Engine Oil - Additives/Supplements
NUMBER: 09-003-01GROUP: Engine
DATE: May 4, 2001
SUBJECT:
Engine Oil Additives/Supplements
OVERVIEW:
This bulletin reinforces a requirement to cease the current practice of using supplemental oil additive treatments in all DaimlerChrysler engines.
MODELS:
2001 (AB) Ram Van/Wagon
2001 (AN) Dakota
2001 (BR/BE) Ram Pickup
2001 (DN) Durango
2001 (JR) Sebring Sedan/Stratus Sedan/Sebring Convertible
2002 (KJ) Liberty
2001 (LH) Concorde/Intrepid/LHS/300M
2001 (PL) Neon
2001 (PR) Prowler
2001 (PT) PT Cruiser
2001 (RG) Chrysler Voyager (International Markets)
2001 (RS) Town & Country/Caravan/Voyager
2001 (ST) Sebring Coupe
2001 (SR) Viper
2001 (TJ) Wrangler
2001 (WG) Grand Cherokee (International Markets)
2001 (WJ) Grand Cherokee
2001 (XJ) Cherokee
NOTE:
THIS BULLETIN APPLIES TO ALL DAIMLERCHRYSLER MODELS/ENGINES BUILT BEFORE AND AFTER THE 2001 MODEL YEAR.
DISCUSSION
Engine oil additives/supplements (EOS) should not be used to enhance engine oil performance. Engine oil additives/supplements should not be used to extend engine oil change intervals. No additive is known to be safe for engine durability and can degrade emission components. Additives can contain undesirable materials that harm the long term durability of engines by:
^ Doubling the level of Phosphorus in the engine oil. The ILSAC (International Lubricant Standard Approval Committee) GF-2 and GF-3 standards require that engine oil contain no more than 0.10% Phosphorus to protect the vehicles emissions performance. Addition of engine oil additives/supplements can poison, from the added sulfur and phosphorus, catalysts and hinder efforts to guarantee our emissions performance to 80,000 miles and new requirements of 150,000 miles.
^ Altering the viscosity characteristics of the engine oil so that it no longer meets the requirements of the specified viscosity grade.
^ Creating potential for an undesirable additive compatibility interaction in the engine crankcase. Generally it is not desirable to mix additive packages from different suppliers in the crankcase; there have been reports of low temperature engine failures caused by additive package incompatibility with such mixtures.
POLICY:
Information Only