The recommendations stated on Redline labels

[YZF150]

I visit a parts store occasionally that carries Redline on the shelf. Today I looked a little closer at the labels. They had 10w-40 and 20w-50. These oils aren't certified but they carry "Recommended" statements along the lines of "Recommended for API SJ...A3..." something like that, I don't recall exactly. My question derives from this: the 10w-40 recommendation stated "SJ" and the 20W-50 stated "SH". When reading this I had the thought that this oil must have been sitting around for a while, given that the current API spec is SL. Would that be correct? Does Redline oil fresh from the plant today list "SL" as the recommendation for the API spec?

 

[Dr. T]

My guess is the 20-50 is a slow seller and so it's been on the shelf longer and hence, is an SH. I'd need to go back to the website, but the 5/00 revision I have lists SJ for all grades.

 

[Rexman]

The case of Redline 5W30 I purchased a couple months ago was also labeled SJ/SH. Several of the white cardboard liners under the cap had turned brown, so it did seem like the oil was from an old batch. Redline told me the oil is the same formula whether it's marked SJ or SL, and the labels are made up ahead of time, so even tho it's labeled SJ, it could have been bottled after the SL spec came out. They also said the oil has an indefinite shelf life, so really nothing to worry about. (BTW, the discolored liners, if you should see one, comes as a result of oil residue getting on the lip of the container at the time it's bottled, so again, not cause for alarm.) [ July 11, 2003, 11:41 AM: Message edited by: Rexman ]

 

[YZF150]

Interesting. The bottles are silkscreened and don't have a paper stick-on label. I guess they just produced a buttload of them and fill them with whatever the current formula happens to be.

 

[Rexman]

Sorry, didn't mean to imply an actual paper label. "Labeling made up ahead of time" would have been a better way to describe it. The bottles are also individually numbered, so if you have concerns about when it was made, Redline can tell you on their 800 number (although they may give you a spiel first about how the oil doesn't degrade in the containers and has an indefinite shelf life.)