Reuse oil that has 500 miles on it, safe?

[PhuongFU]

Did an oil change, 500 miles later I get an oil warning on my dashboard. Checks oil, oil is low, barely reading on the dipstick. Should have added half a quart at a time and rechecked, but since I’m smarter than Einstein, I added a whole 5 quart jug. Engine now 4 quarts too high, so I siphon out the 4 quarts. Now I have a 4 quarts of oil that has about 500 miles on it, albeit some of it is new oil since I did add 5 quarts of new oil that day.

Question is, can I keep those 4 quarts of used oil for my next oil change? I drive 1000 miles a week so it will only sit for 5 weeks before I change the oil again. Thanks.

 

[Chris142]

As long as you can be certain it's not contaminated with dirt it's ok

 

[shortyb]

Send it.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

The only thing I would use it for is one of those used motor oil stoves.

 

[Drifter]

If its using oil then maybe salvage it. If not using oil just take the loss.

 

[shortyb]

The only thing I would use it for is one of those used motor oil stoves.

If its using oil then maybe salvage it. If not using oil just take the loss.

Why? It is less than a week old oil from the same engine it will go back in for around a 5 week OCI. If it was super cheap oil, then yeah, it can go in the lawn mower. But if it was really decent oil, why not re-use it?

 

[Wylie6G72]

Why? It is less than a week old oil from the same engine it will go back in for around a 5 week OCI. If it was super cheap oil, then yeah, it can go in the lawn mower. But if it was really decent oil, why not re-use it?

The only reason to shy away from it is if the catch pan wasn't 100% clean and the oil wasn't 100% sealed as soon as it was captured. I've thrown away perfectly good oil because I neglected to clean the drain pan before I captured it. Worthless (imo) at that point.

 

[shortyb]

The only reason to shy away from it is if the catch pan wasn't 100% clean and the oil wasn't 100% sealed as soon as it was captured. I've thrown away perfectly good oil because I neglected to clean the drain pan before I captured it. Worthless (imo) at that point.

Point taken and agree if the catch pan wasn't clean, dump it.

 

[Kira]

Got Cheesecloth?
Clean?...use it. Dirty or Questionable?....decide on circumstances.

 

[VersysVsWhat]

I have fumoto valves on all our vehicles, so that if I need to, I can drain the oil into a clean but empty oil jug.

I don't really have any need to do this with the cars, but with my motorcycle, I'll be using this method as I change up viscosity ranges depending on the part of the year. During the coldest part of the year I run between 0w to 10w-40's, and in the hottest part of the year, I run 15w-50. (The standard, middle of the road recommendation for this bike is 10w-40).

I see nothing wrong with draining between lightly and moderately used oil into a clean container and then reusing it. Just got to remember to label it well and store it correctly. Putting aluminum foil over the top before you screw on the cap, is a good idea, along with climate controlled conditions (or as close to that as you can get, especially in the winter).

 

[Lubener]

I doubt you can keep even the smallest debris from that oil. I would send that four quarts to your recycler and not reuse it.

 

[D1dad]

Is it using oil or did the oil change not fill it up? If it’s using that much in 500 miles your engine won’t know the difference. If it was put back in the original jug and your siphoning pump wasn’t used for other fluids and clean, I’d use it. I remember using my dads old oil in my Chevy in high school that had a straight 6 and used more oil than fuel.

 

[fen1]

Did an oil change, 500 miles later I get an oil warning on my dashboard. Checks oil, oil is low, barely reading on the dipstick. Should have added half a quart at a time and rechecked, but since I’m smarter than Einstein, I added a whole 5 quart jug. Engine now 4 quarts too high, so I siphon out the 4 quarts. Now I have a 4 quarts of oil that has about 500 miles on it, albeit some of it is new oil since I did add 5 quarts of new oil that day.

Question is, can I keep those 4 quarts of used oil for my next oil change? I drive 1000 miles a week so it will only sit for 5 weeks before I change the oil again. Thanks.

While I wouldn't do this myself I don't see anything wrong with it if no contamination gets into it.

 

[oil pan 4]

Did an oil change, 500 miles later I get an oil warning on my dashboard. Checks oil, oil is low, barely reading on the dipstick. Should have added half a quart at a time and rechecked, but since I’m smarter than Einstein, I added a whole 5 quart jug. Engine now 4 quarts too high, so I siphon out the 4 quarts. Now I have a 4 quarts of oil that has about 500 miles on it, albeit some of it is new oil since I did add 5 quarts of new oil that day.

Question is, can I keep those 4 quarts of used oil for my next oil change? I drive 1000 miles a week so it will only sit for 5 weeks before I change the oil again. Thanks.

I'll reuse motor oil with 4,000 to 5,000 miles on it from my car and truck in neglected engines, usually lawnmowers. I'll even use it to flush brand new engines, I picked up a brand-new predator 301cc. I'll probably fill it up with 4,000 mile old Valvoline R&P and run it for 5 minutes then dump it.
The trick is to catch the oil without picking up a bunch of dirt.
I say don't try to save the oil that leaks when you unscrew the oil filter for reuse.

 

[scalar_field]

i wound up with a couple of quarts with about 1,600 miles on it a while back. used it for top-offs over the course of the next couple of years, oil analysis came back normal, never really thought of it as an issue.

 

[addyguy]

If the vehicle burns oil, then I would use it for top-offs.
But if not, I would not save it just to use it in another OCI; 500 miles of contamination, plus dirty oil it mixed with when poured into the engine makes it dirty enough to just dump.

 

[ATex7239]

Full send.

Assuming the container used to drain the oil wasn’t full of water or crap cause it’s the open top pan you leave outside by the shed or something.

 

[Carlostrece]

Did an oil change, 500 miles later I get an oil warning on my dashboard. Checks oil, oil is low, barely reading on the dipstick. Should have added half a quart at a time and rechecked, but since I’m smarter than Einstein, I added a whole 5 quart jug. Engine now 4 quarts too high, so I siphon out the 4 quarts. Now I have a 4 quarts of oil that has about 500 miles on it, albeit some of it is new oil since I did add 5 quarts of new oil that day.

Question is, can I keep those 4 quarts of used oil for my next oil change? I drive 1000 miles a week so it will only sit for 5 weeks before I change the oil again. Thanks.

I'd put it back in 5000 miles later.

 

[Carlostrece]

Got Cheesecloth?
Clean?...use it. Dirty or Questionable?....decide on circumstances.

Good idea. Filter through cheese cloth if any doubts about contamination. Then reuse it.

If sure the drain pan was clean then I'd reuse (without bothering with cheese cloth).

Until time to reuse, store in a sealed container, such as the jug the oil came in.

 

[Sienna dude]

SMH