my thoughts on some 7-8 year old oil.

[electrolover]

I just changed my oil today with some castrol txt. The dates on the bottles ranged from 04-05. Before opening I shook them up quite a bit, but after I pouted in the first I noticed some black stuff in the bottom of the bottle around the corners. It wasn't very much so I figured it was just moly or something that fell out of suspension. So on the rest of the bottles I poured half in and then recaped and shook the remaining oil vigorously. After that there was barely any black stuff at the bottom of the bottle after pouring.
So after filling, I quickly took the truck out for a drive in hopes of making sure everything was well mixed. I noticed the engine was much more quiet, which was nice.

I think I may stick with a euro oil in this application just so I dont have to deal with the valve train noise anymore. Granted it was much less noisy than when I bought it, but now it seems completely gone.

Now I find myself wondering what a proper oci would be with this oil. Any recommendations? The sump capacity is 7 qts and lately I have been driving 7 mile highways trips about 2-4 times a day. You guys think it would make it past 5k?

 

[Hyde244]

Here is a previous BITOG discussion on shelf life of oil.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1098664

And CarBibles.com addressed use of old oils. (At the very bottom of the page)

http://www.carbibles.com/engineoil_bible.html

It would appear that opinion depends on the storage location of the oil. Was the oil exposed to prolonged heat/cold? Any risk of water contamination? These obviously shorten oil life.

I'd hate to run the risk of old oil not performing over the matter of $25 for a new jug on my own car. So maybe a 5k OCI tops?

 

[rustypigeon]

I've noticed sediment looking stuff on the bottom of brand new bottles of GTX. Not sure what it is.

 

[electrolover]

Idk how it was stored before I got it. I assume the worst. But it was sealed so im not worried about water.
It looked fine. Nice amber color.

I still have another change worth of it so I might do 5k this time and maybe 7500 the next go around. Gotta get my money's worth outta that free oil ya know.

 

[Panzerman]

I have some Mobil One 15w50 oil, it has to be around 12 years old. I would use it in a lawn mower or pretty much anything with a disposabble engine. I have about 5 gallon of iy, so thats alot of oil changes. It still looks nice and gold. It was stored in hot and cold like conditions, but in sealed bottles. I cant bring myself to throw it out.

 

[Zaedock]

I've used 10+ year old oil without worry. It is stored in my basement though.

 

[zzyzzx]

I would not worry about it.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I ran M1 Full Synthetic from the early 90s in my Cherokee for a while. Never had any problems.

 

[shell_user]

I sold some of my Pennzoil HD-30, HD-40 weight stuff. Have some EMBLEM SAE 30, HD-30 and bout 6 qts of HD-30 Pennzoil left. Heck I may put 3qts of the pennzoil hd-30 with some more T5 Rotella 10w30 in the spring. I am not worried about using this either.

 

[285south]

I recently used up the 12 pack of Valvoline Racing oil 20w50 I bought back in 1998. No issues. My dad has a few tin cans of oil from the 80s.

 

[46Harry]

If the containers are sealed and the oil hasn't been stored in an extreme environment, I wouldn't worry about using it.