Using cases of 20 year old Castrol 2 cycle outboard oil.

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I'd use it without a second thought, I have used oils in sealed containers, 2 stroke and 4 stroke, that I know were 25-30 years old, they looked, smelled, poured and performed like new oil.
That guy claiming oil goes bad in 2-5 years is full of s--t, and that includes an open bottle if of course you keep a cap on it.
Think you should purchase a new Stihl 500i, have @softdown send you 1/2 that case of 20 year old, not air cooled rated. Then report back how it performed and do a teardown to show us.
 
Http://thrivingyard.com/2-stroke-oil/
All petroleum products have a half-life, oils just typically are a bit longer.

Of course it is up to you; not sure if Paul Walker took into serious consideration how old those tires were on that Porsche either. They still held air, were black, and round.
I'm sure doing 90 in a 45 didn't help either.
 
Think you should purchase a new Stihl 500i, have @softdown send you 1/2 that case of 20 year old, not air cooled rated. Then report back how it performed and do a teardown to show us.

I have outboard and snowmobile oil. Different animals. Pretty sure the snowmobile oil is fine.
 
Think you should purchase a new Stihl 500i, have @softdown send you 1/2 that case of 20 year old, not air cooled rated. Then report back how it performed and do a teardown to show us.

Honestly I read the post too fast and completely missed that he was talking about running Outboard oil in a chainsaw. I focused in on the old oil question part. For the cost of oil vs a new saw I myself would just spend the money on the correct oil for a saw, they have better additives for the higher temps.
With that said, I logged thousands upon thousands of miles on fan-air cooled snowmobiles running....TCW 3 rated oils.
 
The only options artic cat has for air cooled are 4 stroke engines intended for youth riders. The 400-1000cc are fuel injected liquid cooled 2 strokes. The larger engines also being super charged. Polaris does offer a fan air sled, although I think its slated for the chopping block, amd is a low end model, they offer a 4 stroke youth model as well. Cant comment on other manufacturers. I basically havent seen anything in the past 10 years that has been a flagship model, that wasnt liquid cooled. I'm sure there are still a few out there.
 
The only options artic cat has for air cooled are 4 stroke engines intended for youth riders. The 400-1000cc are fuel injected liquid cooled 2 strokes. The larger engines also being super charged. Polaris does offer a fan air sled, although I think its slated for the chopping block, amd is a low end model, they offer a 4 stroke youth model as well. Cant comment on other manufacturers. I basically havent seen anything in the past 10 years that has been a flagship model, that wasnt liquid cooled. I'm sure there are still a few out there.
They're definitely almost all either liquid cooled 2 or 4 strokes now, I think it's difficult to get a fan cooled 2 stroke to meet EPA guidelines. I think Ski Doo might still have an adult sized 2 stroke fan.
 
Oil going bad in 5 years is about like saying hot dogs stored in the refrigerator go bad in two weeks. LOL Sounds like a salesman trying to sell more oil.

Much of the two stroke oil that I have used in my life had been bottled over 20 years before I used it and some of it over 40. Still haven't had any lubrication issues. I inherited gallons upon gallons of the stuff from my dad and grandfather in all sorts from old school 30 wt oil prior to them adding dye to Golden Spectro, Arctic Cat, Polaris, Johnson, Quicksilver, and so on. I still have a few bottles of Quicksilver pre-mix at the cabin.

If you use the oil at the recommended mix ratio in an engine that was built during or before the time the oil was made, your chances of oil failure due to old oil are zilch.

The only oil related failures I have ever encountered were running snowmobiles on Injex in the mid to late 90's. That stuff smelled great but was sub par.

OP, if you are going to run TCW-3 rated oil in a modern high performance saw you may have issues as that oil is not rated for saws. You would be better off selling the oil locally to someone who has equipment that can use it.
 
Nothing happens in a 1/4 full tank left outside to thermocycle either.
 
2-stroke oil is derived from crude oil which was formed over millions of years from decaying dinosaurs. It amazes me that 20 years after refining and purifying it, people think it has gone “bad”.

However, if you consider that refined oil recipes have evolved over the years, I would say modern oils are better than vintage oils.

Castor is a bit different


http://www.klemmvintage.com/oils.htm
Sent from my LM-G820 using Tapatalk
 
I've tried running tcw3 oil in a saw, it winds up leaving gummy deposits. It's simply not formulated for the high temperatures of an air cooled 2-stroke.

I believe Scott Kunz (AKA Treemonkey) runs Schaeffer’s TCW3 in his saws, and after thousands of board feet they are some of the cleanest and well lubricated cylinders I’ve seen. It may come down to mix ratio?
 
Use the 20 year old oil in a 20 year old saw to cut 20 year old trees. It would be best if you were also 20 years old.
The saw should be the same age as the user or the oil might implode.
 
Oil for air-cooled and water cooled 2-strokes is different. Dirt bikes and sleds had different oil formulations for air- and water-cooled many years ago. An outboard 2-stroke is also water cooled.

I still use the same oil in my saws I used in air-cooled dirt bikes 45 years ago, Golden Spectro. Never an oil related problem or wear issue. Formulation may have been updated but it's for air-cooled 2-strokes. They make mix oil for water cooled.

You can also buy non-detergent 30W motor oil and run that at 16:1. Go retro!!!!
 

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