Old Pennzoil sealed quarts

[matt181]

I recently did an oil change with some unopened Pennzoil I had in the cabinet. It looked normal when I popped the caps, maybe a tinge darker bronze than new store bought 5w30. After I dumped it in, I started down the rabbit hole to find out what the date codes on the bottom of the bottles mean.

That code is VERN1022011255013609
Pennzoil SAE 5w-30 motor oil w/ pure base, API service SL

I searched for oil Pennzoil date codes on this site and I think this oil is from Oct 22, 2001 around 12:55, and product code is 3609, if I'm reading correctly. Yikes that is much older than I expected it to be. What I haven't been able to find is what location VERN is?

I found and read many threads from the gentleman here that is a retired Pennzoil guy and his posts were helpful. Is there anyone else that can fully decode and confirm what I suspect for the age of this oil?

I'm a bit reluctant now to have this oil, but honestly nothing seems different with the '04 Tahoe it is in. Oil pressure same, no additional lifter tick or other funny sounds. What say you? Thanks

 

[oldhp]

My opinion it won't hurt a thing. 04 Tahoe + 01 Pennzoil = All Good.

 

[cptbarkey]

It’s fine. I put in similar age pennzoil 20w50 SL in a craftsman riding mower and it’s been fine after 4 hours.

 

[RoadDukie]

Hopefully you shook them up well.

As @oldhp stated above: All good.

 

[matt181]

Thank you all for weighing in. Yes I did shake them up. Is the slightly darker color normal for older, sealed oil?

Is my deciphering the bottle code correct? Is there any resident Pennzoil expert here still that can decode the rest of it? Thanks again.

 

[loneryder]

I just wouldn’t go on a long OCI.

 

[Merek]

Perfectly fine, I have an 04 Sierra w/ 5.3 and for all purposes they really did not change all that much from 99-07, had some improvements along the way but nothing substantial internally to the engine. I'd run it and not lose any sleep over it.

 

[matt181]

long OCI?

Merek you are correct basically the same from 99-07 with Gen 3 engines. So much the same, that I have actually swapped an lq9 6.0 in place of the original 5.3 that had over 300k on it. This was the most reliable generation of full size Chevy's they ever made and I'll drive it till the wheels fall off.
I'm still hoping someone in the know floating around here can decode the rest of the coding off the bottle, just for the heck of it. Also wondering about the slightly darker color of the oil and what may cause it to turn like that since it was factory sealed. Thanks again all!

 

[paulo57509]

Pure Base

 

[blupupher]

I know current Pennzoil is easy, it is just the date.
Old bottles, no idea.
But SL was 2001-2004, so your guess may be correct.
VERN may be the plant code, with other numbers being date, time and batch code.
So maybe:
VERN (plant code) 102201 (date) 1255 (time) 013609 (batch code)

Again, just a guess, but it is how some others mark their bottles.

For oil color, it may have been dark from new.

Would use it in a SL motor (and even a SM) with no concerns.

 

[Scuder]

PureBase was a Group II(+) product made from base stock produced at the Excell Paralubes refinery in Louisiana. Pennzoil was in an equal partnership in the plant with Conoco. More stringent requirements in SH and GF-1 specs in the early '90s required base oils better than the Group I used by most. At the time, Pennzoil needed a good dose of synthetic to meet the cold temperature requirements of the new SH 5W-30. We had to swear to not divulge that fact. While Pennzoil was getting by with synthetic, Castrol was putting out product that wasn't meeting spec. Or so I was told, also under the veil of secrecy.

Rather than lose money on the synthetic, a severely hydrocracked conventional was used, marketed under the name PureBase. It was a really good product for it's time. As a condition of the Shell buyout, regulators forced the sale of Pennzoil's (by then Pennzoil-Quaker State's) share of Excell Paralubes.

I don't know what blending/packaging plant is represented in the code. Since the base stock was refined in Louisiana, there's a good chance it was near there. Unless the RN part refers to Reno, PA. But that's just a guess. The earlier codes were much easier to decipher.
Letter - packaging plant
Letter - month, based on the number the letter is in sequence of the alphabet
Number - date
Letter - year, same system as month.

3609 was the pre-Shell buyout product code for Pennzoil quarts. You figured that one out correctly!

A little hard to see, but OL20D
O - Oil City, PA
L - December, 12th letter, 12th month
20 - day of month
D - year, 4th letter corresponds to year ending in 4. In the case 1994, the last year ending in 4 in which this coding system was used.

Use your old 5W-30? Sure, unless you find a thick mess on the bottom of the bottle. I've only seen this on a boutique oil I have that's about 10 years old. That goes in my mower. A little black residue is nothing to worry about. I sold nine million gallons of Pennzoil with zero claims due to additive fallout. If you don't want it, send it to me!

 

[matt181]

Thanks Scuder for all the insight into this older oil. I assume you must have worked for Pennzoil at some point to have that sort of information? I already used it and all is good so far with it. Thanks

 

[Scuder]

Thanks Scuder for all the insight into this older oil. I assume you must have worked for Pennzoil at some point to have that sort of information? I already used it and all is good so far with it. Thanks

You're welcome.
Yes, I was with Pennzoil from the time it was an independent company through the Quaker State merger and the Shell buyout. Even though it was 32 years, it seems to have passed in a blink of an eye.