How do you find the missing tests for an OEM lubricant approval?

This method covers approvals that component builders such as pump, motor and gearbox makers grant to industrial lubricants. Engine oil approvals by vehicle makers, and ACEA claims run under the ATIEL Code of Practice (ATIEL), follow their own rules for reusing test data and are not covered here.

What do you need before checking an OEM lubricant approval?

Before checking an OEM lubricant approval, you need four documents in hand: the OEM specification at its current revision, the OEM's approval procedure, a fixed description of the formulation you will submit, and every test report you plan to count. A gap check built on an old revision or a loose formulation description will miss items or count the wrong ones.

• The OEM specification with its number and revision date. OEM data sheets carry both: a 2026 Rexroth pump data sheet is headed "RE 92711/2026-03-02" and states "Replaces: 2025-11-14" (Bosch Rexroth, 2026).

• The approval procedure: who runs the tests, which tests the OEM runs itself, what samples it keeps and how long a listing stays valid.

• The formulation identity: product code, base oil, additive package and treat rate, each with a revision. A test report counts for this formulation only.

• The test reports, each showing the test method and edition, the conditions, the result, the date, the laboratory and the sample identity.

• The OEM's published approval or rating list, to see which grades and products are already listed and under which specification revision.

Where do you find the test list for an OEM lubricant specification?

You find the test list for an OEM lubricant specification in the OEM's own fluid data sheets and approval documents, not in the lubricant's marketing literature. Those documents name two layers of tests: the industry standard the fluid must meet first, and the OEM's own additional tests.

Bosch Rexroth is a public example. Its pump data sheet sends users to data sheet 90220 for mineral oil based hydraulic fluids, 90235 for the Fluid Rating procedure and 90245 for the Fluid Rating List (Bosch Rexroth, RE 92711, 2026). Rexroth's Fluid Rating brochure lists ISO 11158, ISO 15380, ISO 12922 and DIN 51524 parts 2 and 3 among the minimum requirements, and says "Rexroth applies own extended requirements", including fluid tests with defined Rexroth components (Bosch Rexroth, RE 98129, 2015).

Gearbox makers work the same way, but the document name is harder to pin down. Two gear oil data sheets cite the Flender lubricant specification differently: one as "Flender BA 7300, table A" (Fuchs, RENOLIN CLP data sheet) and one as "T 7300, Table A-a" (ExxonMobil, Mobilgear 600 XP profile). When data sheets disagree on the document name, ask the OEM for the current specification number and revision in writing, and build the test list from that document alone.

How do you match your lubricant test reports to each OEM specification item?

You match your lubricant test reports to each OEM specification item with one row per item: what the specification requires, which report you hold, and whether that report answers the item. Each item then sits in one of three groups: met, not met, or missing.

Write the requirement in full in every row, with method, edition, conditions and limit, because the conditions decide whether a report counts. A gear oil maker's data sheet shows how much condition detail one item carries: the FAG FE8 bearing wear test at "7.5 rpm, 80 °C, 80 h, 80 kN", and dynamic elastomer tests such as 72NBR902 at 1000 h and 80 °C (Fuchs, RENOLIN CLP data sheet).

The matrix below shows the layout, with test names and conditions as one gear oil maker reports them against Flender (not the Flender document itself), and illustrative report entries and status.

The elastomer row is the typical trap: the same seal compound, tested static for 7 days, does not answer a 1000 h dynamic item (illustrative report). Record it as missing, not met.

When does a lubricant test result not count toward an OEM approval?

A lubricant test result does not count toward an OEM approval when it was run under different conditions, to a different method edition, on a different formulation, or before the OEM's current requirement took effect.

Different conditions. FZG A/8.3/90 and A/16.6/140 are both FZG scuffing tests, but the second runs at "double velocity - 16.6 m/s - and increased starting oil sump temperature - 140 °C" (Fuchs, RENOLIN CLP data sheet). A pass in the first does not answer an item that names the second. In the same way, a pump test at a lower pressure does not answer the Rexroth RFT-APU-CL corner power test at 500 bar (Bosch Rexroth, RE 98129, 2015).

Different edition. DIN 51517-3:2018-09 is the current CLP edition (DIN Media, 2026), yet published data sheets still cite DIN 51517-3 as 2009-06 (ExxonMobil, Mobilgear 600 XP profile) or 2011 (Fuchs, RENOLIN CLP data sheet). A report to an earlier edition needs a check that the method and limit did not change.

Different formulation. Rexroth keeps retain samples of the finished oil and the base oil (Bosch Rexroth, RE 98129, 2015), which suggests the rating is tied to that exact oil; a base oil or additive change needs the OEM's view before old results are counted.

Past validity. When an OEM replaces its procedure, older approvals can lapse: a lubricant maker announced that "The previous approvals by Bosch Rexroth lose their validity and are replaced by the RDE 90235" (Liqui Moly, via Professional Motor Mechanic).

How do you record the tests still missing for an OEM lubricant approval?

You record the tests still missing for an OEM lubricant approval in a gap list with one line per specification item, giving the reason it is missing, the action that closes it, the owner, the laboratory and a target date. The gap list is the working document for the submission; the matrix stays as the record of what was compared.

Use six reasons; each sets the action:

1. No report: plan the test at the specification's method and conditions.

2. Conditions differ: rerun at the stated temperature, duration, speed, pressure or load stage.

3. Earlier method edition: compare the editions; rerun if the method or limit changed.

4. Earlier formulation: ask the OEM in writing whether the result can be carried over, and rerun if not.

5. Past validity: rerun, or confirm with the OEM that the older result is still accepted.

6. Laboratory not approved: rerun at an approved laboratory.

Flender accepts results only "if the tests were done in qualified and approved laboratories", and randomly chosen in-house tests "have to be verified at a neutral laboratory" (Flender, 2021). Rexroth's closed-loop rating test alone adds up to 510 h of operating time across its three stages (Bosch Rexroth, RE 98129, 2015), so plan laboratory slots and sample volumes early.

In Lubinpla, a submission document check compares your approval package with the OEM's public specification and returns one cited document that separates the tests already met from the tests still required, for you to review before anything is sent.

How do you check the OEM approval gap list before submission?

You check the OEM approval gap list before submission by testing every item marked met against seven checks: specification revision, test method and edition, conditions, result against the limit, formulation, laboratory, and validity. An item that fails any check moves back to the gap list.

The table below decides whether an existing lubricant test report counts for one OEM specification item.

The conditions row is where most miscounts come from: a report at the right method but a lower pressure or a shorter duration reads as a pass on paper. Have a second person, ideally from the laboratory, run these checks against the original reports, not against a summary sheet.

Run the full check twice: once when the gap list is first built, and again just before submission, because the OEM may revise its specification or its approved list while tests are running. Record the specification revision and the check date at the top of the gap list, so the reviewer at the OEM sees which document every item was compared against.