2 cycle oil shelf life

jsimms724

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Sep 6, 2011
Messages
82
gentlemen: I have Quite a bit of 2 stroke oil in my shed, it is all tc-w3 all the containers have been opened and partialy full pts qts and gallons of quicksilver super tech penzoil etc. Its been there about five years. I meant to take it to be disposed of but it got buried to the back of the shed. anyway I have a 2 stroke again, merc 115 inline 6, I figure it will take about 200 years to use it up in the weedeater. Does oil go bad?
 

robert graham

Admiral
Joined
Apr 16, 2009
Messages
6,908
Re: 2 cycle oil shelf life

As long as it's TC-W3 and clean in a closed container I can't imagine it "going bad"....I doubt your Merc will know or care about any differences;)....
 

oldman570

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Mar 25, 2011
Messages
1,615
Re: 2 cycle oil shelf life

^1 As long as the additives have not seperated from the oil, and the oil is shaken to mix them back in just in case, they should be fine. The only diffrance between the oils is the additives that each seller has added to thier oil when it is made.
 

Texasmark

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Dec 20, 2005
Messages
14,778
Re: 2 cycle oil shelf life

........and remember oil started with the dinosaur. What was that a couple million years ago?
 

Chris1956

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 25, 2004
Messages
28,074
Re: 2 cycle oil shelf life

I saw a documentary on "Crude". The thinking is that the oceans became devoid of oxygen, just below the surface, the plankton died off, and the bodies of the plankton settled on the bottom of the ocean, many feet in thickness, became covered with rock that sealed the plankton remains from the atmoshpere, and that eventually became oil, over millions of years

I think the land-based dinosaurs became coal, along with the ferns and other plants. I don't know where natural gas came from. Maybe Dinosaur farts?
 

ondarvr

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Messages
11,527
Re: 2 cycle oil shelf life

Oil does have a shelf life and each brand suggestions are slightly different, but 4 years was considered an age where you may want to replace it. Opened containers have a much shorter shelf life. The base stock it's made from may last for decades, but the additive package can break down (or separate) over time.


http://www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/172/lubricant-storage-life
 

keith2k455

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 23, 2012
Messages
558
Re: 2 cycle oil shelf life

Check for any signs of condensation as well ... If present I wouldn't use
 
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