Throwing away barely used oil.

IMO, likely a better idea to replace that oil than to re-use it.

 

Oh, I don't think I missed his point at all. I don't see it as being "wasteful" to put in fresh oil in the circumstance he described. It's not like he just put it in yesterday, never started the car, and then was dumping it and starting from scratch. The oil has been in for a while and he's driven the car, albeit, not 3K or more miles. But it has been driven a fair amount. So as I see it, since money isn't his object here, why not start with fresh oil? I don't see that as being wasteful. I see it as being prudent. And I don't think that misses the point at all.

Oh, and if he is that concerned about not being wasteful, why not just wait until it needs an oil change and THEN do the work on the car?? Problem solved that way.

 

Every six month regardless of mileage is what I do, even with Royal Purple.

Figure it's getting contaminated running or not.....

I do recycle it though.....

 

If recycled it's not "wasted"..it'saking up for what BP dumped in the Gulf of Mexico....

Now THAT was WASTED!!!

 

Ah-HA! I thought of a good use for it: Since my garage floor is so stained already (yes, I'm a a little sloppy sometimes), I'll just pour it all over the floor and that way it'll be stained the same color.

Just kidding.

 

Well I SOMETIMES use it to kill the weeds and grass along the fence....along the sides owned by the Hari Krishnas.......(east and west property lines).

 

I vote yes for the VIDEO!... and YES replace the oil in your car.. even oil with low miles.
I don't like to put 'used' oil in my car, but believe in getting all the use out of it I can, so I pour it along the fence line to keep the weeds down. I live in the country, so it works Great!.
I was using the oil I recycled out of the local utility companies old transforemers, but seems others got the idea too and Now I can't find anymore..

 

I just use it in my chain saw.

 

Can you explain the scientific reasoning behind that?
You really should spend $20-30 and send an oil analysis to see if it is necessary.

 

Gear oil (synthetic) even has a longer life. No combustion contaminates to dilute and contaminate the oil. Probably 3 to 5 years is fine. Great stuff modern synthetic oil. Short warm-up time and great protection. 1st gear is the only one at minor risk since the torque multiplication can cause wear eventually. But even in racing it lasts a long time. Long Beach was the only course to wear 1st with all the hairpin turns.

In the Porsche race car which is non synchronized, I change after 2-3 races just to get the minor metal chips out from the dog ring transmission.

Agree on the brake fluid. In the race car we use the hi-temp Castrol $80.00 a bottle but not needed for street cars.

 

...to tell if an oil is past it's useful life.

Oil analysis.

Looking at two samples and comparing colors, nope.
Blot test on paper napkin, nope.
Viscosity test between the fingers for film strength on separation, nope

Oils original properties are tested and compared against the new standard. (only valuable if you use the same oil continuously)

Further, a spectrographic analysis can alert you to an impending failure.

By tracking the content or chrome, iron, tin, lead, silica and others, you can get a pretty good picture of what's happening in there. All those metals and elements have uses in specific places, and show up for specific reasons. Like a blood test.

Agreed, the cost benefit analysis doesn't play in Joe's question, saving or not, oil is a good portion of the cost oil analysis, however one gets the added look at HOW things are wearing in there...I know of a good lab (I have no commercial interest in) if anyone wants to know of one.

Industrial applications use this method all the time in conjunction with other Non destructive testing such as thermography and vibrational analysis.

I was going to say...my $.02, but this post is easily $.05

 

I really hope you guys are joking. That kind of disposal can come right back and bite you in the ass. Lets say after 20 years of dumping oil you decide to sell your property. The new potential buyer takes a look and smells and notices oil along the fence line. He askes for testing and wants a deduct from your asking price for oil contamination. Your realtor takes a walk because he doesn't want anything to do with a potential mess like this. The buyer reports his findings to the DEQ. I recently dug a water line through an area that my father dumped oil on for many years. Now 40 years later when moving the dirt you can still smell oil. Wait till the EPA or DEQ has their hands in your pockets. Just let me know if you want to hear more.

 

+1 and any oil reclamation will cost big bucks. All that dirt gets dug up and sent through an incinerator to burn off the oil. Not a low cost operation. Any person that wants to buy the property will want a letter from the epa that states the property is clean so no future reclamation is required.

Ask any gas station owner what they were required to do to close their station and sell the property for something other than another gas station.

 

Jus fry up some chikin' wid it...

FFC: Ferrara Fried Chinkn!!!

Gear oil is da best.

MMM, mmm!!!

 

Well, I certainly could do that, but all of my original engines in my 1976, 77s are pretty predictable.

Carbs run rich so have a lot of wash down, and while my Ferrari motors are not making much metal they certainly see a lot of dilution and shear down of the viscousity.

The report would probably come back:

"Get some new piston rings and valve stem seals, and dump the sodium filled exhaust valves, before they explode!"

I'm sponsored by Royal Purple, it's free unless I run low and have to hit a retail outlet.

 

Dude, I got stinkin' Hare Krishnas on both sides cooking saffron rice and banging cymbals in a parade up and down the street...

Blowing trash, chainsawed defoliation of centuries old trees......illegal dumping of heavy trash in an intentional and illegal manner....

Soil contamination is the LEAST of the issues effecting land values in my neighborhood!

I was joking..... I told you I recycle it at either my Body Shop or the Porsche shop up the street. When my gf's brother drops in with his Peterbuilt he leaves two or three gallons.

 

It's a little wasteful but trying to reuse the fluid may end up getting contaminants back into the car. You would need new drain containers. Too much of a pain.

I had to throw away good brake fluids to get rid of air bubbles trapped. That was a waste but I didn't reuse it either. Just not worth it.

Like others have said, as long as you properly dispose it, you've done what's best for the car and the environment.

 

That's a reasonable explanation, I suppose.

Just out of curiosity, how many miles or hours are on the oil at that point?

Jim

 

That's really hard to say, as two of my three odometers display standard Ferrari Veglia reliability.......

I put maybe 50 miles a month on the cars......unless off on some cross country adventure then it could be 2,400 miles in five days....

That's the two ends of the spectrum.

You see where it's just easier to say "Is it Spring?" or "Is it Fall? and just service all of them.

 

It really brings up a very valid point, most synthetics could easily go 6,000 miles or more in a modern motor, maybe I SHOULD do a 1 year analysis and see when the contamination of the old engine really makes it "go bad".........

That would be interesting.

I need to fix my odometers as well.....

 

you know that drain out in the street gutter...?

Just wait until it's dark outside.

 

That's a big no-no here, as it goes directly into Galveston Bay......and we wouldn't want to add to what the east Texas Paper mills have already dumped.

 

Excuse me. I've been to Houston. I think you can pour out used oil just about anywhere and it won't make a difference.

 

Why not do oil analysis, instead of relying on anecdotal information? The cost, around $100 depending on lab, and interpretation choice, is reasonable. A wealth of factual information is obtained of how a specific oil performs in your specific car, under your specific usage, and allows you to know when the oil is "used". If analysis shows the oil still functional, extended change intervals will quickly recoup the cost of analysis, and also give piece of mind knowing the engine is continuing to be protected.

 

You got that right. A vast majority of the chemical plants in Houston were built before EPA regulations of the last 20 years. So they are grandfathered into the previous regulations, which are....nothing. Just report what you dump. When I was living in Clear Lake (20 miles south of downtown), surrounded by all these chemical plants, I looked at the EPA report of what was dumped into the atmosphere around Houston. The number one chemical was ethylene glycol and they had dumped 3 million pounds of it in one year. Of course the list went on and was full of nasty chemicals.

Don't ever eat oysters from Galveston Bay. I always ask when I'm at a restaurant in the south, "where do your oysters come from?" If they don't know, or say Galveston Bay, I don't eat them. I'm sure they are polluted no matter where the come from, but GB seafood is toxic.