Gear Oil Shelf Life
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I doubt if it would for me. If the ‘spec' is correct I could easily go out 25 years.
We have an older brush hog used at our camp. My relative has a supply of gear oil in a barrel 45+ years old. For this mower gearbox it's plenty good. One may not want to use it in a 2018 Silverado pickup.
We have an older brush hog used at our camp. My relative has a supply of gear oil in a barrel 45+ years old. For this mower gearbox it's plenty good. One may not want to use it in a 2018 Silverado pickup.
My dad's valiant went from 1968 to 2012 on the OE fluid.
This was brought up a while back, Someone had some 10 year old Redline and they contacted redline and were told shelf life was 5 years.
Most disagreed with that because most gear oil is a "lifetime" fill for the average vehicle owner, so how can a sealed, unused product go bad when a product in use for 100,000 miles and 10 years still be working?
Most disagreed with that because most gear oil is a "lifetime" fill for the average vehicle owner, so how can a sealed, unused product go bad when a product in use for 100,000 miles and 10 years still be working?
MolaKule
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Shelf life of gear oil in an unopened HDPE 2 container is at least 15 years.
Subtract 5 years if it has been opened.
Subtract 5 years if it has been opened.
Gear oil has the same shelf life as engine oil; pretty much forever.
There's plenty of 300K mile vehicles in the junkyard with their 25 year old FF gear oil
There's plenty of 300K mile vehicles in the junkyard with their 25 year old FF gear oil
Originally Posted by Miller88
Gear oil has the same shelf life as engine oil; pretty much forever.
There's plenty of 300K mile vehicles in the junkyard with their 25 year old FF gear oil
That is one fluid that is really taken for granted. If I had to guess most cars that didn't have a seal or something replaced due to a leak or part faliure went to the junkyard with the factory fill of gear in them.
Gear oil has the same shelf life as engine oil; pretty much forever.
There's plenty of 300K mile vehicles in the junkyard with their 25 year old FF gear oil
That is one fluid that is really taken for granted. If I had to guess most cars that didn't have a seal or something replaced due to a leak or part faliure went to the junkyard with the factory fill of gear in them.
Gear oil shelf life
Opened bottle: How long can I tolerate the smell / How long til the smell dissipates out of the garage. If I can't stand it no more, it gets recycled.
Unopened bottles: I don't hoard these as much as I do motor oil sales. Usually only buy them when I need them since gear oil stinks, then revert to above.
Opened bottle: How long can I tolerate the smell / How long til the smell dissipates out of the garage. If I can't stand it no more, it gets recycled.
Unopened bottles: I don't hoard these as much as I do motor oil sales. Usually only buy them when I need them since gear oil stinks, then revert to above.
Originally Posted by MolaKule
Shelf life of gear oil in an unopened HDPE 2 container is at least 15 years.
Subtract 5 years if it has been opened.
Then I guess that 42 year old UNOPENED bottle of Valvoline 80W-90 I purchased to replace the diff oil in my long gone 1974 Mustang is past it's "best use by date" (insert laughing emoji)
Shelf life of gear oil in an unopened HDPE 2 container is at least 15 years.
Subtract 5 years if it has been opened.
Then I guess that 42 year old UNOPENED bottle of Valvoline 80W-90 I purchased to replace the diff oil in my long gone 1974 Mustang is past it's "best use by date" (insert laughing emoji)
Originally Posted by MolaKule
Shelf life of gear oil in an unopened HDPE 2 container is at least 15 years.
Subtract 5 years if it has been opened.
Thanks... Now I know how long my Severe Gear is good for.
Shelf life of gear oil in an unopened HDPE 2 container is at least 15 years.
Subtract 5 years if it has been opened.
Thanks... Now I know how long my Severe Gear is good for.
My family's old 1984/5 Dodge van was still running strong in 2010 if I recall on the factory fill of gear oil. It had around the 300,000km mark when we gifted it to the next guy who ran it a few more years. I think the body had rotted out twice before there could be an oil related failure.
I have half a quart of Amsoil 75w90 kicking around since the summer of 2013. Only thing I have noticed is some of the additives may have fallen from suspension. Next gear oil change I will shake it up and use it up. Not because I think it is going bad but I need to clean up the stash.
I have half a quart of Amsoil 75w90 kicking around since the summer of 2013. Only thing I have noticed is some of the additives may have fallen from suspension. Next gear oil change I will shake it up and use it up. Not because I think it is going bad but I need to clean up the stash.
I checked back with my standard reference on such questions
https://www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/172/lubricant-storage-life
since I couldn't remember if it covered gear oil in its Compendium of Confusion.
The closest seems to be mineral EP 320, for which they list recommendations of 1, 5, 10 years, and infinity.
So Molakule seems to tending toward the conservative end of the recommendation spread.
https://www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/172/lubricant-storage-life
since I couldn't remember if it covered gear oil in its Compendium of Confusion.
The closest seems to be mineral EP 320, for which they list recommendations of 1, 5, 10 years, and infinity.
So Molakule seems to tending toward the conservative end of the recommendation spread.
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