Hi there

I'm curious to find out from other forum members what they reckon a fair shelf life for oil in sealed and unsealed containers is:

 

I'm figuring sealed would be longer, but I'm more interested in unsealed, completely clean, unused oil left over from servicing say 1 quart of HD 20W50 as opposed to full synthetic. kept in a cool, dark environment (bit like a mushroom )

 

Cheers

look for the use by date on the bottle let me know when you find it

I would happily use oil in a sealed or unsealed container that has currently been sitting in the shed for 15 yrs.

 oil does not go off  fuck maybe i should bin all my half full oil containers away ,if its in a clean seald container it should last a few decades or 3 the only thing that does have a shelf life is brake fluid if it has been opened due to moister  but in saying that i have used brake fluid that has been opened ,

 Hi there

 

Well the general opinion confirms what I was thinking but it never hurts to get more information. I've always been very careful about "leftover" oil and making sure it's capped straight after use.

Only thing I've noticed and it's no biggie is the colur of  a new freshly opened gallon container of HD20W50 was lighter (bit like pure honey) than the oil leftover in a couple of well sealed containers which was darker and that's the reason I asked the question.

 

Cheers

 

Yep, I had an old bottle of oil that got contaminated after it sat on the shelf for near on 25 years !

 

It got contaminated with the dirt on the floor when the white ants made a meal of the shelf,,, and everything crashed to the floor ! 

 

Yeah, I know,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Penrite says if you store with the cap on in a "cool dark place" you can exect 5 years for engine oils and 3 years for industrial and automoive gear oils. their take out message is that with the development o new specs the oils can be out of spec by the time they are used.

I buy mine by the 20L drum and have always used it up well before 5 years /3 years anyway.