Approvals & reblending

OEM Product approval
Arteco works in close relationship with the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to develop the coolant for their specific needs and requirements. This requires an extensive test program, starting from initial lab testing and moving into elaborate fleet test. This whole program covers several years during which a lot of data is generated on the coolant behaviour and performance. It goes without saying this implies a substantial investment in time and resources. The different phases in the approval testing process:

  1. Standard lab tests are completed, in particular industry standard tests, corrosion testing and elastomer testing.

  2. Customer specific testing will be performed during which a.o. material compatibility is further evaluated.

  3. Bench testing is set-up to look at the worst-case scenarios and extreme conditions.

  4. Field test allowing a proper risk assessment on the coolant in-use, by stripping down also the engine and inspecting thoroughly the different parts.

When obtaining positive outcome, the coolant gets approved by the OEM for use in their engine either for first fill when manufacturing the vehicle; either for service fill during maintenance in the official dealer service shops.

Arteco has a substantial list of OEM-approved coolants, and continuously cooperates with the OEM’s on the right product for their current or new engines.

Click here for our current approval list. Some OEM’s also provide a product approval list via their service manual or their portal, whereas in other cases - in light of our relationship with our OEM-customers - we cannot share any information on an OEM-approved product.

Rebrand approval
These OEM approvals can also be important in the aftermarket. An independent service shop or a consumer is looking for the right product for his car/engine. And then one product with several OEM approvals is very interesting: our Havoline® XLC is still the product with the most approvals in the market!

Freecor® and Havoline® are however registered brand names of Arteco and our mother company Chevron respectively, and hence cannot be marketed by other companies without prior approval. To enable our customers to claim the same aftermarket approval, they can apply for a rebrand approval from the OEM on their product name. For a fraction of the cost and time of the original approval, the same approval can be claimed on the rebranded product, with the same benefits: valid OEM approval claims on their label and potential visibility on the OEM web portal or in the OEM service manual.

How to obtain a rebrand approval?

  1. First of all: the initiative comes from the customer. If the product is exactly the same, but only a different product name then there is no need for further testing. For some OEMs the colour and even the bitterant level are part of the approval, and hence require to be specified. A part of this prove will be a certification for rebrand approval, that is issued by Arteco - free of charge - based on certain criteria like historic sales volumes, forecasted sales and our good relation with the customer. The certification for rebrand approval has a validity date, which is partially linked to the OEM approval letter, partially linked to the Arteco business. The renewal process after expiration is different for every OEM, but most require an updated certification letter.

     

  2. This certification has to be sent together with the official request for rebrand approval to the OEM contact person. Depending on the OEM this can be via standard post, e-mail or via a web portal. Some OEMs do charge a fee for their service, which can be different for first time approval and renewals. Some OEMs might even require an annual fee.

     

  3. A sample of the coolant might be required for testing and in some cases; even the water used for dilution is requested for testing.

Note: If a rebrand approval is required further in the supply-chain, the same process applies. The seller issues a rebrand approval for the customer, which is submitted to the OEM together with the original rebrand certification.

Reblend approval
A reblend approval is different, as it concerns an approval on superconcentrated products. If a superconcentrated product is supplied e.g. our Havoline® XLB, Monoethylene Glycol (MEG) has to be added to get to the concentrated product. As this implies an additional production step, and the MEG quality is crucial, this needs to be notified to the OEM in a specific reblend letter.

Some OEMs make a clear distinction between the rebrand and the reblend process.

Note: not all OEMs issue rebrand or reblend approvals.

Discover our products