OILS, foil seal or no foil seal thread

[JimPghPA]

This thread is about which OILS HAVE or DO NOT HAVE foil seals.

I want to start a threads about which oils HAVE or DO NOT HAVE a foil seal. This is so people can know which oils have a foil seal before they purchase, because there have been incidences where the cap ring seal has been defeated and used fluid has been returned and restocked to be sold as new. I personally found two one-quart oil bottles at a Walmart that you could tell that the paper label had been contaminated with dirty used oil and wiped clean. I pointed them out to the store manager and explained that most likely those bottles had been refiled with used oil and returned, and he removed them.

This could also serve to encourage manufacturers to use foil seals.

Recently there was a thread "Pennzoil 5w20 5 qt - something very wrong" about oil that apparently did not have the foil seal and somehow was not proper.

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I will start off this thread with comments about:

Castrol European 0W-40 in the black bottle, it DOES have a foil seal.

 

[53' Stude]

Well, the UNION 76 2 cases are all individual quarts and they do NOT have a foil seal. I'm happy and PSC who I ordered said if I ever have a issue to contact them immediately

 

[Farmer]

Mobil 1 Vanilla 1QT - Sealed + Cracking Cap
Castrol Edge Black 1QT - Sealed + Cracking Cap
Mobil 1 AFE 0W20 4.4L - Sealed + Cracking Cap
Klondike Lubricants 5W20 5QT - Sealed
Pennzoil Platinum GTL 5W30 5QT - Unsealed - Cracking Cap Only
Pennzoil Yellow Bottle 5W30 5QT - Unsealed - Cracking Cap Only
Valvoline Maxlife ATF - Sealed + Cracking Cap

 

[BigD1]

Castrol GTX HM 5w-30 quarts no foil, and none leaking either.

 

[LotI]

RP qts cracking cap only
None of the SOPUS in my stash have seals, just caps.

 

[shiny]

Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 5W-30 individual quarts: no foil, cracking cap only

 

[jmaster]

i was surprised to find my kendall versatrans quarts had foil seals.

 

[kschachn]

I'll say this, I used to be (slightly) annoyed by those foil seals but not anymore.

 

[joegreen]

Originally Posted By: kschachn
I'll say this, I used to be (slightly) annoyed by those foil seals but not anymore.
me too. I'll have to be more careful now she looking at oil. I believe my delo 400xle 10w30 has foil seals.

 

[crazyoildude]

I prefer oil with the "as i call it" the silver seal.. i believe the oil has less chance of contamination and it has a much less chance of leaking out and making a mess. And it also protects against the used oil thing that was mentioned.
I always wondered if some companies intentionally Don't put the seal on because they don't always fill the jugs up to the top and if they get caught they can say "OH !! It must have leaked out, Sorry..

 

[Jake777]

Does regular max life have foil?

 

[philipp10]

Wow, talk about paranoid. What are the chances of someone returning used oil? What kind of neighborhood DO you live it....lol. And the comment that a cap without a seal might allow a company to not over-fill their oil jugs....really?

 

[Vern_in_IL]

Only a foil seal will ensure your bottle has not been tampered with. Like say Joe Six Pack buys some Castrol, and returns the bottle back to the store with dirty oil. The safety rings can be removed with the cap from the bottle without breaking.

I prefer foil that has security printing on it.

BUT THERE IS A POSSIBLITY that you screw up and a sliver of the foil goes into the engine!!

This is one reason that I use a box cutter to cut one swipe in the foil and fold it outwards and remove the foil. I even have a small screwdriver with the blade bent over a bit for the job too. When I went through a lot of quarts/additives like STP treatment, and Techron, I try to use a funnel with a screen.

They don't put the foil on to save dollars, like how some bottles don't have the clear side viewer.

 

[Jake777]

someone has to know if maxlife has a foil.

 

[53' Stude]

MaxLife does indeed have a seal. I just used a jug today in my brother in laws 99' GMC Jimmy with the 4.3 v-6

 

[alcyon]

Originally Posted By: Vern_in_IL


They don't put the foil on to save dollars, like how some bottles don't have the clear side viewer.


yes, another reason is sometimes after filling, a bit of oil splashes on to the bottle mouth, right on top. If that happens, the heat sealer will not be able to seal the foil. I suspect some companies found sealing problems with maybe 1 out a 100 bottles and decided to do away with foils altogether. My euro shell Helix ultra has no foil.

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted By: Vern_in_IL
BUT THERE IS A POSSIBLITY that you screw up and a sliver of the foil goes into the engine!!


Yeah, if it's a certain poster we know.

Oh never mind, that was some kind of bait.

 

[trumpet12345]

Originally Posted By: philipp10
Wow, talk about paranoid. What are the chances of someone returning used oil? What kind of neighborhood DO you live it....lol. And the comment that a cap without a seal might allow a company to not over-fill their oil jugs....really?


It appears to have happened to me. People around here both worship and hate Walmart. Always going there, but the young crowd got obsessed with petty theft for awhile. Largely eliminated due to getting police involved.

I've seen people walk off with orange covers on the cement poles in front of employees that didn't care.

Granted I made a rookie mistake using the oil, but I remedied it. Someone else less cautious could have used the oil and ruined their engine.

Imagine it is your first time changing oil. You might just assume it is thin (especially if synthetic) not knowing better and you ruin an engine that warranties wouldn't touch. No one will accept blame, you cannot prove anything; you pay thousands.

There are people out there that would do such a thing, just because it would harm someone in a way they wouldn't be caught.

If these safety seals are easily defeated, they serve no purpose. They don't prevent leaks, they don't prevent theft, they cannot ensure purity.

 

[Garak]

Delvac 1 has the foil seal. I kind of prefer to not have it. Last time I bought a bunch of Pennzoil and Quaker State, it was in a sealed box, anyhow.

 

[Carbon12]

After hearing some time ago about people finding used oil on the shelves that had been returned, I try to check out any sopus bottles prior to purchase. I look to see if the oil is dark in color through the clear strip on the side. I also like to very gently turn the cap to see if I meet any resistance from the plastic sealing ring being intact.

The foil seal used on Mobil 1 and others is nice but I think a tamper resistant shrink wrap band around the bottle cap/neck would be better. No worries of a piece of foil getting into the engine somehow.