Does oil "expire"?
 

My dad got 12 quarts of Castrol GTX 10W30 for free from an auto shop that he was restoring. That was about 6+ years ago and we haven't touched the motor oil yet. I am wondering if the motor oil is still good for use. It is more than 6 years ago and who knows how long the oil sat for before we got them.

Oil has sat underground a whole lot longer. ;)

It'll be fine. For all reasonable intents and purposes [disclaimer for the petro-chemists here] it only breaks down in use, not storage.

There was a thread a while back where someone pulled out a factoid that oil should be used within two or three years. That means I really should use that bottle I threw in the trunk 3 years ago, and replace it with a fresh one. Maybe some time next year...

I always thought its shelf life was indefinite. But if it's over six years old, it might not be up to current API SL or SM specs. If so, use it in an older car.

Ken

haha true

Yeah, but not in the same form. The oil in the quart you buy at the store is not the crude oil that comes out of the ground. Also, if this is synthetic, the comparison is completely invalid.

I've never seen a bottle of oil with an expiration date on it. I'd use it without hesitation, unless I started pouring it and it was lumpy or something.

thats pretty funny lol. something i would say to my wife..maybe next year, lol.

at any rate, i've seen oil change color when sitting. i had a botle of castrol gtx 20W50 on the shelf for a few years and when i finally saw it hiding in the back, i grabbed it and started pouring it into one of my RX-7's and noticed that it was more of a golden color and smelled different. i used it with no problems. i still have one bottle left that was next to it on the shelf. i can open it up and check it if need be.

Lighten up. Didn't you see the smiley. Geesch !!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is the only real expiration other than use in the car.

I wouldn't put any type of fluid in my car if it was 6 years old. If you don't know, then you don't know the risk...

I guess I'll save it for the next party I throw at my house... Girls could make good use of it.

ship it to me for real man my honda likes to burn it more then my 8 did. I have a strong inclination I need to replace my piston rings in the future.

^good chance..but make them pistons suffer since they are inferior to our rotors

There are parts of oil that can evaporate over time. However, this has been sitting sealed in a container. The evaporation would be minimal (even a plastic container breathes a little) over a 6 yr period.
I don't know if I would use it for a new oil change. But, it should be OK for use to top off when needed.

So my great-grandpa's model T oil I found in the shed should still be okay?