Mixing leftover oil?

[McLovin]

Do you do it? I have few boxes of rotella with little bit of oil in them. Some of them are 6 months old. Some of them a year. I can probably combine all to do an oil change, but should I? Its all same brand and type oil that I would mix, but should I just get over it and buy a fresh new one?

:rockon:

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

It'll be fine to do it...

 

[champion221elite]

Personally, I wouldn't mix oils that have been sitting around in any high performance engine.

The demands of a motorcycle engine are too great to mess around with mixing oil. I hate wasting things, so I use small quantities of oil and mix them for my lawn mower engine. It runs at 3,500 rpms instead of 14,000 rpms and does not share the lubricant with the clutch and transmission.

I've been doing this for 5 years now and haven't had a problem with my lawn mower.

 

[RJ2112]

I won't use brake fluid from an opened container, because mineral oil absorbs moisture out of the air.

Engine oil does not. Mix the fresh stuff with the leftover stuff, and you're fine.

If your engine consumes oil between service intervals..... do you drain it all out and replace it, or do you add fresh oil to the stuff already in there?

 

[Fred]

Motor oil isn't going to "go bad" over time. Go ahead and use up that Rotella.

 

[Goop]

Do you do it? I have few boxes of rotella with little bit of oil in them. Some of them are 6 months old. Some of them a year. I can probably combine all to do an oil change, but should I? Its all same brand and type oil that I would mix, but should I just get over it and buy a fresh new one?

:rockon:

Good question...I have 3 x 1 gal. jugs with about a quart in each. I was going to combine them for my next oil change. Looks like it's a go.

 

[McLovin]

do you drain it all out and replace it, or do you add fresh oil to the stuff already in there?

I drain the whole thing because I want to put exactly the right amount in there.

 

[RJ2112]

I drain the whole thing because I want to put exactly the right amount in there.

You don't trust your dipstick to tell you when you've added enough?

Assuming the change interval is 3,000 miles.... if you were a pint low at 2,000 miles (near the lower 'add' mark on the stick).... you'd replace ALL the oil, rather than add a pint to bring it back to the 'Full' mark?

The 'exact right amount' mark is between full and low, right?

 

[FizzySix]

The oil waited millions of years under the ground to be pumped out, refined, packaged, shipped, and finally sat on the shelf, waiting for you to take it home.

I don't anticipate that a few more months is going to hurt anything. :thumbup:

 

[champion221elite]

Motor oil isn't going to "go bad" over time. Go ahead and use up that Rotella.

I'm not really concerned with oil "going bad" after sitting in a partially consumed bottle. What does concern me, is the possible mixing of multiple brands, batches, and weights that can happen after stuff sits around in the garage.

Sometimes containers get mixed up and the wrong fluid gets added to a partially consumed bottle of your motorcycle oil. When you find your baby is low on oil, you unknowingly add some motorcycle oil mixed with (insert any substance that is usually found in the garage).

Here's the biggest reason why I don't mix oils from different containers/ batches.

I used to have a 2001 Arctic Cat ZL 550 snowmobile. It ran perfect and had around 3,000 miles. It was oil injected and was fed a steady diet of Arctic Cat 2 cycle oil. One day, I found myself on the trail with about a pint of oil remaining in the reservoir. I scrounged a new, sealed quart of Spectro Sno 2 cycle oil from a gas station and topped off my oil tank. I made it less than 10 miles down the trail before my engine seized. Most lubricants are supposed to be compatible with one-another, however, strange chemical reactions can and do happen. Had I been able to find my normal Arctic Cat oil, I firmly believe my ZL 550 would still be running.

That blowup is my reasoning why I don't mix oil in any engine that I care about.

 

[Wavex]

oh jeez Mike WTH... another oil thread? lol

You said it all the same brand/weight so just do it and move on... ppl make such a big deal out of oil... it's only OIL ppl!!!

 

[Wavex]

I'm not really concerned with oil "going bad" after sitting in a partially consumed bottle. What does concern me, is the possible mixing of multiple brands, batches, and weights that can happen after stuff sits around in the garage.

Sometimes containers get mixed up and the wrong fluid gets added to a partially consumed bottle of your motorcycle oil. When you find your baby is low on oil, you unknowingly add some motorcycle oil mixed with (insert any substance that is usually found in the garage).

Here's the biggest reason why I don't mix oils from different containers/ batches.

I used to have a 2001 Arctic Cat ZL 550 snowmobile. It ran perfect and had around 3,000 miles. It was oil injected and was fed a steady diet of Arctic Cat 2 cycle oil. One day, I found myself on the trail with about a pint of oil remaining in the reservoir. I scrounged a new, sealed quart of Spectro Sno 2 cycle oil from a gas station and topped off my oil tank. I made it less than 10 miles down the trail before my engine seized. Most lubricants are supposed to be compatible with one-another, however, strange chemical reactions can and do happen. Had I been able to find my normal Arctic Cat oil, I firmly believe my ZL 550 would still be running.

That blowup is my reasoning why I don't mix oil in any engine that I care about.

did you even read the OP's post? Same oil/weight...

 

[Hellgate]

Champion - Two stroke injection oil is a different application than motor oil, and you are correct two stroke will "like" one kind of oil vs. another, at least my RD did. It like Spectro Golden the best, at least based on the number of foulded plugs.

At times all I've had was some 10/40 and put it in the bike. I still believe that oil is oil, just ask a dinosaur.

Here's a thought...too many tamales at lunch today...what if the oil companies marketed oil based on the type of dinosaur that lived in the area during a given period of time? This could be cool, for Harley you could have brontoaurus oil - big and slow, for a GSXR you could market T-Rex based oil - fast and mean! You get the idea.... I've not idea what the FZ would use. Any ideas? One of those strange all purpose dinosaurs?

Back to work! :BLAA:

 

[RJ2112]

I agree that two stroke oil is not in the same class as typical engine oil... the various injector oils I have purchased for my chain saws have different weights. The mixing ratio of one brand to another can have significant difference.

The mechanical 'automatic' injectors can't accomodate the wide range that is available for all the different applications two stroke engines are used in. Pre mix, like what is used in dirt bikes, chain saws and lawn maintenance tools can vary from 20:1 to 40:1, and the brands may use 1 oz/gallon all the way to 3.5 oz/gal on top of that.

Even then, once the 'premix' is mixed according to the mfg recommendations, I would not have issue with running a tank of one, and switching to another. Or even of mixing the two part way through a tank. Been there, done that. Considering I am still using the same chain saw over a 10 year span, I have to think my reasoning is sound. Still does the job, as advertised. No engine rebuilds.

 

[champion221elite]

did you even read the OP's post? Same oil/weight...

I did read the OP's comment about same brand/weight. My point is that foreign materials can sometimes be introduced into open bottles of oil.

I hate to waste things, and I frequently mix small quantities of oil from open containers and add them to my snowblower or lawn mower engine.

 

[wrightme43]

THE place on the web for oil discussions. LOL LOL LOL LOL

Passenger Car Motor Oil (PCMO) - Gasoline Cars/Pickups/Vans/SUVs - Bob Is The Oil Guy

Have fun.

 

[Wavex]

I did read the OP's comment about same brand/weight. My point is that foreign materials can sometimes be introduced into open bottles of oil.

I hate to waste things, and I frequently mix small quantities of oil from open containers and add them to my snowblower or lawn mower engine.

So when I do my oil change, and I have 3/4 of a bottle of oil left, I should not use it for my next oil change because some dust particles may have somehow made it inside the bottle while the cap was off for a few seconds?

I have no other engine to put my left over oil in, so I should throw it away and buy new bottles everytime?

Sorry bro, but that makes no sense... if you re-capped the bottle after use, you are perfectly fine to use it... I agree with you if you're not sure whether it's clean or not and you've left the open bottle below your Dremel workbench... but else, just use the damn thing! :BLAA:

 

[champion221elite]

Wavex... please don't take my posts as a personal attack on the way you do things. If you're mixing oil and it works for you... that's great. I have other engines to use such mixtures in, so that's what I do. The OP asked an honest question and I gave an honest answer. I have stated my thought process and the reason why I don't mix oil for my motorcycle.

At this point, it seems as if we're beating a dead horse and it's taking away from the OP and the thread he's started. I'm going to drop this issue out of respect for the OP, Wavex and others who have posted here.

Still buds?:Flash:

 

[Wavex]

I don't take it as a personal attack at all, I am merely challenging your recommendation to never re-use unused oil from previous oil changes... that is all

This whole thread is a dead horse... Mike (the OP): :spank: :Flip:

 

[McLovin]

Hey I've never seen a mixing old oil thread...I am aware that theres been a million oil threads tho..so let this one be another successful oil thread
:Flip: