10 year old synthetic gear oil, still OK?

[NormanBuntz]

I have a leftover quart of Shell Spirax S full synthetic 75w-90 GL-5 gear oil with a date stamp of 07-09-07. It has been tightly sealed and on the shelf in an unheated NC garage for 9 years. Is it still OK to use in a Nissan/Infiniti rear differential? Or would you just spend $13 to replace it?

Vehicle manual calls for a GL-5 80w-90 but does not require synthetic. Yay or nay?

 

[raytseng]

depends how expensive (in money and time) and how often you perform that service.

if this is something you diy every year than use it. if this is something you want to last 60000 miles then splurge for the new fluid.

 

[FCD]

I say yay.
However if your gearbox/diff grenades i do not take any responsibilities

 

[Boczech]

If the bottle has been sealed then what would go bad ?

 

[ruhroh]

I'd use it without a second thought. Gear oil pretty much never goes 'bad,' unless you have severe condensation in the bottle.

But like you said, if it bothers you, you can always spend $5.17 + tax for a quart of Walmart's synblend 75w90 or a gallon of 80W90 for $13. But I say just use what you have right now.

 

[Warstud]

I'd use it. I'm not sure how oil goes bad. Maybe some oil is to old and out of spec.

 

[Olas]

If the bottle is sealed then use it.

 

[Chris142]

How many 10,20,30+ year old cars and trucks are still running the factory rear end oil?

 

[BigCahuna]

Blackstone's opinion on oil is they don't suggest oil be changed due to age, only useage. So as long as there's no water in the bottle, I would shake it to death, and use it.

 

[BrianF]

If there is no moisture built up then use it. It wont go bad. There are countless vehicles on the road running older gear oil that have not exploded.

 

[Lubener]

I think it's spoiled, send it to me and I will let you know if it's good.

 

[MaximaGuy]

Go with new fluid - dump the 10yr fluid in the recycling shop

 

[dareo]

it's probably fine but i would likely buy new depending on how much i cared about what it went it.

 

[Hootbro]

Use it and do not look back. Would be a waste of money and good fluid to do otherwise.

 

[Fastcompany]

Use it without a second thought. Unless the ep additives turned to sulfur and are going to eat away at everything like a bottle of acid. Try your luck lol. No seriously use it it's fine