Shelf life of unopened synthetic "racing" engine oil?

[BradH]

I did some generic searching for "shelf life of synthetic motor oil", since I have more than a case of "good stuff" that's at least 10 years old sitting on the shelf in my climate-controlled basement. FWIW, I define "good stuff" as having cost me about $10 (or more) per quart.

Some manufacturers (Amsoil, Mobil 1, Castrol, ...) say five (5) years... which makes me suspect since they certainly would prefer consumers purchasing new product over not.

Some people have stated as long as it's not been opened nor exposed to extreme heat or cold that there's nothing to "go bad", other than there may be some additives that come out of suspension during extended storage. "Shake it up and pour it in!"

Any feedback or input on the subject is appreciated, given I'm not a tribologist.

Do you suspect the milk farmers put fake expiration dates on milk, too, so you'll buy more? Smfh. Jesus Christ.

Nah, I can tell if the milk is starting to go bad before anyone else in my family... odd, but true.

So, ya' got a number of companies that give you a 4-5 year estimate, and then ya' got Valvoline giving this info that's about as wide open to interpretation as I can imagine:

"Valvoline motor oils do not have documented expiration dates. When stored under optimal conditions, the product remains stable for an extended period of time. It 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 car’s owner's manual. If the rating is still current, we advise you shake the container before use to blend any additives that may have settled."

I'm going to pop open one bottle and give it a visual. If it's not obvious there are any issues, I'll spend the $30 for a complete oil analysis to see what else it might be hiding. And if it comes back w/ any indications of issues from the long-term storage, then I'll bite the bullet and dump about $250 worth of product into the local oil recycling bin and go on about my business.

[ClassAct]

I did some generic searching for "shelf life of synthetic motor oil", since I have more than a case of "good stuff" that's at least 10 years old sitting on the shelf in my climate-controlled basement. FWIW, I define "good stuff" as having cost me about $10 (or more) per quart.

Some manufacturers (Amsoil, Mobil 1, Castrol, ...) say five (5) years... which makes me suspect since they certainly would prefer consumers purchasing new product over not.

Some people have stated as long as it's not been opened nor exposed to extreme heat or cold that there's nothing to "go bad", other than there may be some additives that come out of suspension during extended storage. "Shake it up and pour it in!"

Any feedback or input on the subject is appreciated, given I'm not a tribologist.

Do you suspect the milk farmers put fake expiration dates on milk, too, so you'll buy more? Smfh. Jesus Christ.

Nah, I can tell if the milk is starting to go bad before anyone else in my family... odd, but true.

So, ya' got a number of companies that give you a 4-5 year estimate, and then ya' got Valvoline giving this info that's about as wide open to interpretation as I can imagine:

"Valvoline motor oils do not have documented expiration dates. When stored under optimal conditions, the product remains stable for an extended period of time. It 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 car’s owner's manual. If the rating is still current, we advise you shake the container before use to blend any additives that may have settled."

I'm going to pop open one bottle and give it a visual. If it's not obvious there are any issues, I'll spend the $30 for a complete oil analysis to see what else it might be hiding. And if it comes back w/ any indications of issues from the long-term storage, then I'll bite the bullet and dump about $250 worth of product into the local oil recycling bin and go on about my business.

Where are you getting a full analysis for 30 bucks???

[BradH]

Where are you getting a full analysis for 30 bucks???

I'll have to double-check, but that's about what I remember the cost for one sample to be tested by Oil Analyzers, Inc., which is the lab associated with Amsoil. Haven't ordered a kit, yet, so I'll know for sure soon enough: https://www.oaitesting.com/services.aspx

OK, so it's about $35... https://www.amsoil.com/p/oil-analyzers- ... e=KIT01-EA

[BradH]

And in an effort to encourage transparency and humility, here's what I inventoried yesterday when I was trying to figure out just how deep into this I'd put myself. Laugh, cry, whatever... it is what it is.

Current “OMG, how much oil do I have on hand???” inventory:
- 24 qts of Amsoil Series 2000 20w50 (TRO) bought when they discontinued it and I didn’t know what Amsoil was going to replace it with. Eventually they came out w/ both their Dominator “race” and Z-Rod “street performance” oils, but that wasn't known when I found out the TRO was being dropped. A local parts store was a stocking Amsoil dealer at the time, so I bought what they had in stock.

- 7(+?) qts of Valvoline VR1 20w50 conventional... very dusty is all I can say at this point

- 11 qts of Mobil 1 15w50 “red cap”, plus one qt of whatever their “gold cap” stuff is when I came up 1 short of the “red cap” to have enough for 2 complete 6-qt oil & filter changes; 1 qt of the “red cap” says it was opened in 2010 when — IIRC — I emptied it into a clean container to look for deposits at the bottom of the bottle (and I do recall there was “something” there, but not what I’d say was a significant amount), then poured it back into the original bottle and labeled it as such

I would feel “less bad” about recycling the cheaper VR1 and Mobile 1 as “old sh!t”, but that’s $200+ worth of Amsoil staring at me from the shelf.

[PRH]

Do you suspect the milk farmers put fake expiration dates on milk, too, so you'll buy more?

Two differences.......
1- I’m not looking to ingest the motor oil, and
2- none of the oil bottles I have in my shop have an expriration date on them.

[piston guy]

I still have a case of Kendall GT1 in cardboard cans. Hell yes I am going to use it! Next time I change oil in the race engine. Sealed cans are just that. I can see a plastic bottle being different but I have a couple cases of those too.

[lefty o]

I still have a case of Kendall GT1 in cardboard cans. Hell yes I am going to use it! Next time I change oil in the race engine. Sealed cans are just that. I can see a plastic bottle being different but I have a couple cases of those too.

they are sealed! LOL

[BradH]

Do you suspect the milk farmers put fake expiration dates on milk, too, so you'll buy more?

Two differences.......
1- I’m not looking to ingest the motor oil, and
2- none of the oil bottles I have in my shop have an expriration date on them.

And, FWIW, my oil has been stored in about as ideal conditions as I can think of:
- Temperature maintained between 68-72* F
- Humidity kept in check by 2 dehumidifiers at either end of the room, and they're only cycling during the summer typically
- Oil kept on shelves away from any exposure to direct sunlight

Oh, I looked at the codes I could find on some of those old bottles and the ones I found appear to be pretty cryptic and certainly not intuitive at first (or second) glance. Meh...

[David Redszus]

Where are you getting a full analysis for 30 bucks???

Here:

www.blackstone-labs.com

They currently offer a free oil test kit.

[David Redszus]

Oh, I looked at the codes I could find on some of those old bottles and the ones I found appear to be pretty cryptic and certainly not intuitive at first (or second) glance. Meh...

They are codes, not consumer information.
If you call the tech services dept of the oil mfg, they may tell you what the codes stand for.

If you can't find the codes, call anyway and ask where they can be found.

Unopened ancient oil containers could be donated to auto museums.

Or used in a compressor or lawn equipment.

[cgarb]

Oh, I looked at the codes I could find on some of those old bottles and the ones I found appear to be pretty cryptic and certainly not intuitive at first (or second) glance. Meh...

They are codes, not consumer information.
If you call the tech services dept of the oil mfg, they may tell you what the codes stand for.

If you can't find the codes, call anyway and ask where they can be found.

Unopened ancient oil containers could be donated to auto museums.

Or used in a compressor or lawn equipment.

You don't care about your lawn equipment? My mower only gets the freshest Penn Grade 30w that I drain out of my race engine. I would never use 10 year old oil in that.

[David Redszus]

You don't care about your lawn equipment? My mower only gets the freshest Penn Grade 30w that I drain out of my race engine. I would never use 10 year old oil in that.

Nah, it's winter in Chicago; don't give a damn about lawn mower.

But, snow blower? That's another matter completely.

[piston guy]

I must have bullet proof oil pans last failure was 35 years ago.

[ClassAct]

Where are you getting a full analysis for 30 bucks???

I'll have to double-check, but that's about what I remember the cost for one sample to be tested by Oil Analyzers, Inc., which is the lab associated with Amsoil. Haven't ordered a kit, yet, so I'll know for sure soon enough: https://www.oaitesting.com/services.aspx

OK, so it's about $35... https://www.amsoil.com/p/oil-analyzers- ... e=KIT01-EA

Thanks for the link. I’ll use that.

[RDY4WAR]

I use Polaris Labs (Amsoil) for test kits if I need particle counts, oxidation, and nitration. Otherwise, I just use the Wix kits and send them to ALS in Atlanta. They're usually <$15/ea (plus shipping). I've had bad experiences with Blackstone losing my sample and repeatedly under reporting the elemental analysis by 20% or more.

The method you use for extraction of the oil sample is important though. I use a tube cut to the length of the dipstick +1" and draw the oil out from the dipstick tube with a 100 ml syringe, which is about the right amount for the sample bottle. I always make sure the engine comes up to full temperature for at least 5 minutes before shutting it off, and then draw the sample within about 5 minutes of shutting it off. I do this whether it's just a periodic check or if I'm changing the oil. I don't catch it from the drain pan anymore as I noticed inconsistencies depending on where in you caught it in the drain. After use, I clean out the syringe and tube with alcohol, blow it out with compressed air, and hang it up until the next use. I then blow it out before the next use to ensure no dust particles settled in the tube that could throw off the sample.

I'm pulling a sample out of my wife's Mustang tomorrow as it's at 12,500 miles on this current oil change. I'm expecting the TBN to still be >5 and will check again at 25,000 miles.