Does motor oil have a shelf life? This is regarding factory-sealed quart containers. My dad's got some oil in his shop that's about 2-years old.

Brian16V

Mobil gives properly sealed aviation oil a shelf life of 15 years. This is important in the industry, as lives could (and do) depend on it. So if mobil will put their name on a 15 year shelf life for an oil keeping a turbine spinning, i'll bet money it'll last 30 years.



BTW, it spent a million years underground. 2 years in a bottle is nothing.

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Matt
2003 Jetta Wagon TDI 145,000MI
1999.5 Jetta TDI 287,000MI
2001 Suzuki SV650S 26,000MI
2008 Yamaha Vino 125 11,000MI
http://www.crazymatt.org

Good point

Brian16V

That's 2 million years as unrefined crude...

...what about all of those additives and such in refined oil? The oil may not break down, but how long does the chemical bonding of the ancillary compounds stay intact?

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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

There was a time when the synthetic oil industry was young (and I was merely middle-aged) when they had not perfected the techniques for keeping some of their additives in suspension on the shelf, especially the metallic EP additives which protect cams and lifters, etc. If you come upon some very old synthetic stuff, be sure to really shake well (the can, not yourself) before using, or you'll be leaving some important chemicals in those few drops in the bottom of the bottle.

At the frequency that I change motor oil in my car (3500 miles), I am not unduly worried if an 'old' stock was used. Cant do much damage over a 3500 mile interval I reckon.

Is there an expiry date on a bottle of engine oil?