Official "What oil / additives should I use" topic

[SBD]

Just curious. If I find older sealed bottles of oil somewhere, what designation should be on them to have enough zinc to be considered safe for flat tappet cams. Is it earlier than SM? Like SJ? I cleaned out the trunk of a VW before I sold it. It had been parked in my shop for about 14 years and had some bottles of Castrol GTX in it. I'm guessing that it would be fine to use it (except I think it might've been 20W-50). When did they start phasing out the zinc?

[Wildthings]

[vwracerdave]

I've read oil has a shelf life of 5-6 years and should not be used after that. The chemicals will separate and don't just mix back together.
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2017 Street Comp Champion - Thunder Valley Raceway Park - Noble, OK
2010 Sportsman ET Champion - Mid-America Dragway - Arkansas City, KS
1997 Sportsman ET Champion - Thunder Valley Raceway Park - Noble ,OK

[SBD]

[vwracerdave]

[SBD]

I might do that. Something else that occurred to me yesterday while I was working in my shop is that I've never seen any kind of expiration date on motor oil. If there was a real danger of the additives separating from the oil I would think there might be some mention of it on the container. Especially now when people blame everybody else for anything that goes wrong and tend to sue at the drop of a hat Guess I'd better look up the email address for Castrol.

[SBD]

I just talked to Castrol. Their recommendation for their oil in a sealed container that's not exposed to extreme temperatures (I'm not clear on how extreme that really is but I told the woman that the oil was in the trunk of a vehicle that was stored inside a building), or exposed to a lot of light (she might have said direct sunlight but I don't recall exactly), is 5 years. After 5 years they can't guarantee the "Integrity" of the product.

I tried to use their oil selector on their website to find an oil that was recommended for an air cooled VW. It only went back to 1975 and only listed water cooled models. I asked the woman on the phone about oil for my car and she said the only product they had with the recommended amount of Zinc was (IIRC) their Full Synthetic EDGE oil but in a 10W-50. From what I understand of how the oiling system of an ACVW works this weight oil would probably tend to bypass the cooler and cause the oil to run hot. I asked about using additives in other oils to meet the zinc requirements and was told that they don't recommend using ANY additives in their oils. She said I should look for an oil that met the engine's requirements as part of its' standard chemistry package (even if it meant using a different brand of oil) and try to avoid additives.

EDIT: Looks like I was mistaken, 5W-50

[Wildthings]

[glutamodo]

That's actually 5W-50.

I just put some in my Baja the other day... I was away from home and needed to change the oil and - just said screw it I'll try it. It's synthetic so it's not like, thick oil to start with. I do run an oil temperature gauge and it did run hotter on my return trip, but that's not a valid test as the outside temperatures were much warmer and strong side/head winds.

[miniman82]

[modok]

[Quokka42]

The 50 in 5W-50 refers to it's viscosity at 100C, a 5W will run like water at room temperature.
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There has only ever been one man who was perfect, and they nailed Him to a cross.

[miniman82]

[SBD]

[modok]

ah yes. Use it up, waste is a sin!
I finally got to the bottom of an old 5 gallon bucket of 90wt, took five years mixing in a little here and a little there. Much dark stuff at the bottom

I was more amazed that the customer service said what they did.
It may be true, may not, but I would have never expected that answer, the irony is epic.

[SBD]

[Quokka42]

Never found dark stuff at the bottom of my bottles, but occasionally would find oil that smelled rancid on the farm. I think the main issue with old oil these days is the use of plastic containers, which are not completely airtight (ask any homebrewer,) allowing the additives or oil to break down. Otherwise there should be no reason for any quality oil to go off - I've also seen oil in old tins many decades old where the the oil appeared quite usable.
_________________
There has only ever been one man who was perfect, and they nailed Him to a cross.

[modok]

The anti-oxidants probably do react eventually due to exposure to oxygen.

it would take a REALLY long time at room temp.............but that bucket of 90wt WAS probably 20 years old.

At the shop we have 10 cans, yes cans of snowmobile oil. WTF should we do with it???

[SBD]

I've got a metal can of Mobil 1 that I picked up at a yard sale, probably 20+ years ago. I just looked at it and the masking tape with the price is still there. I paid 50 cents for it. It's 10W-30 and says it can be run for 25,000 miles. Does their oil still make that claim? I think it said service rating is SF-CE-CC Hey, it's a collectors item! I also found a couple of cardboard cans of Pennzoil GT/Performance 20W-50. Rated SF-CC-CD. From these ratings can anybody tell how old these are?

[Wildthings]