API now accepting online applications for SN PLUS licensing

April 4, 2018

Oil marketers currently licensed under the American Petroleum Institute’s (API) Engine Oil Licensing and Certification System (EOLCS) may now apply for licensing against the SN PLUS classification approved by the API Lubricants Standards Group in November 2017. The SN PLUS classification may be used in conjunction with API SN and API SN with Resource Conserving.

API developed the SN PLUS classification in response to a request from 10 U.S. and Japanese automakers that wanted to prevent further occurrences of oil-derived low-speed engine pre-ignition (LSPI). The classification is also expected to protect numerous turbocharged direct-injection-engine-powered vehicles on the road today that might potentially be affected by LSPI.

Oils licensed by API as API SN with SN PLUS and API SN with SN PLUS and Resource Conserving may display the SN PLUS designation as depicted in the SN PLUS user language beginning May 1, 2018.

API reminded marketers who will be submitting their license applications for API SN PLUS to keep the following points in mind:

Oil marketers may identify oils that meet all of the requirements of the standards as meeting API SN with SN PLUS or API SN with SN PLUS and Resource Conserving prior to the date of first licensing, which is May 1, 2018, but may not state or imply API certification or licensing of SN PLUS before that date.
Oil marketers that want API to license their oils as meeting API SN with SN PLUS and API SN with SN PLUS and Resource Conserving on the first licensing date must apply for licensing through the online application system at https://my.api.org/Account/Login. API will process applications in the order received, but the right to claim API licensing against the SN PLUS classification will not be allowed until May 1, 2018.
Marketers with licensed SN PLUS oils may use SN PLUS in the lower half of the API Donut beginning on May 1, 2018.
Oils licensed by API as API SN with SN PLUS and Resource Conserving and ILSAC GF-5 are eligible to display the API Certification Mark Starburst.
API has invoked provisional licensing for the ASTM D7528 (“ROBO”) test to address a months-long backlog at test labs. Marketers may make use of ROBO provisional licensing when applying for SN PLUS, but they must indicate that they are doing so when prompted by the online application system. If a provisionally licensed oil fails to pass the ROBO test, the licensee must notify API immediately and take whatever corrective action, including product recall, is necessary to protect consumers or API, within the time frame specified by API.
Licensed API SN with SN PLUS and API SN with SN PLUS and Resource Conserving oils will not appear in the online API Directory until the first licensing date.

The user language and requirements for the new classification may be downloaded from http://www.api.org/products-and-services/engine-oil/eolcs-categories-and-documents/documents/api-1509-documents.