New Jersey Office of Weights and Measures Bans 19 Motor Oil Products

Retail locations must stop selling the products immediately.

December 08, 2014

AVENEL, N.J. – The New Jersey Office of Weights and Measures issued a statewide ban on 19 motor oil products, bearing the brand names “Auto Club Motor Oil,” “Black Knight Motor Oil,” “Lube State Motor Oil,” “MaxiGuard MG,” “Orbit Motor Oil,” “TruStar Motor Oil,” “U.S. Economy Motor Oil” and “U.S. Spirit Motor Oil.”

The banned products may no longer be sold in New Jersey, according to a press release. Retail establishments that continue to sell them will be subject to a civil penalty of at least $100 per package or container of the banned product — a penalty far in excess of the approximately $3 to $4 per quart bottle.

The State Office of Weights and Measures took this action after tests by a state-contracted lab revealed that each of the now-banned products failed to conform to the viscosity promised on the product label. For example, motor oils labeled 10W-40 had viscosity measures that were widely and unacceptably at variance with the universally defined characteristics of 10W-40 motor oil. The products therefore allegedly bear misleading labels that do not inform consumers about their appropriateness for specific motor vehicle engines.

The use of a motor oil with viscosity levels that are either too high or too low for a vehicle’s engine specifications may result in the risk of engine failure, excess engine wear and/or decreased fuel efficiency.

“Many of these allegedly mislabeled motor oils are sold at cheap prices, thereby luring those consumers who can least afford the extra maintenance costs or early engine failure that may result from using the wrong type of motor oil,” Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman said. “We are rightly removing these potentially harmful products from New Jersey’s marketplace and will penalize retailers who continue to sell them.”

Pursuant to a Stop-Use and Removal Order issued on Friday by State Office of Weights and Measures Acting Superintendent Howard Pine, all New Jersey retail establishments are ordered to immediately remove the 19 banned motor oil products from their store shelves or other product displays.

“The retailers may not have known that these products are mislabeled and potentially damaging when used with the wrong vehicles,” Pine said. “Now that these facts are known, any retailer who fails to remove these products from store shelves will face a penalty far greater than the potential profits to be gained by selling these products.”

The banned products are: