I've got a half-used 5L plastic bottle of Shell Helix plus 10w-40 which I bought at a French Supermarket in 2011 and have been using it for top ups since then. I just noticed that the dot matrix date on the bottom of the bottle is 2005 - so it was six years old when. I bought it in 2011.

Will it still be good (Its been kept indoors all this time) or should I ditch it ?

What's the working max shelf life of this sort of product ?

Nick

The date on the bottom of the plastic can will be the date of manufacture of the can itself. Believe it or not a plastic can more than 5 years old can not be transported as air freight.

It terms of the oil look for the batch number and date of manufacture/fill which should be marked somewhere, probably in a digital style print as that information will be added to the label at the time of filling the can.

In terms of shelf life typically this would be between two to three years depending on product. Even then it may still be perfectly good for use but the supplier will no longer warrant the product.

Well its kept under ground for millions of years...

Ha, ha - but lubricating oil in the can is a collection of blended components obtained during the refining and petrochemical manufacturing procesess by the application of heat, pressure and chemical catalysts and may be more unstable than the source material from which it was derived. As you say, crude oil has had millions of years underground to reach a stable state i.e. one where the environment doesn't cause it to degrade further and, being underground, its probably protected better from oxidation than the stuff in the can.

Nick

Edited 23 May, 201313 yr by Clunkclick

It's the chemical pack in the oil that goes first. VW spec oils must still meet the spec after 5 years in a sealed container or 3 years after opening - whichever comes first.

Cheers.

It was opened, so best ditched.

Nick

Edited 23 May, 201313 yr by Clunkclick

Cheers.

It was opened, so best ditched.

Nick

3 years from 2011 takes you to 2014

3 years from 2011 takes you to 2014

Too late Regie. Its already gone down the "China syndrome" cavity at the local re-cycling depot.

- the 5 years unopened had probably already expired at the time I bought it due to the highly efficient French supermarket stock rotation method.

Nick