Shelf Life - Oil, Oil Filters, Air Filters (no temperature control)

Went to dealer and stocked up on oil and it got me thinking…

I have about 8 oil filters and 7 cases of 6qt Toyota Oil. My wife’s Lexus and the 4Runner both use the same oil and oil filters.

Her Lexus is due and I’m changing next week. The 4Runner is due in about 2000 miles. This accounts for about 13 of 42 qts which leaves 29 quarts remaining.


My garage is unheated and no AC. Will this degrade the oil and oil filters, or will they be fine until use them all up?

I’ve been keeping the air filters, oil filters in the house, but would prefer the garage. Just curious how long the shelf life is in this environment.

-5 degrees up to 100 degrees in Denver area throughout the year.

How much does everyone stock up on advance or do you buy as needed. I’d hate to put a degraded filter and bad oil in if it took me a couple years with these elements. I’d be a little less paranoid if my 4Runner didn't have only 8000 miles on it.

Thanks!

 

Have about 8 oil filters and 3 air filters sitting in my garage for last 2 years. Bought them in bulk. You fine.
Now oil does break down over time. How long that is I don't know but I always buy oil when I am about to change it.

 

You'll be fine across the board. I put a year or two shelf life on opened motor oil arbitrarily (source: it makes me feel better) but otherwise I'd say you'll be fine. For cabin air filters though I'd make sure there's no mold or it's sealed.

 

Google says 7 years for oil and two for filters.

 

We are planning a 2500-3000 mile roadtrip in mid October. I can see me going through atleast 4 of these boxes by end of the year (especially how much my wife drives)… I’ll probably keep the remaining 3 in the house of winter just to be safe. I’ll try to buy what I need going forward.

5,000 intervals on both vehicles.

Thanks!

 

You're the guy that bought all the toilet paper during the government imposed insanity time.

 

I had to dispose of a couple of unopened quarts of Mobil 1 that had been in my garage for about 10 years. It actually had lumps in it . It was for my generator.

 

Just out of curiosity, what do they charge for a case 6 qts of Toyota oil.

 

Mobil gives a guideline of 5 years for oils and lubricants in sealed containers. ExxonMobil makes Toyota's oil (except the GR oil spec'd for Supras, which are from Shell).
https://www.mobil.com/industrial/~/...g-oils-greases-shelf-life-recommendations.pdf

Before pouring, tumble the bottle a few times so any additives that have settled to the bottom get mixed back in.

 

I did hunker down like crazy though and acted like I wouldn’t see the light of day again … still crazy to think we all lived through that insanity

 

36.41 a case of 6 through Stevenson Toyota West…

 

I had to read this thread, due to the title. Myself, I usually don't have oil around more than 2 years max. We have 3 vehicles, 2 tractors, lawnmowers and a 4-stroke snowmobile, home generator to change oil on. Some use the same weight of oil, some don't, filters are all different. I guess I've never seen the need to have a huge stockpile, adequate, but not huge. On a funny note: the father-in-law used to own a Yamaha dealership. In his garage, there is a unopened case of Yama-Lube. My brother-in-law and I looked it over, and the case is date marked 1975! All we said was "what a pack rat"!

 

The oil & filters I use get stored in my vehicle during the trip home from the store on the day I do the oil change. I have too much other junk stored away I should get rid of. Then maybe I could think about amassing oil & filters.

 

I knew lubricants can't sit on the shelf indefinitely but I'm surprised to hear of a relatively short shelf life for filters.

 

Grok says -
The shelf life of unopened Toyota Genuine 0W-20 synthetic motor oil is generally around 5 years when stored properly in a sealed container under stable, temperature-controlled conditions without excessive heat or humidity. This is based on industry consensus for synthetic motor oils, as no specific expiration date is provided by Toyota

 

I was about to ask how oil “goes bad” with time. Turns out it curdles like milk? Lol

I honestly would have figured oil has indefinite storage life, if it were kept in a full and sealed container.

It’s a refined heavy petroleum product, so what is it that actually causes it to sour? Is it the additives coming out of solution?

Maybe it’s those prehistoric bacteria they found that live 5 miles underground with no sunlight? I know that sounds like a joke, but fuel tanks in airliners can get bacterial infections of sorts. It’s nasty to think about how those things live everywhere lol.

 

Correct, jet fuel has to be treated periodically to stop / prevent bacteriological contamination.

Synthetic oils for gas turbine engines has a ten year shelf life. Date of manufacture as well as expiration date is printed on the top of the can.

 

If aviation turbine oils have a shelf life, the I guess it’s a thing for sure. I need to poke around to see what it is that actually degrades oils. I wonder if it’s primarily about limiting the amount of potential that any sealed containers get water contamination from the atmosphere/condensation. Or if the actual oil itself falls apart.

 

It's a glued paper product, probably designed to be biodegradable.

Some additives settle to the bottom. Some degrade.

From a lubrication engineer: