In my parents basement I found 5 unopened quarts of 5w synthetic oil (quaker state??)that have been sitting there for about 15 years. Is it any good. Part of me wants to use it the other half doesn't?

 

When in doubt, don't use it.

 

the problem is moisture absorbtion and additive degradation

5 years old I would use... 15- maybe in the lawn mower, but not in my baby

 

No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no.... hell no... no no no. Let me say it again, NO! What part of you would want to put 15 year old oil in your TL. WTF go to the store and get a quality oil.

 

Nope!

 

no period.

 

WHAT?!

They made MOTOR OIL back in the day? OH SHIZZNIT

 

Do it. Let us know what happens. I need some entertainment.

 

 

probably not the best idea to use it ...

 

Don't tell BP about your oil discovery, it will be spilled all over your parents' basement.

But in all seriousness as it has been said over and over again here, do not use it. Just as they say to change it in a car that has been sitting a while, the same rule would apply here.

 

no you shouldnt use it at all, i believe it also has something to do with the API rating of the oil, which can be found on the back of the container. different specifications relating to newer engines etc. is why they change the API ratings. newer oils are to be used with newer cars because of this rating, but newer oils can always be used with older cars.

 

I think 15 yrs is pushing it. I would save it for the lawn mower like a previous poster stated.

 

May be good for your go-cart of ATV. Or sale on Ebay as antique oil and get thousands. Then use the money for mods.

 

direct into the oil recyling bin it goes!!

now that I remember the lawn mower cost 300 bucks...not even in it!

that oil is only a few bucks a qt now anyway, and as noted before- the specs keep going up,, seems like every few years
newer oil spec meets and exceeds older spec--
note OP said its was 5w..the w means WINTER and the oil additives abilty to flow in cold weather at below 32f
the second number is the operating temp viscosity- 20 or 30 is fine, 30 offers more protection to parts,,20 was a scam under `cafe` testing rules

side note- every time I see this thread title I think: Jed Clampett messin up the marsh with his shotgun and bp (boisterous self-promotion) swooping in to make it worse

As another poster said- they will be all over your garage making it worse,,,
but I only spilled 5 qts!@--how can there be 1000 gallons!
wait-is that litres or usa gallons or imperial gallons

 

I would not use it, as others have pointed out.

That reminds me - I have to change my lawnmower oil when I get home from work.

 

lol, seriously?

 

I was thinking the same thing recently. I found a CAN (yes, a can) of Valvoline oil in my garage, circa late 70's - early 80's (87 cents for the quart!). Now I never thought of using this in my TL, or even lawm mower or for hot oil wrestling in the kddie pool (what? who said that...you use baby oil for that, come on!), but I was curious what happens to oil that's sealed in a container for that long.

I'll keep it in the can on the shelf, for nostalgic reasons.

 

I Hate Cars?

No, I would not use it. Open one quart and see what it looks like.

 

It's $20 new, is it really worth taking a risk?

 

Very well then. I got my answer.

 

yea don't do it, go get some mobile 1 fully synthetic and put in there

 

 

What's the rating, SF? Is it just 5w or 5w-xx? Additives are probably sitting on the bottom of the bottle. A nice shake would be in order before using it. But seriously, if it's a straight 5w, don't use it. If it's a 30wt, you could probably get away with it for a 3,000 mile OCI but why risk it?

Oils have come a long way since then. If it's a true synthetic, it may be ok in the TL. Some of the synthetics were surprisingly good back then and it will have more ZDDP than modern oils which is a good thing. At least you know "synthetic" means it's an actual synthetic from that era. So is it a straight 5w racing oil?

 

LOL. The majority of Mobil One "fully synthetic" oils are just highly refined dino oils and not true synthetics. Back in '95 you could rest assured if it said "synthetic" on the bottle it actually was synthetic.