing | Annex A13 |
| Fluid Conditioning Module Components | Annex A14 |
| Appendix | |
| Sequence IIIFHD Test Procedure | Appendix X1 |
2. Referenced Documents (purchase separately) The documents listed below are referenced within the subject standard but are not provided as part of the standard.
ASTM Standards
D86 Test Method for Distillation of Petroleum Products at Atmospheric Pressure
D130 Test Method for Corrosiveness to Copper from Petroleum Products by Copper Strip Test
D235 Specification for Mineral Spirits (Petroleum Spirits) (Hydrocarbon Dry Cleaning Solvent)
D240 Test Method for Heat of Combustion of Liquid Hydrocarbon Fuels by Bomb Calorimeter
D323 Test Method for Vapor Pressure of Petroleum Products (Reid Method)
D381 Test Method for Gum Content in Fuels by Jet Evaporation
D445 Test Method for Kinematic Viscosity of Transparent and Opaque Liquids (and Calculation of Dynamic Viscosity)
D525 Test Method for Oxidation Stability of Gasoline (Induction Period Method)
D1319 Test Method for Hydrocarbon Types in Liquid Petroleum Products by Fluorescent Indicator Adsorption
D2699 Test Method for Research Octane Number of Spark-Ignition Engine Fuel
D2700 Test Method for Motor Octane Number of Spark-Ignition Engine Fuel
D3231 Test Method for Phosphorus in Gasoline
D3237 Test Method for Lead in Gasoline by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy
D3338 Test Method for Estimation of Net Heat of Combustion of Aviation Fuels
D3343 Test Method for Estimation of Hydrogen Content of Aviation Fuels
D4052 Test Method for Density, Relative Density, and API Gravity of Liquids by Digital Density Meter
D4175 Terminology Relating to Petroleum, Petroleum Products, and Lubricants
D4485 Specification for Performance of Active API Service Category Engine Oils
D4684 Test Method for Determination of Yield Stress and Apparent Viscosity of Engine Oils at Low Temperature
D4815 Test Method for Determination of MTBE, ETBE, TAME, DIPE, tertiary-Amyl Alcohol and C1 to C4 Alcohols in Gasoline by Gas Chromatography
D5185 Test Method for Determination of Additive Elements, Wear Metals, and Contaminants in Used Lubricating Oils and Determination of Selected Elements in Base Oils by Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES)
D5191 Test Method for Vapor Pressure of Petroleum Products (Mini Method)
D5293 Test Method for Apparent Viscosity of Engine Oils and Base Stocks Between -5 and -35C Using Cold-Cranking Simulator
D5452 Test Method for Particulate Contamination in Aviation Fuels by Laboratory Filtration
D5453 Test Method for Determination of Total Sulfur in Light Hydrocarbons, Spark Ignition Engine Fuel, Diesel Engine Fuel, and Engine Oil by Ultraviolet Fluorescence
D5862 Test Method for Evaluation of Engine Oils in Two-Stroke Cycle Turbo-Supercharged 6V92TA Diesel Engine
D6557 Test Method for Evaluation of Rust Preventive Characteristics of Automotive Engine Oils
D6593 Test Method for Evaluation of Automotive Engine Oils for Inhibition of Deposit Formation in a Spark-Ignition Internal Combustion Engine Fueled with Gasoline and Operated Under Low-Temperature, Light-Duty Conditions
D6750 Test Methods for Evaluation of Engine Oils in a High-Speed, Single-Cylinder Diesel Engine--1K Procedure (0.4 % Fuel Sulfur) and 1N Procedure (0.04 % Fuel Sulfur)
D7320 Test Method for Evaluation of Automotive Engine Oils in the Sequence IIIG, Spark-Ignition Engine
D7422 Test Method for Evaluation of Diesel Engine Oils in T-12 Exhaust Gas Recirculation Diesel Engine
E29 Practice for Using Significant Digits in Test Data to Determine Conformance with Specifications
E191 Specification for Apparatus For Microdetermination of Carbon and Hydrogen in Organic and Organo-Metallic Compounds
E608/E608M Specification for Mineral-Insulated, Metal-Sheathed Base Metal Thermocouples
E1119 Specification for Industrial Grade Ethylene Glycol
G40 Terminology Relating to Wear and Erosion
IEEE/ASTM SI-10 Standard for Use of the International System of Units (SI): The Modern Metric System
Other Document
CRC Manual 20 Rating Techniques and Breakdown MethodsSAE Standards
J183 Engine Oil Performance and Engine Service Classification (Other Than Energy-Conserving) J300 Engine Oil Viscosity Classification *HS-23/00* J304 Engine Oil TestsMilitary Specification
MIL-PRF-2104 Lubricating Oil, Internal Combustion Engine, Tactical ServiceKeywords
cam and lifter wear; deposits; engine oil; engine wear; high-temperature performance; oil consumption; oil thickening; oil viscosity; oxidation resistance; Sequence IIIF test; spark-ignition automotive engine; varnish; varnish deposition;
ICS Code
ICS Number Code 75.100 (Lubricants, industrial oils and related products)
DOI: 10.1520/D6984-07
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