Oil shelf life

[leveraddict]

Expiration on oil? It's already 1 million plus years old the day its packaged!

 

[lynnmor]

Expiration on oil? It's already 1 million plus years old the day its packaged!

How old are the additives that were added, do they last millions of years?

 

[TheOldHokie]

How old are the additives that were added, do they last millions of years?

The notion that the "base oil" is millions of years old is equally silly. What does the word "synthetic" mean ? Even "conventional" base oil is a highly modified derivative of what came put of the ground. It has to be to have any value in an engine.

REFINING

"An industrial process where petroleum is transformed and refined into useful products"

The mixture of base oil and additives in a can lasts a very long time but I would be reluctant to claim millions of years.

Dan

 

[The Evil Twin]

I’m guessing metal cans left late-60’s, followed by cardboard cans. Think by early ‘80’s you no longer needed the cutter/spout…

It was at least the early 80s. I definitely remember my dad changing oil on cars/ boats and using them.

 

[TheOldHokie]

It was at least the early 80s. I definitely remember my dad changing oil on cars/ boats and using them.

I asked Google.

According to the oil can collectors association:

Composite / Cardboard Quarts:

There are many names for the quarts that are constructed of a heavy cardboard with a metal top and bottom. Some collectors also refer to this type of can as simply a paper quart can. Composite quart cans started to appear in the late 1940's but they were adopted by most companies by the late 1950's and were used until the late 1980's. There are a couple of variations of the composite quarts that we'll discuss below.

That was further validated by a 1985 news article about Quaker State completely eliminating cans in favor of plastic bottles.​

 

[Mowbizz]

I have so much “old” oil and I would not hesitate to use it as long as it appears to be good…and is the right weight for what I’m using it for. I don’t care what they say…oil is oil. Hell, I see it as a lifetime supply of chainsaw bar oil if nothing else.

 

[D2Cat]

Some are over concerned about oil and how it's used. We were instructed years ago how to deal with it! This is right out of Popular Science, 1963.

 

[RCW]

I asked Google.

According to the oil can collectors association:

Composite / Cardboard Quarts:

There are many names for the quarts that are constructed of a heavy cardboard with a metal top and bottom. Some collectors also refer to this type of can as simply a paper quart can. Composite quart cans started to appear in the late 1940's but they were adopted by most companies by the late 1950's and were used until the late 1980's. There are a couple of variations of the composite quarts that we'll discuss below.

That was further validated by a 1985 news article about Quaker State completely eliminating cans in favor of plastic bottles.​

Dan - - thanks for the clarification.

Realized after I posted about metal cans I never used a metal one, only the composite. Not sure they had metal quarts? My error.

We got bulk motor oil on the farm. Decanted into the glass bottles with spouts and tops. Those can be quite sought-after now.

Oil drum was next to the molasses drum. Occasionally fed poorer-quality hay to the heifers, and sweeten with a drizzle of molasses.

Trust me, you don't want to confuse the two, lest you invoke Dad's ire......

Thankfully, I never tried to put molasses in a tractor......

 

[TheOldHokie]

Dan - - thanks for the clarification.

Realized after I posted about metal cans I never used a metal one, only the composite. Not sure they had metal quarts? My error.

We got bulk motor oil on the farm. Decanted into the glass bottles with spouts and tops. Those can be quite sought-after now.

Oil drum was next to the molasses drum. Occasionally fed poorer-quality hay to the heifers, and sweeten with a drizzle of molasses.

Trust me, you don't want to confuse the two, lest you invoke Dad's ire......

Thankfully, I never tried to put molasses in a tractor......

I must admit I thought the steel cans were in use longer than that. I just tossed the last (I think) of the puncture type oil can spouts I had. Found it last month in a box of junk under the front porch we were renovating. The house was built new in 1991.....

Dan

 

[Mowbizz]

Some are over concerned about oil and how it's used. We were instructed years ago how to deal with it! This is right out of Popular Science, 1963.


View attachment 113380

 

[The Evil Twin]

I asked Google.

According to the oil can collectors association:

Composite / Cardboard Quarts:

There are many names for the quarts that are constructed of a heavy cardboard with a metal top and bottom. Some collectors also refer to this type of can as simply a paper quart can. Composite quart cans started to appear in the late 1940's but they were adopted by most companies by the late 1950's and were used until the late 1980's. There are a couple of variations of the composite quarts that we'll discuss below.

That was further validated by a 1985 news article about Quaker State completely eliminating cans in favor of plastic bottles.​

That would make sense. In 1986 we bought a new boat (Pro Star 180) that had the same 351 Windsor engine as the truck did. I remember my dad switching to Valvoline (?) 10w40 because it was suitable for marine engines and it could be used in everything we owned. I just remember the cases of plastic bottles on the shelf in the garage.

 

[The Evil Twin]

Dan - - thanks for the clarification.

Realized after I posted about metal cans I never used a metal one, only the composite. Not sure they had metal quarts? My error.

We got bulk motor oil on the farm. Decanted into the glass bottles with spouts and tops. Those can be quite sought-after now.

Oil drum was next to the molasses drum. Occasionally fed poorer-quality hay to the heifers, and sweeten with a drizzle of molasses.

Trust me, you don't want to confuse the two, lest you invoke Dad's ire......

Thankfully, I never tried to put molasses in a tractor......

Well, as a child, I put grass in the mower tank. My 6 year old brain didn't comprehend that they cut GRASS but run on GAS.

 

[6869704x4]

Yall are sparking up some old brain cells. I remember both metal and paper cans but don't remember if it was oil or transmission fluid. Bought a house in 85 and remember using the old punch spout there. This was NW FL. I still have a metal can of GM positraction additive which I think is whale oil(what I've always heard anyway).

 

[leveraddict]

How old are the additives that were added, do they last millions of years?

It was a joke! What....no sense of humor? Sheesh!

 

[Runs With Scissors]

When did the cans go away completely? Late ‘70s? Or as it early ‘80s? I think they were cardboard barrels with aluminum tops and bottoms at the bitter end?

In 1986'ish I was stocking the shelves at a local auto supply store and I distinctly remember making "pyramid display's" out of the cardboard can style with trans fluid, but "most" brands had gone plastic by then.

I can not say for certain when the last "cardboard can" rolled off the production line, but I bet it was about then.

For some strange reason, I keep seeing a cardboard can of "Motor Honey" in my mind......I always thought that name was strange/cool/weird.......Motor Honey.......

 

[GrizBota]

In 1986'ish I was stocking the shelves at a local auto supply store and I distinctly remember making "pyramid display's" out of the cardboard can style with trans fluid, but "most" brands had gone plastic by then.

I can not say for certain when the last "cardboard can" rolled off the production line, but I bet it was about then.

For some strange reason, I keep seeing a cardboard can of "Motor Honey" in my mind......I always thought that name was strange/cool/weird.......Motor Honey.......

I think motor oil when to plastic bottle before sone of the more specialty products did. The recollections shared in the tread are about what I thought I recalled.

Motor honey, I remember that stuff. It was used by used car dealers and sellers to help quiet down rod knocks and the like. Almost as good as putting sawdust in a manual transmission or differential.

I’ve got a Lucas Oil product like motor honey. Put it in a brush hog gear box to quite it down until it blew up. That gear box had a rough life.

 

[In Utopia]

When did the cans go away completely? Late ‘70s? Or as it early ‘80s? I think they were cardboard barrels with aluminum tops and bottoms at the bitter end?

I used to work for American Can Co. in Houston, TX until the late 70's. One of our products was paper paper oil cans. Another was oblong steel anti-freeze cans for the military.
Both were phased out and the plant closed because we couldn't make 2 piece extruded cans only 3 piece.