Used Oil LSPI Testing: Evaluating Lubricant Protection Beyond Fresh Oil

Watch on on-demand webinar to learn how aged oil performance, combustion data, and lubricant chemistry can influence LSPI activity.

Fresh-oil LSPI testing is an important part of lubricant qualification, but it may not tell the full story. In modern turbocharged, direct-injection gasoline engines, oil performance can change as the lubricant ages, and those changes may affect its ability to resist low-speed pre-ignition throughout the drain interval.

This on-demand webinar examines the development and application of used oil LSPI testing, including how oils are aged, how LSPI events are measured, and what fresh vs. aged oil results can reveal about lubricant chemistry and combustion behavior.

What the webinar covers

Low-speed pre-ignition is an abnormal combustion event that can occur at low engine speeds and high loads, creating very high cylinder pressures and potential engine damage. Because oil droplets in the combustion chamber have been identified as a contributing factor, lubricant formulation plays an important role in LSPI risk.

In this session, Intertek reviews the technical background of LSPI testing, including Sequence IX concepts, cylinder pressure instrumentation, combustion data handling, and LSPI event identification. The webinar also explains why used oil testing was developed after research indicated that some oils may lose LSPI resistance with age.

You will learn how a controlled 72-hour engine dyno aging cycle is used to create oil degradation similar to field-aged oil, and how aged oil is then evaluated for LSPI activity. The presentation also reviews fresh and aged oil test results from commercial oils, including severity-adjusted data and observations related to calcium, magnesium, molybdenum, and LSPI event trends.

Key technical takeaways

• Why fresh-oil LSPI testing may not fully represent lubricant performance over the full oil drain interval
  • How used oil LSPI testing helps evaluate aged-oil resistance to pre-ignition
  • How cylinder pressure data, crank angle position, peak pressure, and MFB2 are used to identify LSPI events
  • How controlled oil aging compares with field oil degradation
  • What fresh vs. aged oil results can show about changes in LSPI activity
  • How lubricant chemistry may correlate with LSPI event frequency

Used oil LSPI testing provides a more complete view of lubricant performance in modern GTDI engines. Watch the webinar to learn more!