I could have sworn I'd disposed of it already, but recently came across a BUNCH of Amsoil Series 2000 20w50 oil in my basement. This stuff has got to be at least 10 years old, and likely older. As such, I decided to go digging up info on some questions re "old" oil and found some interesting YT vids by Lake Speed, Jr
Questions I had: 1. How long does oil stay good if still sealed and kept on the shelf in a temperature-controlled environment? 2. If you see indications of additives settling at the bottom of the oil container, can you agitate ("Shake, rattle and roll!') the container to re-introduce the additives back into suspension?
---------------
2021 Challenger 6.4L Scat Pack 1320 100% stock: 1.680, 11.894 at 113.75 (DA 175 ft) weight reduction, wheels, tires, Hellcat air box: 1.661, 11.686 at 115.97 (DA 710 ft)
1973 Challenger 452 ci street/strip [2008] pump gas, DOT radials: 1.454, 10.523 at 126.44 (DA 514 ft)
Assuming you watched the videos, can you give me the answers so that I don't have to watch them?
[img]http://i.imgur.com/boeexFms.jpg[/img] 31 Plymouth Coupe, 392 Hemi, T56 magnum RS23J71 RS27J77 RP23J71 RO23J71 WM21J8A I don't regret the things I've done. I only regret the things I didn't do. "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something. ~ Plato"
I had 25 gal of 15-40 delvac that was about 7 years old. I just mixed it up real well and used it my diesel truck and race car. Didn’t have any engine issues.
I bought 3 pallets of (mostly mid to late 80s) oil in CANS that you actually need a spout for (most people don't know, or forgot about those) last spring, I sold off 2-1/2 pallets worth, kept the rest for my own use, which I have been using.... I havent seen any seperated or otherwise appearing unusable... mostly using in vehicles I have, that were on the roads when the stuff I have were on the roads "back then". though I did use most of the 5w30 I kept in 2, newer 4.7s I have.... I couldnt pass it up for what I paid.... and basically got what I saved for myself for "free" when all was said and done/ I just poke the cans with a screwdriver like I did back when all oil was still sold that way haha
I had about 20? 5 Qt Plastic jugs of Mobil 1 of the heavier weight up to 20W-50 for over 12 years stored properly? on the shelf. Half have lost nearly half their volume, and few 75%.They are all still sealed, never been opened. My lawn mower now gets aged Mobil 1. I assume the lighter volatiles have left the container. God knows how oxidized they must be. Seems like a strong case could be made for returning to steel cans (truly 100% recyclable) for high priced critical oils. Certainly a case can be made there is no point stockpiling the expensive synthetic stuff in multiple year quantities. I did however feel like I was watching MTV video at times.
I forbid my content here from being learned and used by artificial intelligence systems.
But I'm not going to watch an hour's worth of videos just to find out what I already know. You don't need to shake it, and it never gets too old. I've used oil that's as old as the hills and never had a problem with it. How's it going to go bad anyway?
I've never even heard of shaking motor oil. When I worked at a garage, we pumped it out of a barrel. What are we supposed to do get Hercules to pick up the barrel and shake it for us?
I think the fact that these questions are even being asked is proof that there are too many hand-wringing worry warts in this world.
Speaking of that, we had plenty of them for customers. There was a guy who bought a new 455 super duty trans Am. He was so anal about the oil, he brought it in to have it changed about once a week. Seriously, like every 200 mi. The rings never seated and the thing burned oil because of it. There was another guy who would come in a couple of days before his oil change and have us pour a quart of ATF in the engine to clean it. I'm sure he had the cleanest engine of anybody. Except for maybe the guy who used to have us drain his oil, change the filter, put in 5 quarts of kerosene, start the engine and run it for about 20 seconds, shut it off, drain the kerosene, change the filter, and fill it up with fresh oil. I can't say that their habits hurt anything, but I can't say that they helped either. Who knows?
[img]http://i.imgur.com/boeexFms.jpg[/img] 31 Plymouth Coupe, 392 Hemi, T56 magnum RS23J71 RS27J77 RP23J71 RO23J71 WM21J8A I don't regret the things I've done. I only regret the things I didn't do. "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something. ~ Plato"
But I'm not going to watch an hour's worth of videos just to find out what I already know. You don't need to shake it, and it never gets too old. I've used oil that's as old as the hills and never had a problem with it. How's it going to go bad anyway?
I've never even heard of shaking motor oil. When I worked at a garage, we pumped it out of a barrel. What are we supposed to do get Hercules to pick up the barrel and shake it for us?
I think the fact that these questions are even being asked is proof that there are too many hand-wringing worry warts in this world.
Speaking of that, we had plenty of them for customers. There was a guy who bought a new 455 super duty trans Am. He was so anal about the oil, he brought it in to have it changed about once a week. Seriously, like every 200 mi. The rings never seated and the thing burned oil because of it. There was another guy who would come in a couple of days before his oil change and have us pour a quart of ATF in the engine to clean it. I'm sure he had the cleanest engine of anybody. Except for maybe the guy who used to have us drain his oil, change the filter, put in 5 quarts of kerosene, start the engine and run it for about 20 seconds, shut it off, drain the kerosene, change the filter, and fill it up with fresh oil. I can't say that their habits hurt anything, but I can't say that they helped either. Who knows?
I don't, but the video for example claims that oils tested had "Oxidized", I can't contest that, but I don't know what that means in the big picture here, or how that would affect an engine or is that mainly concerning the additive package. The shaking aspect does puzzle me. If oil settling is indeed an issue, when is the last time we are advised to shake a motor before starting? Additionally, is the non shaken oil's problem is that all of it will not drain from a newly opened can in sufficient time, or that the settled parts will not remix if drained, in the can or an engine? Also seems to me oils that foam have high surface tension, or means they "stick' well, and low foam oills do not, those two qualities seem to be slightly at odds for what we want our oil to do, and including a gear oil in this test might have sent a misleading message here as they have rather different task IMO.
I forbid my content here from being learned and used by artificial intelligence systems.
I've used oil that's as old as the hills and never had a problem with it. How's it going to go bad anyway?
Anecdotal experience that ends with "and never had a problem" is just that...anecdotal. Next guy might not be so lucky.
I once attended a class on "materials preservation" which was all about long-term storage. When the subject of engine oil came up, they found that the additives in oil (especially calcium) would "drop out of suspension" after long-term storage due to permeation and merely shaking the container wouldn't bring them back into suspension...the oil was still usable but, without the additives, it wasn't as good as it was originally.
So, if the engine you use the old oil isn't put to extremes, you might not "have a problem with it", but...........
Folks must of not got the memo... three top things car guys should not discuss.
1 XXXXXXXX 2 XXXXXXX 3 OIL
With so many formulations over so many years Id not think anyone has all the answers but I do know many things we use have a wide buffer zone for making the wrong choice to still work out without issue.
Id like to see how a 30-40 year old can of stp tests out like.
Most of youtube should have a "For entertainment purposes only" tag attached to them.
I have some (12+ quarts) old Kendall GT 20w50Wt race oil that was in paper quart containers from back in the really old days that I had to switch to plastic containers due to those old paper containers starting to weep a lot, I'll use it some day on a race motor 1000+ HP
Last edited by Cab_Burge; 12/17/2402:37 PM.
Mr.Cab Racing and winning with Mopars since 1964. (Old F--t, Huh)
If you have multiple years' worth of oil hanging around, perhaps you don't own enough running vehicles !
FWIW, I've run year-old Lucase 10W-30 "hot rod" oil in my race SB - a solid roller, 7500-8000-RPM deal - with zero issues on a bearing check, but that's about as long as oil sits around in my case. If I saw separation in a bottle, I wouldn't use it.
