Turbochargers are prevalent in today’s diesel passenger cars. Their role is to make engines more powerful by increasing the amount of air available in the cylinder, allowing more fuel to be injected. Operating at temperatures up to 700°C and rotating at speeds of up to 300,000 revolutions per minute, turbochargers create an extremely harsh environment for the engine lubricant. It is critical the engine lubricant does not breakdown under high temperature conditions and has a high resistance to oxidation.
To enable increased fuel efficiency and reduced emissions, turbochargers need to be kept running to their optimum design criteria. Modern engines are working in hotter and harsher operating conditions, leading to the potential for the formation of turbocharger deposits.
The CEC L-114-19 turbocharger deposit test is a new diesel lubricant performance test within the ACEA Light-Duty Engine Oil Sequences upgrade. Commonly referred to as the “Toyota turbocharger test,” it has been introduced as a new lubricant performance requirement by ACEA members, and is incorporated into both A7/B7 “High SAPS” and C6 “Lower SAPS” categories of ACEA 2021.
The purpose of the Toyota turbocharger test is to evaluate passenger and light-duty engine lubricants with respect to turbocharger performance and turbocharger deposit formation under severe operating conditions. Each test uses a new 3.0 Liter Toyota 1KD-FTV diesel engine with variable geometry turbocharger (VGT). The main part of the test is 100 hours of the engine running close to full load operation. The fuel used in the test is according to the EN590 specification with a biodiesel content of between 6 and 7 % rapeseed methyl ester (RME). A visual turbocharger rating is performed at the end of the test and efficiency drop measurement is carried out throughout the length of the test to monitor changes in efficiency.
Engine lubricants successfully passing the Toyota turbocharger test will have been correctly formulated to ensure they have met the minimum performance requirements set by ACEA members, keeping the turbocharger sufficiently clean and protected during its life.
To learn more about the new CEC L-114 turbocharger deposit test, click here to watch our video.
