Stihl 2 cycle oil. How old is this bottle ?

[2013ecof150]

I found 2 bottles of this oil in my cousins shed. Clearly forgotten about by the previous owners. No mention of a website at all on the bottles. There is some kind of code stamped on the bottom backside of each bottle, but I’m not sure what it means. Both bottles have the same code.

Both bottles are factory sealed. I shook one real well and poured it into a ratio rite cup and it measured out to exactly a 50:1 ratio for 2.5 gallons.

The oil is green and looks exactly like the Stihl HP ultra of today.

Oil looks and smells fine. I have no issue using it, but I’m curious as how old it is. I’ve never seen a Stihl oil bottle that looks like this before. If I had to take an educated guess, I’d say it’s from the early to mid 90’s

 

[ant]

Almost 34 y/o.

 

[97prizm]

Wow how crazy

 

[2013ecof150]

Almost 34 y/o.

102690 Is that the bottling date ?

 

[02zx9r rev2]

Pretty old

 

[spasm3]

Does the left number look like 8-21-99 ?

Stihl Oil and Lubricant Production and Expiry Dates

www.lsengineers.co.uk

 

[fantastic]

Does the left number look like 8-21-99 ?

Stihl Oil and Lubricant Production and Expiry Dates

www.lsengineers.co.uk

That's what i'm thinking is more accurate. I mean it's advertising 50:1 ratio so it cant be 1990 imo.

 

[2013ecof150]

I’m pretty sure Stihl started recommending a 50:1 ratio back in the late 80’s or soon after. I owned a first year Stihl 025 (1991) and the manual said to use 50:1 if using Stihl oil, and 25:1 if using other branded oils.

I found these pictures of the same type of oil, but a bit newer than what I have. These are quite a bit older than what you would buy now, but I see that there is a website on the back.

 

[jhellwig]

Late 90s through the 2000s was that style I believable. Then they got even squatter. Earlier than that might have been the round bottles.

 

[2013ecof150]

I do remember those bottles from the mid 2000’s. They were short and very square.

Those round plastic white bottles were from the mid 80’s when they made the transition from the metal pull tab cans,

I’m thinking these bottles I have are the first generation orange bottles that specifically recommended a 50:1 ratio.