Reusing Old Engine Oil

[altaylar]

assuming it is not contaminated, I don't see why not. if your typical OCI is 3k miles, your oil probably has at least as much life in it left. I would definitely reuse it as you suggested.

bonus point if there is some fuel dilution there, since her car will be using it like fuel

 

[CleanSump]

There are also fairly cheap paint strainers that are cone shaped and fit in a funnel that you can strain clumps out with.
Buy oil in 5qt or 1 gallon jugs and just reuse the jugs.
You don't have to worry if it had dirty used oil in it because you are putting dirty used oil in it.

 

[burbguy82]

I would do it. Just make sure that the container you use is clean. That is alot of new oil to buy fo a car on its last legs.

 

[Tdbo]

If her car is an oil burner, and is on its last legs, why not?
Worked with a guy that had an '82 Mercury Lynx.
He was in the middle of a gnarly divorce, so he wasn't in the position to buy a new car.
Floorboard was so bad that the backseat was held in the car by two lengths of 2x4.
Thing used so much oil that he would take gallon jugs down to the local Sohio, and a guy he knew would fill them up with used oil.
Did that until the divorce was final.
Then, he went down and ordered a new Probe.

 

[TomYoung]

I get the sense of very limited resources, but very much think that it would not really matter if this were Prince William’s car. Gently used full synthetic would be fine, as would practically any oil, even the stuff in the recycling bin at autozone. I think that this car’s story is over, given one quart of oil consumed in 300 miles.

 

[53' Stude]

Anyone here do it? And if so, how do y'all go about it?

I have a friend with a 2009 Corolla with near 400,000 miles on it, but burns oil off the wazoo. It appears to be ~2qt every 600+ miles. I don't know her driving habits, but she usually waits to refill it until the "genie lamp" comes on.

I, on the other hand, do OCI every 3000mi and use full synthetic. Would it be okay to give her my used oil to burn? I've ran two BlackstoneLab tests and both results came back nicely and they suggested a longer OCI interval for me.

Sounds like oil pan 4 thread. Déjà vu??

 

[Dinoburner]

One thing not being considered here is the air pollution from high oil burning engines. Been there when starting out but that was before pollution sensibilities in fact my 1st two vehicles had draft tubes. Still use used oil in the oil cans and did use it in air cooled engines until we could afford new equipment.

 

[Sequoiasoon]

I really don't know why everyone thinks it is so hard to keep oil clean? It is not like I keep in my backyard in an opened container.
I thoroughly clean out my pan before the oil change, drain it, and pour it back into a clean jug, and put the lid on.

My pan is clean, wiped out, but between filter and other I just feel like some sand/grit gets in there.

 

[wlk]

I've caught oil w <1k miles in a clean pan and reused it later. I think I poured it through a mesh filter sock but sure. If it burns that fast, not going to hurt it

 

[CleanSump]

My pan is clean, wiped out, but between filter and other I just feel like some sand/grit gets in there.

That's why I suggested the paint filters.

 

[RugopsOP]

One thing not being considered here is the air pollution from high oil burning engines. Been there when starting out but that was before pollution sensibilities in fact my 1st two vehicles had draft tubes. Still use used oil in the oil cans and did use it in air cooled engines until we could afford new equipment.

not to seem rude, but idgaf about air pollution lol. A single passenger vehicle is not making a dent in the ozone.

 

[Snagglefoot]

Yes I’ve see it done. You clean up the bottom of the engine, then use a dedicated oil pan to catch it. Drain the oil into a used oil jug and cap it. Put your empty pan into a large black garbage bag and fold it to keep dust out. That used oil will be going through the oil filter before entering the oil galleries. Once in a blue moon change the oil filter.

If you are paying interest on credit cards, you should be using used oil in your beater.

 

[Snagglefoot]

I change my oil every 5,000 miles with high quality synthetic oil. That’s still good oil. I would be happy to do a “ clean oil change “ with a clean pan if I thought an elderly person, or handicapped person or single mom could use it.

 

[Patman]

not to seem rude, but idgaf about air pollution lol. A single passenger vehicle is not making a dent in the ozone.

Multiply that by thousands of vehicles burning a lot of oil and it’s significant. Seriously, severely bad oil burners should not be allowed on the roads, period. That’s just ridiculous Do you think it’s good for a person’s health to be standing anywhere near a bad oil burner? It’s not about the ozone layer here it’s about people’s health.

 

[Snagglefoot]

There's some characters out there...
Certainly wasn't helping his engine but that's a funny story to tell.

Cheaper than STP.

 

[fantastic]

Cheaper than STP.

That was probably their motivation.

 

[D1dad]

What would old oil to an engine that appears to be already shot? This sounds like the mint condition gmc sierra my son owned for about 3 days that the dealer vouched for. 3 qts in 600 miles and he got his money back.

 

[UNC054]

There are also fairly cheap paint strainers that are cone shaped and fit in a funnel that you can strain clumps out with.
Buy oil in 5qt or 1 gallon jugs and just reuse the jugs.
You don't have to worry if it had dirty used oil in it because you are putting dirty used oil in it.

That’s what my father did in the early 90’s when the old 84’ Ford Tempo had over 400k on it. Burned little over a quart every couple days on his daily 90+ mile round trip to work. He paint strained his used (3k mile changed oil) and used it for top off for about the last six months that engine ran.

 

[K-Man]

Well, my dad thinned paints and melted tar to keep a roof over our heads - they did what they could …
I helped my parents towards the end - but one day he handed me a check and asked that I pre pay his funeral …
Dignity has allot of faces …

He had money for things he wanted, such as a big gun collection. He was cheap when it came to his family and maintaining things. Priorities were askew.

 

[gfh77665]

I have never done this but I certainly would. At the end of the day we are all driving around on used oil the first time we start up after an oil change. Heck I’m driving around on 5,000 mile used oil at the moment.

View attachment 319216

Just like the ones terrified to buy a used tire...to put with the other three on their car that has 30,000 miles on them already! LOL