old case of Pennzoil - is it usable?

[Triple_Se7en]

Do the additives in the oil begin to break down after five years? Obviously the oil-itself won't. But will the additives?
Is that the reason the oil makers put a five year shelf life on oil?

 

[SilverSnake]

Originally Posted By: Triple_Se7en
Do the additives in the oil begin to break down after five years? Obviously the oil-itself won't. But will the additives?
Is that the reason the oil makers put a five year shelf life on oil?


I have extracted the following from my post above (lots of naysayers don't believe what is in the response. Really, what does Exxon Mobil know? All they did was produce the oil):

I sent Exxon Mobil an e-mail in December 2014 and asked the following question:

“I know you state that the recommended shelf life of motor oil all types is 5 years. What specifically happens to the oil that makes it unwise to use after the 5 year period?”

I got the following answer:

“Dave: The oil tends to break down after the 5 year interval along with the additives and viscosity and would not protect your engine like the oil within the 5 years."

 

[justinh384]

Originally Posted By: SilverSnake
Originally Posted By: Triple_Se7en
Do the additives in the oil begin to break down after five years? Obviously the oil-itself won't. But will the additives?
Is that the reason the oil makers put a five year shelf life on oil?


I have extracted the following from my post above (lots of naysayers don't believe what is in the response. Really, what does Exxon Mobil know? All they did was produce the oil):

I sent Exxon Mobil an e-mail in December 2014 and asked the following question:

“I know you state that the recommended shelf life of motor oil all types is 5 years. What specifically happens to the oil that makes it unwise to use after the 5 year period?”

I got the following answer:

“Dave: The oil tends to break down after the 5 year interval along with the additives and viscosity and would not protect your engine like the oil within the 5 years."


I highly doubt that the 20 year old Pennzoil that the OP wants to put into his lawnmower is going to hurt anything. After all, it is just an air cooled engine in which it is more important to have enough oil. For some reason, people use NON DETERGENT oil in their OPE and continue to use it year after year. However, I am smarter than using non detergent oil, but I don't believe the OP's 20 year old oil will hurt anything in his mower's engine. Heck, if I had a supply of free twenty year old oil, it would go in every mower I had until I used it up. It's just a lawnmower. Relax, it's not like he's putting the oil into a $50,000 sports car.

 

[philipp10]

Doesn't mean "squat" to you but means something to me. I am not one of those individuals that thinks everything a manufacturer says or does is a conspiracy to screw the customers. Where is your evidence that the manufacturers did no tests on old oil before establishing a shelf life? What qualifications do you have that would have me lean toward accepting your "assurances." [/quote]

Well I cannot prove anything. I will just say this, common sense would say as long as air or moisture cannot get to it, its life is basically infinite. There is no mechanism that would degrade it. I never thought it was a conspiracy to sell more oil as that would be a drop in the bucket. And you are correct, I have no qualifications to answer this but I do have some chemist friends and will pose the question.

 

[philipp10]

Originally Posted By: SilverSnake
Originally Posted By: philipp10
Just because the mfg put a 5 year shelf life on it doesn't mean squat. They must have felt they had to put some date but I can assure you, they did'nt run any type of test to prove it. Even so, I would probably use it in a older car or lawn tractor than one of my newer cars. Bet anything though that it is fine.


Doesn't mean "squat" to you but means something to me. I am not one of those individuals that thinks everything a manufacturer says or does is a conspiracy to screw the customers. Where is your evidence that the manufacturers did no tests on old oil before establishing a shelf life? What qualifications do you have that would have me lean toward accepting your "assurances."


Let me ask you this, if the oil was 4 years old and the mfg claimed a shelf life of 5 years, would you use it then? I highly doubt the manufacturer did any actually testing to determine shelf life. Its just not on their list of things to do. I once saw a piece on the news about food shelf life and for dry packaged foods, basically infinite life was stated for most products and the mfg admitted such.

 

[Whimsey]

With some of the oil stashes BITOG members have it'll be long past 5 years before they can use it all

.

Whimsey

 

[SilverSnake]

Originally Posted By: philipp10
Well I cannot prove anything. I will just say this, common sense would say as long as air or moisture cannot get to it, its life is basically infinite. There is no mechanism that would degrade it. I never thought it was a conspiracy to sell more oil as that would be a drop in the bucket. And you are correct, I have no qualifications to answer this but I do have some chemist friends and will pose the question.


"Common sense" means nothing in this discussion. However, if you have some friends that are petroleum chemists, I look forward to their input.

 

[SilverSnake]

Why wouldn't I use an oil that was within the specified shelf life? On what do you base your doubt that a manufacturer does not do any testing to determine shelf life? Don't tell me its common sense. Have you seen their list of things to do? I doubt it. If so, share it with us. And what does food shelf life and food manufacturers determination of shelf life have to do with this discussion?

 

[sjh888]

Thank you everyone for the advice! I have a buddy at work with an older Jeep that calls for 10w-40 and he said he will be glad to use it.

 

[philipp10]

Originally Posted By: SilverSnake

My point was, a switch does not flip at 4 years, 11 months and 29 days that turns the oil "bad". If it is going "bad", its doing it gradually from the day it was manufactured. Therefore, if your un-willing to use 5 year old oil, it would make sense your probably un-willing to use 4 year, 11 month and 29 day old oil also, or at least question its usage.

 

[philipp10]

I am unsure of the oil brand of the original OP but this is from Valvoline.

http://www.valvoline.com/faqs/motor-oil/general-motor-oil/

Does motor oil expire? How long does motor oil generally last?
Valvoline motor oil does not have a documented expiration date. Under optimal conditions, the product is stable for an extended period of time and can be used as long as the American Petroleum Institute (API) rating on the label continues to meet or exceed the requirements listed in your owner's manual. If the rating is still current, shake the container before use to blend any additives that may have settled.

 

[fdcg27]

You found a home for the oil, so that's fine.
This oil would have been fine for any flathead OPEs you have, but a case would be an awful lot for that use.
You could have also used this oil for adds if any of your cars use oil.
An old Jeep sounds like a good application for this oil and a twelve quart case is only a couple of OCIs for this Jeep.
There is a lot of data out there to indicate that oil doesn't suffer from sitting for years in its original sealed container, although common sense would lead anyone to this conclusion.
We aren't talking about milk or some unstable blend of chemicals here.

 

[Camprunner]

I thought I would chime in on this old oil topic... About 10 years ago when my grandfather passed my dad and I were cleaning out his garage and we found cases and cases of motor oil some oil was so old it was in the old cardboard cans with the metal tops and you needed that special oil funnel to open them. I asked my dad "are you going to recycle all this old oil?" He said sure I am right in my cars and trucks! ... He did just that and used it all changing it every 3-5,000 miles in his Buick, Ford van & his tractor. The tractor he still has both the van and Buick he ran for over 300,000 miles before trading them in. He used every old quart of old 10w40 there was my father did not need to buy oil for 5 years! So I say use all the old oil you have or send it to my dad he will use it for you.

 

[MrQuackers]

Thank you Philipp10 for the Valvoline link. I bought a bunch of that old stock QSHME. I will shake shake shake

 

[philipp10]

People over-think EVERYTHING on this site to the point of silliness. Same with the boat sites I go to. Every time an oil related issues comes up, the same tired argument comes up that better to change it than to risk a $5000 motor. By that logic, why not change it every time you go out boating. At some point, its counter-productive. One guy had changed his oil in the fall last season and wondered if he should change it AGAIN this spring before the season....lol

 

[SilverC6]

Nothing ever died from over-maintenance.

Folks come on this site to seek absolution for the dumb things they are about to do.

All things being considered, I'd rather have fresh oil in my vehicle changed at a reasonable OCI.

If you have oil sitting in the storage room for 20 years, whether or not to use the oil may not be the most important question to ask yourself.

 

[philipp10]

Originally Posted By: SilverC6
Nothing ever died from over-maintenance.

Folks come on this site to seek absolution for the dumb things they are about to do.

All things being considered, I'd rather have fresh oil in my vehicle changed at a reasonable OCI.

If you have oil sitting in the storage room for 20 years, whether or not to use the oil may not be the most important question to ask yourself.




again, by that logic we should change out oil daily or weekly?

 

[spasm3]

find a saturn owner and give it to him for topping off.

 

[Stewie]

Originally Posted By: Nickdfresh
Originally Posted By: Eddie
As stated before. Be sure and shake the oil as the additives may have settled out. Ed


A guy at Blackstone disproved this with VOA's on multiple bottles and cans of oil that were decades old. Most of the additive was still in suspension, depending on the "S(X)" generation. That being said, I still shake.

The oil is probably fine to use in older yard equipment, but you might be able to sell it on Ebay as vintage motor oil to collectors or just keep storing it. People do pay money for that stuff now. I worked at an oil change place through much of the 90's and regret not keeping some of the old bottles and cans of unopened, unused motor and transmission oils people left for us to dispose of responsibly, they'd look nice on a shelf now...



Mean like in Futurama with a can of anchovies?

 

[SilverSnake]

Originally Posted By: SilverC6


Folks come on this site to seek absolution for the dumb things they are about to do.



This is the most profound statement I have read on this site to date. You sir are a winner. As I have said before, the more I read on this forum, the less likely I am to ever buy a used car.