Dumb oil shelf-life question

[22229stingray81]

I have a 3-4 quarts of oil that I've had sitting on the shelf for 10-12 years or so. I just want to make sure it's still okay to use. Any chance the detergents/additives have separated from the oil? One is regular ol' Valvoline 10w-30, and the others are Valvoline "High Mileage" (or something similar) 10w-30, if that at all matters. My gut tells me it's fine (and so do my online searches), but a dozen years sounds like a lot to me. Thanks for all replies!


-Tatortot

 

[Hib Halverson]

All I'd do is shake the containers real good before you open them and use it.

 

[22229stingray81]

Thanks Hib!

-Tatortot

 

[HammerDown]

I've used 8 year old Brad Penn for my BBC Jet boat, no problems however...even with shaking the bottles like a crazy man I then cut them open and saw a slight graphite colored residue on the bottoms. That was the additive package that fell out of the oil. I simply put a little oil in the bottom, moved my finger around to stirr it up and dumped in into the engine.
I've seen the same thing on the bottom of old, yellow Pennzoil Racing bottles I had...poured the oil out, cut the container open and mixed-up what was sitting on the bottom...keep in mind, you don't see a lot, just a slight deposit.