ANSI/AGMA 9005-F16: What It Requires for Industrial Gear Oils

ANSI/AGMA 9005-F16 requires gear oils to pass rust, copper, foam, oxidation and demulsibility tests, plus FZG and FE8 for antiscuff oils (as of 2026-10-14). It covers open and enclosed metallic gearing rated to AGMA standards, not grease-lubricated enclosed gearboxes or aerospace drives. Micropitting is not an F16 requirement, and the gear maker's recommendation comes first.

• ANSI/AGMA 9005-F16 was approved as an American National Standard on 2016-03-23, and AGMA lists it as reaffirmed in May 2026 (AGMA, 2026).

• The FE8 roller bearing test was added to the antiscuff table, Table 3, and is run on the lowest viscosity grade and the highest-volume grade a maker sells (AGMA RFI 16-06, 2016).

• AGMA 955-A22, a 73-page information sheet approved in August 2022, is the first step in splitting 9005-F16 into a lubricant document and a lubrication document (AGMA, 2022).

• ISO 14635-1:2023, edition 2, replaced the 2000 edition of the FZG A/8.3/90 scuffing test that 9005-F16 lists as a normative reference (ISO, 2023).

This answer covers industrial gear oils for spur, helical, worm, bevel and face gears. It does not apply to automotive axle and transmission oils, which follow API and SAE categories, or to grease-lubricated enclosed gearboxes. Wind turbine, mill, kiln and marine drives have AGMA application standards and OEM specifications that can add tests or tighter limits.

What and whom does ANSI/AGMA 9005-F16 cover?

ANSI/AGMA 9005-F16, Industrial Gear Lubrication, covers lubricants for open and enclosed metallic gearing designed and rated to AGMA standards, and it is written for gear makers, lubricant suppliers and end users. The scope reads: "This standard provides lubricant classifications, guidelines for minimum performance characteristics, and generalized application and servicing guidelines for both open and enclosed metallic gearing that has been designed and rated in accordance with applicable AGMA Standards." (AGMA, 2026, Scope). The gear types named are spur, helical including double helical and herringbone, worm, non-offset bevel and face gears.

The same scope excludes grease-lubricated enclosed gearboxes and aerospace applications, and it does not address food or drug regulatory requirements, although the minimum performance characteristics still apply (AGMA, 2026, Scope). The standard adds: "This standard is not intended to supplant any specific recommendations of gear manufacturers." (AGMA, 2026, Scope).

ANSI/AGMA 9005-F16 is the current edition as of 2026-10-14. It was approved as an American National Standard on 2016-03-23, and the AGMA store lists it as reaffirmed in May 2026 (AGMA, 2026). Many industrial gear makers use it to state the minimum lubricant performance that protects their equipment (STLE, 2024).

Which gear oil types does AGMA 9005 cover?

AGMA 9005-F16 sorts industrial gear oils into three performance types: inhibited oils, antiscuff oils and compounded oils, and each type carries its own set of required tests. Inhibited oils are rust and oxidation inhibited oils (STLE, 2024). Antiscuff oils are meant for more heavily loaded gears; F16 encourages users to call them antiscuff, or AS, instead of extreme pressure, because "Extreme pressure is a generic term that is not an accurate description of a lubricant type" (AGMA, 2026, Foreword). Compounded oils contain fatty material; under the older C designation they were compounded with 3 % to 10 % fatty material and frequently recommended for worm gearsets (STLE, 2024).

The type decides the test list. ANSI/AGMA 9005-F16 does not require FZG or FE8 testing of inhibited or compounded oils, only of antiscuff oils (STLE, 2024). Oxidation is also measured differently: inhibited oils by the ASTM D943 method, antiscuff and compounded oils by ASTM D2893 (STLE, 2024).

Base oil is a separate choice. Synthetic oils were first recognized as a separate class with their own requirements in the 1994 edition, AGMA 9005-D94 (AGMA, 2026, Foreword).

What does ANSI/AGMA 9005-F16 require?

ANSI/AGMA 9005-F16 requires each gear oil type to meet minimum results in a fixed set of bench tests: rust prevention, copper corrosion, foaming, oxidation and demulsibility, plus scuffing and bearing wear tests for antiscuff oils. The normative references give most tests as an ISO method with its ASTM equivalent, for example ISO 7120 (ASTM D665) for rust and ISO 4263-4 (ASTM D943) for oxidation of inhibited oils (AGMA, 2026, Normative references). The rust test is run by procedure B only (STLE, 2024).

The table below shows which test method proves each requirement and where the limit is published, so you can see which rows a supplier's report must contain.

The key row for most buyers is oxidation: an inhibited ISO VG 220 or 320 gear oil needs at least 500 h in ASTM D943, while VG 32 to 68 needs at least 1,500 h (STLE, 2024). For rows marked paid text, ask the supplier to print the F16 limit next to each result.

Which tests must an AGMA 9005 antiscuff gear oil pass?

An AGMA 9005-F16 antiscuff gear oil must pass the common rust, copper, foam and demulsibility tests, the ASTM D2893 oxidation test, the FZG A/8.3/90 scuffing test and the FE8 roller bearing test (STLE, 2024). The two load tests are what separate an antiscuff oil from an inhibited oil.

The FZG test runs a test gear pair at 1,450 rpm for about 15 minutes per load stage, raises the load stage by stage, and reports the stage at which the teeth fail by scuffing; there are at most 12 stages (STLE, 2024). The FE8 test, DIN 51819-3 for oils, measures wear protection of rolling bearings under conditions found in heavily loaded gearboxes (STLE, 2024). F16 added FE8 to the antiscuff table, Table 3. An AGMA interpretation states that FE8 need not be run on every viscosity grade: "the lowest viscosity grade and the highest volume viscosity grade sold by the manufacturer shall be tested and reported" (AGMA RFI 16-06, 2016).

Micropitting is a common gap in what buyers expect. The FVA 54/7 micropitting test, now standardized as DIN 3990-16, is not included in ANSI/AGMA 9005-F16 (STLE, 2024). If micropitting matters in your gearbox, specify that test separately in the purchase document.

How do you check a gear oil against AGMA 9005?

You check a gear oil against ANSI/AGMA 9005-F16 by matching the supplier's claimed type and viscosity grade to a full test report, row by row, against the limits for that type. The 9005-F16 foreword records that AGMA dropped its list of typical manufacturers' oils, and "It then became the responsibility of the oil supplier to certify a particular product as meeting AGMA specifications." (AGMA, 2026, Foreword).

1. Read the technical data sheet. It should name ANSI/AGMA 9005-F16, one type (inhibited, antiscuff or compounded) and an ISO viscosity grade. A claim against 9005-E02 or 9005-D94 refers to a superseded edition.

2. Ask for the test report, not typical values. For an antiscuff oil, it should show the FZG fail stage and the FE8 result for the grades the AGMA interpretation names (AGMA RFI 16-06, 2016).

3. Check which editions of the test methods were used. F16 lists the editions valid in 2016, such as ISO 14635-1:2000, and states that "parties to agreements based on this standard are encouraged to apply the most recent editions of the standards indicated below" (AGMA, 2026, Normative references).

4. Compare the report with the gear maker's own lubricant specification, which takes precedence.

What changed in AGMA 9005, and what is coming?

ANSI/AGMA 9005-F16 superseded 9005-E02 in 2016 with updated test methods and criteria, the FE8 roller bearing test in the antiscuff table, the antiscuff term in place of EP, and a new section on enhanced performance characteristics (AGMA, 2026, Foreword). The enhanced section covers temperature performance, enhanced wear protection, foam behavior and efficiency (Design World, 2018).

The next change is a split of the document. During the F16 revision, the AGMA Lubrication Committee decided that lubrication guidance and lubricant requirements belong in separate documents. AGMA 955-A22, Guidance for Industrial Gear Lubrication, approved in August 2022, was "created as the first step of separating ANSI/AGMA 9005-F16 into two documents", and "the future edition of ANSI/AGMA 9005 is planned to cover only information on lubricants" (AGMA, 2022). Viscosity grade selection tables are among the material under review: in 2023 the committee said it plans to review the Annex B tables during the next revision of AGMA 9005 (AGMA RFI 23-1, 2023).

As of 2026-10-14, no 9005 revision appears on the active standards project list of the Motion + Power Manufacturers Alliance (MPMA), which now publishes AGMA standards work (MPMA, 2026). The AGMA store lists F16 as reaffirmed in May 2026 (AGMA, 2026).

Does AGMA 9005 still use AGMA grade numbers?

No, ANSI/AGMA 9005-F16 does not use AGMA lubricant numbers such as 4EP or 5EP; it specifies oils by ISO viscosity grade and performance type. The switch came with ANSI/AGMA 9005-E02, which "switched to using the ISO viscosity grade classifications per ASTM D2422 and ISO 3448 and dropped the designations S, EP and C" while still mentioning the former AGMA grade equivalents (STLE, 2024).

AGMA lubricant numbers were tied to ISO ranges long before that. AGMA 250.04, published in 1981, adjusted the AGMA numbering system to coincide with the viscosity ranges of ASTM D2422, BS 4231 and ISO 3448 (AGMA, 2026, Foreword). That 1981 alignment is why each AGMA number can be converted to an ISO viscosity grade on the charts that gear and oil makers print.

Older gearbox nameplates and manuals still call for oils such as 5EP (Design World, 2018). In that case, convert the AGMA number to its ISO viscosity grade, read EP as the antiscuff type, and buy an antiscuff oil of that grade that meets ANSI/AGMA 9005-F16. AGMA numbers without a letter designation meant inhibited oils (STLE, 2024).

How does AGMA 9005 differ from DIN 51517-3 and ISO 12925-1?

ANSI/AGMA 9005-F16, DIN 51517-3 and ISO 12925-1 set overlapping minimum requirements for enclosed industrial gear oils, but they group oils differently and cite different editions, so a claim against one does not prove the others. DIN 51517-3 defines CLP oils, petroleum-based gear oils with additives for rust protection, oxidation resistance and EP protection (Design World, 2018). ISO 12925-1 classifies enclosed gear lubricants by ISO 6743-6 categories.

The table below compares the three documents on edition, grouping and the FZG A/8.3/90 scuffing minimum, the test buyers most often compare.

In practice, a DIN 51517-3 CLP oil must reach FZG load stage 12 (OELCHECK, accessed 2026), and an AGMA antiscuff oil must show an FZG fail stage and an FE8 result, so ask for every report each named standard lists when a gearbox maker names both. Edition dates differ too: a data sheet that cites DIN 51517-3 should name the 2018-09 edition, and one that cites ISO 12925-1 should name the 2024 edition (DIN Media, 2026; ISO, 2024).

When should you ask a gear specialist about AGMA 9005 compliance?

Ask a gear specialist about ANSI/AGMA 9005-F16 compliance when the data sheet and the test report disagree, when the gearbox is outside the standard's scope, or when the oil must meet more than one specification. The standard itself says it does not replace application standards for wind turbine, mill, kiln, marine or high-speed drives (AGMA, 2026, Scope).

Call in the gear maker or a lubrication engineer in these cases:

• The test report shows typical values only, or omits the FZG or FE8 rows for an antiscuff oil.

• The gearbox runs a wind turbine or another drive with its own application standard, or the OEM asks for micropitting or other tests that F16 does not include (STLE, 2024).

• The only record is an old AGMA number such as 5EP, and the gearbox has worm gears, where EP oils were no longer recommended from the 1994 edition onward (AGMA, 2026, Foreword).

• Viscosity grade selection rests on the F16 Annex B tables, which apply only without gearbox maker recommendations, a specific application standard or a rigorous EHL analysis (AGMA RFI 23-1, 2023).

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FAQ

Is an AGMA 9005-F16 oil approved by AGMA?

Not through a product list. Since AGMA 250.03 in 1972, the oil supplier has been responsible for certifying that a product meets AGMA specifications (AGMA, 2026, Foreword). Treat the claim as the supplier's statement and check the test report.

Can an AGMA antiscuff gear oil be used in a car differential?

Not on the strength of AGMA 9005 alone. Automotive axle oils follow SAE J306 viscosity grades and API categories such as API GL-5, defined in ASTM D7450 (STLE, 2024). Use the oil the vehicle maker specifies.

Does AGMA 9005-F16 apply to gear greases?

Not for enclosed gearboxes. The scope excludes grease-lubricated enclosed gearboxes (AGMA, 2026, Scope). Open gearing is in scope, and F16 lists grease test methods among its normative references, such as ASTM D2596 (four-ball EP for grease) and ISO 14635-3 (FZG for semifluid gear greases), so check the paid text for open gear lubricant requirements.

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Sources checked 2026-10-14.

Sources

1. American Gear Manufacturers Association (AGMA). ANSI/AGMA 9005-F16 Industrial Gear Lubrication, store page with scope, foreword and normative references. 2016, reaffirmed May 2026. https://members.agma.org/MyAGMA/MyAGMA/Store/Item_Detail.aspx?iProductCode=9005_F16&Category=STANDARDS

2. AGMA Lubrication Committee. RFI 16-06: ANSI/AGMA 9005-F16, Request for Interpretation (FE 8 testing in Table 3). March 2016. https://motionpower.org/?p=468

3. AGMA Lubrication Committee. RFI 23-1: ANSI/AGMA 9005-F16, Request for Interpretation (Annex B viscosity tables). 2023-03-21. https://motionpower.org/standards-technology/standards/request-for-interpretations/rfi-23-1-ansi-agma-9005-f16/

4. American Gear Manufacturers Association (AGMA). AGMA 955-A22 Guidance for Industrial Gear Lubrication, store page with abstract, foreword and scope. 2022. https://members.agma.org/MyAGMA/MyAGMA/Store/Item_Detail.aspx?iProductCode=955_A22&Category=STANDARDS

5. Holdmeyer, D. Industrial and automotive gear oil tests and specifications. STLE Tribology and Lubrication Technology (TLT), Lubrication Fundamentals, July 2024. https://www.stle.org/files/TLTArchives/2024/07_July/Lubrication_Fundamentals.aspx

6. Santora, M. Tips on properly specifying gear oil. Design World, 2018-03-20. https://www.designworldonline.com/tips-on-properly-specifying-gear-oil/

7. DIN Media. DIN 51517-3:2018-09 Lubricants: Lubricating oils: Part 3: Lubricating oils CLP, Minimum requirements. 2018, current. https://www.dinmedia.de/en/standard/din-51517-3/290902488

8. ISO. ISO 12925-1:2024 Lubricants, industrial oils and related products (class L): Family C (gears): Part 1: Specifications for lubricants for enclosed gear systems. Edition 3, 2024. https://committee.iso.org/standard/87200.html

9. ISO. ISO 14635-1:2023 Gears: FZG test procedures: Part 1: FZG test method A/8,3/90 for relative scuffing load-carrying capacity of oils. Edition 2, 2023. https://committee.iso.org/standard/86086.html

10. OELCHECK. FZG test, oils (test method description). Accessed 2026-10-14. https://en.oelcheck.com/analyses/test-methods/fzg-test/

11. Motion + Power Manufacturers Alliance (MPMA). Active Standards Projects. Accessed 2026-10-14. https://motionpower.org/?p=572

Written by the Lubinpla team from the sources listed and checked against them before publication.

Reviewed by Jonghwan Moon, Founder & CEO, Lubinpla, 2026-10-14.