Stupid question of the day: Does oil have a shelf life? I found a 5qt mobil 1 (unopened) in my garage that I bought in 2022. Should I still use it?

 

I think the shelf life is 5 years, so you should be good.

 

shake it up a little, otherwise you're fine if it's sealed.

even unsealed.. just run it up to OT for 20 minutes and it'd be fine.

 

The oil’s manufacturer states a 5 year shelf life when stored properly in an unopened container. Modern oil have such sophisticated chemistry and additive packages that I wouldn’t risk it going over that 5-year point.

 

I think you meant to say unopened or sealed container.

 

Yep - thanks for noting. I just corrected.

 

What's a quart of oil between friends? It's a $150,000 car. I say, splurge and buy that extra can (or plastic bottle these days)?

 

I'll be trying to find out the shelf life of this stuff in the next 60 days. I might have gotten twice what I orrdered last year (and the vendor didn't want me to ship it back). So far, I have not been able to find anything on their web site/FAQ, MSDS, etc.

 

Following up: I'd directly post what Liqui Moly told me via email, but their reply has a very clear warning about copying/reproducing/whatever their content.

Suffice to say, the shelf life is 5 years if stored "well". I don't imagine that my non-climate controlled garage aligns well with their requirement, but it doesn't get super hot/cold (never below 0F or above 100F, but it gets close to those numbers), so I'm cutting it to three years to be safe. Coincidentally, that's how much oil I have on hand (two more oil changes, each with 12 months in the engine).

 

5 years is fine if sealed

 

Oil has been around for millions of years... it's fine

 

Oil isn't like salt. I love the table salt with the label mentioning that it's 80 million years old but of course it has an expiration date of 2027.

Lake Speed Jr. opened some of his dad's old oil, you definitely don't want to use it, as mentioned, if it's more than four or five years old.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_con...e_path=Mjg2NjY