Does two cycle oil go bad?

[NYH1]

The oil I have has never been open. It's still in the bottle with the seal on it. It has been out in the garage in the winter and summer as mentioned earlier. Half of the bottle were empty so I only got a bout a six pack. I was going to try a different type of oil anyway.

 

[ciscoguy01]

Use it

The oil I have has never been open. It's still in the bottle with the seal on it. It has been out in the garage in the winter and summer as mentioned earlier. Half of the bottle were empty so I only got a bout a six pack. I was going to try a different type of oil anyway.

Use it dude. Even if it's 5 yrs old and sitting in a garage. If it's never been opened, it's still sealed. It has to be good bro.

 

[Wow]

The oil I have has never been open. It's still in the bottle with the seal on it. It has been out in the garage in the winter and summer as mentioned earlier. Half of the bottle were empty so I only got a bout a six pack. I was going to try a different type of oil anyway.

I have a similar problem. I have almost a Quart of the Blue 2/C oil that had turned Black. Today I was at Walmart and they were selling 16 ounce bottles of Synthetic Blend in the bubble top mixing bottle. Price was marked down to 1 dollar per bottle. Name PURE GUARD. States made in U.S.A.
I was told they have a clearance because the oil is starting to turn black. Some bottles were pretty near black, some still blue. I bought a bottle of the blue and mixed some 40:1.
Now, I'm working if maybe some Blue oil may just become dark with age normally. In fact IF I were sure all that oil was going to be good in a year I'd have bought 4 quarts. Comments welcome.

 

[Gugi47]

I answer with a short story.
I have a friend who have a pickup truck. From new he use only synthetic oil, but he never change the oil in that truck.
He pay close to $90K for the truck. He change the oil filter every 5K and fill up to the level. He have over 120K in the engine and run great.
And yes, he is a mechanic .

 

[Wow]

I answer with a short story.
I have a friend who have a pickup truck. From new he use only synthetic oil, but he never change the oil in that truck.
He pay close to $90K for the truck. He change the oil filter every 5K and fill up to the level. He have over 120K in the engine and run great.
And yes, he is a mechanic .

I found a Website on the label. Wrote the company and a rep replied. He said the color can change over time. Nothing to worry about. I did a test using both oils. Two ounces of gasoline to half teaspoon of blue oil. Put in clear plastic container and well shaken. It mixed well with a small amount of foam on top which dissipated quickly. Black oil had exactly the same results. I tried feeling of the mix but frankly I could not tell by feel any oil was in the gas. However I knew it was there and the color was Blue or Black. Another test would have been dangerous so it was avoided but I thought Flash Evaporation by dripping a drop of mix on a very hot surface just may evaporate the gas and leave a viable residue. My inquiring mind was not willing to take a chance. The mix did not separate after 6 hours of sitting so I'm confident the oil is good. Good luck.

 

[Ted Jenkins]

Oil absolutely goes bad with age even if it is not opened. The biggest problem is that it separates. Several different oils are blended together most often then with time the blended oils are no longer blended. Under certain conditions I do not mind using old oil if I mix the entire bottle or container at once. Often this is not a problem because I can go through up to 10 gallons of mix in a month. Once I had two five gallon pails of premix oil then I forgot about one pail. After more than a year I looked at the stuff and I could see layers so had to throw it away. Of course it depends if it is synthetic or petro based on shelf life. Thanks

 

[Guido Salvage]

I found a guy in Northern Kentucky who had bought out all the Stihl stuff from an Ace Hardware. I ended up buying every bottle of Stihl 2T oil he had, when you can get a 6 pack of the 5 gallon mix bottles for $8 how do you walk away? I plan to use it until I die or use it up, whichever comes first.

Any oil in a package was in the ground for millions of years before it was extracted. A few years in a bottle is not going to hurt it...

 

[Andyshine77]

What happens is the solvents get to HDPE bottles and they eventually break down, it takes about 12 years.

 

[Huskvarna hotellgäst]

Right or wrong, I'm still using Husqvarna 50:1 oil from 400ml bottles opened in 1988 in my Husqvarna saws of similar vintage. It seems a darker shade of blue/green than I think it was originally. Kerosene "bouquet" is somewhat diminished but so far, no apparent problems.
I only started thinking about it when I needed to mix fuel for a new Chinese Zenoah copy saw .

 

[grizz55chev]

Right or wrong, I'm still using Husqvarna 50:1 oil from 400ml bottles opened in 1988 in my Husqvarna saws of similar vintage. It seems a darker shade of blue/green than I think it was originally. Kerosene "bouquet" is somewhat diminished but so far, no apparent problems.
I only started thinking about it when I needed to mix fuel for a new Chinese Zenoah copy saw .

Your equipment, your choice.

 

[Wow]

Right or wrong, I'm still using Husqvarna 50:1 oil from 400ml bottles opened in 1988 in my Husqvarna saws of similar vintage. It seems a darker shade of blue/green than I think it was originally. Kerosene "bouquet" is somewhat diminished but so far, no apparent problems.
I only started thinking about it when I needed to mix fuel for a new Chinese Zenoah copy saw .

I had some light blue oil start to turn black. It got very little sunlight but a small bit did shine through a crack daily for over a year. The lable had an 800 number so I called. The engineer explained that the dye changed color and that it's normal. However the oil was fine. I mixed half synthetic with it and used it. Had no problem. This is like dating Fat girls. It's basically a personal choice. Good day.

 

[wyk]

A farmer I know has a 5 litre jug they are slowly draining. It's maybe 2 1/2 years old now. No issues.

 

[pbilly]

i have about 10 oz or so of mix oil that was a 5gal bucket that i bought 16 years ago it has changed color a little but it works just fine. i was the best mix that husqvarna sold at the time

 

[lone wolf]

I never asked you or anyone else on this post what oil I should use. I was just making a statement. I just figured since you answered my post you were serious. When I answer someone else's post I'm serious. If you don't like the questions I ask don't respond.

For some reason oil posts are beat to death and people go nuts! I dont think it goes bad .

 

[skytow]

Down to my three last quarts of Mobil racing 2T. It must be eight years old. Love that stuff and run it in all my Stihl, Husqvarna, Dolmar, Echo equipment. Zero issues.

I guess I’ll have to read all the oil threads when I get down to the last few ozs and wee what is next!

 

[Del_]

Down to my three last quarts of Mobil racing 2T. It must be eight years old. Love that stuff and run it in all my Stihl, Husqvarna, Dolmar, Echo equipment. Zero issues.

I guess I’ll have to read all the oil threads when I get down to the last few ozs and wee what is next!

I've still got six quarts left. We both must have bought about the time Mobil pulled the product.

 

[Huskvarna hotellgäst]

Whew! Heaps of opinions and stories there.
I also wonder if fuel quality is a factor. I may be using 30 year old oil - but I'm mixing it with 98 octane ethanol-free "Premium" unleaded.

 

[Wow]

Whew! Heaps of opinions and stories there.
I also wonder if fuel quality is a factor. I may be using 30 year old oil - but I'm mixing it with 98 octane ethanol-free "Premium" unleaded.

Exactly, . I use highest octane (92 or higher) the hat I can get and ALWAYS non Ethanol gas. ALWAYS add a conditioner. And store my fuel cans in a big Ice chest out of the sun. Have a great day.

 

[skytow]

Always non ethanol gas for me too. Hate that ethanol unless it’s in my beer!

 

[Wow]

Always non ethanol gas for me too. Hate that ethanol unless it’s in my beer!

Ha. Ha. That's where it belongs. I'll be happy when they stop making that crap. Somewhere I heard that early automobiles first ran on alcohol before gasoline.
I'm thinking about adapting my generator to run Propane and on Gasoline but then someone told me that to run Propane engines need a hardened valve and seat. So, now, I'm researching. Have a great day.