Warning about 0w-20 Mobile One synthetic oil

Everything has a limited shelf life. But yes oil does only have a 5 year shelf life that the manufacture will cover, even though it in reality is much longer. With this in mind maybe sooner oil changes are in order if this is a concern.

Not sure where you got that you can't switch back to non-synthetic oil. This simply is not true, but 5w-20 works just fine. The mpg loss will only be at start up and in very cold conditions. Remember as the oil heats up its viscosity changes. So even 0w-20 oil stays at 0w viscosity for an extremly short time, probably not even a minute.

Why can't you switch back to non-synthetic oil? They're all supposed to be compatible,,,

If you really are worried about shelf life, just store it in your freezer. That will help it last lots longer. On the other hand, 5 years from now presumabely new oil will be even better for other reasons, and you will wonder why your freezer is full of 'that old stuff' from way back in 2005.

You can switch back to conventional oil. The mobil1 is completely blendable with conventional oil. Consider there's still ~.6 quarts of oil left in your engine when you change the oil, you think that would have caused a problem when you initially switched to synthetic?

All things considered I have a few years worth stock horded in my nice hot garage, and I have no concerns about it going bad any time soon.

james said:

Why can't you switch back to non-synthetic oil? They're all supposed to be compatible,,,

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You can :!:

Switching the other way in a higher miles (read: worn) engine will likely significantly increase any oil consumption that is already ocurring (and probably not being monitored). It _can_ significantly increase this consumption to the non cost effective point. No "damange" will be done unless you let the engine run out of oil.

It just may not make economic sense

HTH!

I currently have 19 quarts of Mobil 1 0W-20 on the shelf that I purchased this spring right after it was discontinued. As a telecommuter, I do not drive very much so my oil changes are once a year. My Y2K model that I purchased in April 2001 with 2200 miles on it (dealer demo car) just turned 30K today. I suppose I could sell whatever I have not used and not be able to use in three or four years. It would still have at least two years left. I'll just wait and see. There is always the possibility I will start accumulating more miles if/when I change jobs.

Here is something to consider, the plastic bottle the oil is contained in will break down long before the oil will. I have already had this happen to a 10 year old bottle of oil. The bottle started leaking the oil.

Assuming you want to continue using synthetic oil, Penzoil is currently producing a 0W-20 full synthetic. In 4 years time as more hybrids come to market, perhaps most other manufactuers will follow suit.

This is similar to when Honda first started using 5W-20 in their new cars. Finding aftermarket 5W-20 was very difficult. Now it is just as common as the old "standard" 5W-30.

why not just buy the Honda oil which has a better viscosity performance than Mobil 1!

Because synthetic oils are far superior for engine protection than non-synthetic oils. This is fact!

I've heard that the Honda oil is syn oil. Anybody know for sure?

jack9994 said:

why not just buy the Honda oil which has a better viscosity performance than Mobil 1!

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Besides being better than Honda oil, I could get Mobil 1 for less when on sale at Pep Boys.

lakedude said:

I've heard that the Honda oil is syn oil. Anybody know for sure?

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The Honda oil is NOT synthetic.

It seems that most everyone uses Mobil 1 synthetic in the forum.

That is because synthetic oil handle heat better, improve gas mileage and just plain superior to dino oil.