Stored Engine Oil

[AZRedhawk44]

It was time to change the oil in my Jeep today.  I went to Autozone on the way home from work and got 6qts of Mobil 1 and a filter, but when I looked at the shelf-of-partial-bottles-of-oil in the garage, I saw several 5w-20 bottles in there.

I opted to use the old bottles.  The color startled me a little bit in them though.  Instead of a conventional amber, they had shifted to red a little bit.  I ended up using 1qt of brand new oil but the rest was this older red shifted Mobil 1.  They'd been sitting in my Arizona garage for a couple of summers at this point... I'm long between oil changes since I ride a motorcycle most of the time.  I'd guess the bottles were between 12 and 18 months old.

Anyone ever seen that?  Jeep seems to run fine.  I think this will end up being a short oil cycle with this oil just to appease any concerns I have with the quality of older oil.

I ended up returning my 5qt jug of new Mobil 1 for a refund since I didn't want it to sit in my garage for a long time and turn dubious like the last batch.

[RoadKingLarry]

Never gave it much thought. I've got a dozen unopened quarts of straight 30 weight laying around that I've had since about 2010. I've been gradually using it in my older small engines and at current rate of consumption might last me the rest of my life.

[HankB]

I've read that motor oil ages on the shelf, and after "several" years is no longer recommended for engine use. I came across some that was >10 years old when I was cleaning my garage, and I relegated it to use in my oil can for things like gate hinges.

[K Frame]

My guess is that one of the additives oxidized or somehow reacted with the plastic in the bottle.

It probably was OK to use, but if it was one of the additives oxidizing it may no longer provide the same level of protection as new oil.

[WLJ]

On this episode of Just Rolled In........

[Ben]

On this episode of Just Rolled In........

 

[AZRedhawk44]

On this episode of Just Rolled In........

 

I called Mobil customer support this morning and talked to them about it.  They said the color shift is documented to happen.  It's not recommended to use, but it isn't going to blow up the engine or anything.

It's cheap peace of mind to just change the oil one more time.  I figure I might as well do that this weekend.

[Ben]

It's cheap peace of mind to just change the oil one more time.  I figure I might as well do that this weekend.

Not just in your case, or with any questionable oil, but fluid changes (not just the engine oil) are always cheap and easy insurance to keep your engine running. I always err towards "more frequent" rather than how close to 1% I can get the oil life meter. 

[Jim147]

I still have a few cans of oil around here.

[K Frame]

I still have a few cans of oil around here.

Good lord... I think most of the companies stopped putting oil in cans in what, the mid 1980s?

[WLJ]

I still have a few cans of oil around here.

Good lord... I think most of the companies stopped putting oil in cans in what, the mid 1980s?

[RocketMan]

I still have one of those oil pouring spouts in my stash of car tools.

[HeroHog]

I HATED those and those damned paper "oil cans"!

[WLJ]

I HATED those and those damned paper "oil cans"!

Yeah, had more than one can collapse while trying to put the spout on. Fun

[HeroHog]

Worked as a pump jockey at an Esso station, doing closing shift, downton, in Lafayette, La in the early 70s. More than once had a "oil shower" with paper cans and those pour spouts!

[griz]

I was a mechanic during the end of the paper cans, so I had one of the spouts too.  Mine must have been the pinnacle of spout development.  It was vinyl coated (maybe powder coated?) and a few years later nothing but an oddity to baffle young people.

By the way, I didn't know that oil could degrade sitting in the bottle.  I know you're supposed to shake it up to get all the additives dispersed, but I thought it remained good for decades.

[zahc]

I learned that motor oil has an expiration when I was doing an oil change and went to pour a quart of Shell oil into my suburban and a big brown glop of goo ran out and right down the funnel into the engine. Thankfully it was the first quart so I just re-drained it. The oil had been bought at Sam's and sitting in my garage not all that long, but I had opened the one quart at some point to get a tiny amount of oil for something or other. The other quarts seemed fine but I assume they would have gone off eventually also. Now I check expiration dates before I buy motor oil and I don't really stock up on it.

[zxcvbob]

Those paper cans of oil are probably still fine.  Especially if it's plain old SAE 30 oil.  Not a lot of additives, and the oil itself will last forever.  The quarts of 5W-30 that have been sitting in my garage for about 5 years, those are suspect.

[JTHunter]

This thread makes me think I should go check some of my old bottles of oil.  I still have quarts of 5W-30 from when I used to change my own but that has been at least 10 years.  Even if the "additives" have broken down, they are there to minimize corrosion and dirt in the oil.  They will still provide some lubricity so they should be OK for "topping off" your car.

[230RN]

I would follow the same rule I have for even marginally questionable food.  "If in doubt, throw it out."

I ain't worth an engine to save a few bucks on fresh oil.

I'll admit that I view a lot of "Use By" and other expiration dates as merchandising ploys or a mere requirement of law --maybe they have to put some kind of date on stuff. But I figure it's best to follow them anyhow, "just in case."

Terry, 230RN

[HeroHog]

Damn, I have had 3 6qt jugs of Pennzoil Synthetic Blend sitting out on my back patio for the last 8 months.

[griz]

I was looking for a wrench in an old toolbox and accidentally found the old oil spout I was talking about.  Guess I need to clean up some.  The (marked down) 35 cent price physical tag dates it pretty well.  I guess they couldn't just give them away.  If that didn't capture the time frame, the fact it came from Kmart does.   It wasn't just vinyl clad, it was deluxe vinyl:

[zxcvbob]

I just changed the oil myself last week for the first time in years because I had a dozen quarts of oil and several filters; might as well use them up so I don't have to store them.  I checked that it smelled okay and was still the right color and viscosity. 

Someone replaced the OEM oil drain plug somewhere along the way because it takes a 16mm wrench now and it used to be 14mm.  Luckily I had a 16mm socket and was actually able to find it :D (a lot of wrench and socket sets skip from 15mm to 17mm, or at least they used to)