Can someone tell me how old this total 5w40 is?

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Jul 3, 2020
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Canada
Pretty much as the title states... The guy claimed it's 6 months old but I highly doubt that... I see the sm/cf designation which from my understanding is old... The only other give away is the 2008 total copyright...

So, did I burn myself for 60 bucks on 2 jugs?
 

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Looks like a few years old to me, I can't really speak for the Canadian packaging since it tends to be a few years late compared to Europe, but the SM rating could indeed point to several years old.
That is to say, I don't think the formulation of that oil changed in several years, and it should still be excellent to run as a MB 229.5 Approved oil.
 
Im just more worried about the additives having fallen to the bottom of the bottle... I know there is technically no expiry date but from what I've read, they do say the shelf life is around 5 years...

I'm really annoyed if this oil is as old as I suspect it is... The guy said it was 6 months old, I took his word for it and didn't do my due diligence in checking the bottle thoroughly before giving him the cash.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
he might have bought it at a clear out 6 months ago...

I'd use it without worry. Seems the plastic bottle was made in 2008, that's likely a few days before the oil went into it.
 
Do oil additives precipitate out though? Many users here who have newer bottles of Pennzoil Platium have reported seeing the sediment in the bottom of brand new jugs.
 
Thanks for the reply guys. The bottles are sealed, I'll know whenever I use the oil if the additives have precipitated
 
Well the guy surprisingly offered to give me my money back... I'd rather not take chances with oil that old, even though I'm sure it's fine
 
Didn't this subject come up about 6 months ago and a forum member contacted Total who confirmed that were using an old batch of plastic containers but that the oil was new?

Edit : here the link https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/old-oil.327349/

Interesting...well, the labels on the jugs look worn and surprisingly has the approved for gasoline engines label (as can be seen in the pictures), which I haven't ever seen on oil that is also approved for diesels aswell... but the sm/cf designation surely makes this oil old. Even total is using old jugs, the labels surely must been new with the SN designation

Either way, I got my money back... The guy said he really didn't know and thought they were 6 months old. Apparently he can get a supply of them cheap and he'll let me know when he has new bottles, not sure i'd trust that but anyways thanks all for the info
 
They're still containing MB229.5 oil. I would think that superceds API SM or SN by a significant margin. And that's a combined diesel/gas spec, just not a dpf approved oil. It all depends on what those bottles had to cost, is 60 bucks for mb229.5 oil a lot or not in your area
 
They're still containing MB229.5 oil. I would think that superceds API SM or SN by a significant margin. And that's a combined diesel/gas spec, just not a dpf approved oil. It all depends on what those bottles had to cost, is 60 bucks for mb229.5 oil a lot or not in your area

It was 30 a jug, so that's about as cheap as you can get for total brand here in Canada, most german specialty shops sell it for 45 plus tax

However

This oil which is being talked about a little bit here also has a few MB approvals, it is made by shell and repackaged as motomaster (in house Canadian Tire store brand)


It regularly goes on sale for 24.99 plus tax
 
No point in getting the Total oil at $45.
In Europe it's like the cheapest oil with 229.5 approval easily available, as low as 16
5/16€ for 5L.
 
No point in getting the Total oil at $45.
In Europe it's like the cheapest oil with 229.5 approval easily available, as low as 16
5/16€ for 5L.

Yup I agree, hence the only reason I got it was because the guy was selling it for 30 but since I returned them to him, I actually ended getting good old Castrol edge 5w40 for 25 a jug from someone else, and I actually checked to make sure it wasn't 10 years old this time :sneaky:
 
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