Originally Posted By: Eddie
I assume that the manufactures recommendation of shelve life of 5 years is based on additive fallout. GM dealers were told to not use bulk oil in large containers that would result in oil not being used for over 4-5 years many years ago. For the homeowner dealing in quarts or 5 Gallon jugs, this is not an issue as we can shake before pouring and or we empty the complete container. This is my understanding, on this issue, Ed
Well, that seems to make sense. That doesn't, however, mean its necessarily true. I personally tend to favor the "its arbitary bollocks" explanation, mostly because of this article.
http://www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/172/lubricant-storage-life
Its titled "Industry Needs A Standard" but you might just as easily conclude from reading it that "industry doesn't need a standard" since they don't seem to have one.
If they did have one, it wouldn't mean that it had any basis in fact. There is absolutely no evidence presented there for on-shelf deterioration of motor oil.
Its served up as a ready-cooked "given", with a side order of "The Sky is Falling" panic-salad.
This is strange, because, from their own survey of industry recommendations, there is a notable lack of consensus about this. 1 year to infinity is a pretty wide range.
It suggests that the "editorial" agenda was fixed before they did the survey.