Mobile One shelf life

SuperSaiks

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Hey Guys

I bought some Mobile One for the viper this past summer and was wondering if it will still be good next summer when I take out my car out of storage for the new season.

Its still new in the box/bottles, unopened, does this stuff break down/expire cause it doesn't say so anywhere on the packaging.

Thanks
 

GR8_ASP

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Shelf life is probably longer than our shelf life. Don't worry.
 

Tom F&L GoR

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The answer from the 800 number at an oil company will be 3 years. Then they will ask what API service level it is, and if it's "old" they'll recommend dumping it and buying the new version. API service categories are usually three years long, and then are "upgraded."

Realistically, it's going to be around five years.
 

GR8_ASP

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Tom are you implying the oil itself will go bad or that another newer oil with higher/more aggressive standards will replace it?

I over purchased 10w30 Mobil 1 a few years back and am now using that in lawnmowers, etc. At the present rate of consumption it will last 10 more years. I switched to 0w40 for the Viper and all other cars are company provided (i.e. no do it yourself oil changes)
 

Tom F&L GoR

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The additives in oil are chemically active and "waiting" for something to do. They are generally activated by heat. In an engine environment, they go to work rapidly. In a garage, it will be very, very slowly. But eventually they will start to decompose.

For something you care about, I'd recommend the 5 year limit. For a lawnmower (ever calculate how many hours it actually runs a year) it may not matter as much.

All new categories of engine oil are supposed to supplant the previous - or why would anyone bother coming out with a new API Service category? The nature of the system is that the OEMs expend a little effort bullying the oil marketers into an "upgrade", spend a little bit of their money (they will complain about how much) but then reap the benefits of added engine life insurance that the consumer pays for (because we buy the oil) and also dictate the use rate (ummmm... 5000 miles in the US and 15000 miles in Europe.)

Therefore, while the newer category meets newer requirements, it is based on "engineering judgment" as to whether it is backwards compatible. Is a 1990 vintage engine, designed with a certain level of anti-wear additive, going to be happy with a 2006 engine oil that has 66% of the additive? OEMs say it is.

It puts the consumer in a tough spot. Previously, one could assume the oil change interval was ultra conservative. With the next category, maybe it's not.

Did I get off topic?
 

ViperJoe

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I just KNEW that with a topic about oil..........I'd find Tom in here!

Thanks Tom for imparting some of that oil geekiness to us all!
 

Tom F&L GoR

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Well, technically yes, but that makes it sound like you want to save it for more than 5 years. I'd just leave it in the shade or use it up in the Caddy.
 

ViperJoe

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ROTFLOL!

Wouldn't even DREAM of asking the "war department" if I could do that!



Can we extend the shelf life of Mobil 1 by storing it in the refrigerator or freezer?
 

CO GTS

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Freezing Mobil 1, my God; what would is its freezing point be? And to keep it at that temp for 5+ years! It would cost a small fortune! This has gotten to be one of the most absurd rhetorical threads ever on this site. Hilarious!

Of course, if one were to store it at absolute zero it would last indefinitely; would it not Tom?
 

Leslie

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wow that's some good information-I bought a couple of cases of Mobil one on sale and I've had it for 3 yrs!
 

Tom F&L GoR

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Oil won't have a single freezing point, it will slowly turn to wax, slush, and eventually more solid. Synthetic oils often list their "pour point" as -50F, when they still aren't solid, but won't flow when the container is held at 90 degrees for five seconds.

To make this thread more worthwhile - consider this: pour point doesn't mean anything to an engine. There are two other low temperature tests used and combined, they determine the "W" rating of an oil. The first test predicts the "cold cranking" viscosity. With carbureted engines, cranking speed determined air velocity through the carburetor, which then delivered fuel and perhaps the engine would start. If cranking speed was too slow, even with the choke on, it wouldn't start. The second test predicts flow through an oil pump pickup tube. Like a milkshake, you want to **** up oil and not **** a hole through the oil. This second test is much, much more critical today, since a fuel injected engine will start at almost zero RPM. If it does, it will run, whether or not the pump ***** oil or air. In carbureted engines there was a "safeguard" since if it couldn't crank fast enough, it wasn't going to start, and therefore couldn't run and **** air. SAE test after test has shown that the pour point temperature does not correlate with good starting performance, and it is not part of the "W" rating. Yet almost every bottle of synthetic oil has the -50F pour point on the label... (marketing!)
 

Steve Miehe

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Tom and Guys:

No, I don't want to store a bunch of oil for five years but, I buy the stuff when WalMart has it on sale. Sometimes I can lose track of how old it is and, if a refrigerator would "help" it stay fresh (I have a beer "kegerator" in the garage) then why not toss a few five quart jugs in there? Ha! Yes the SRX uses 5W-30 and I got a couple jugs of that hanging around, too. The wife doesn't touch the beer fridge so.........in it goes.
 
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