All right... so I'm cheap!

Oil comes in 5 quart jugs these days. It takes about 4.5 quarts to change the oil. So what do you do with the rest?

I just left them in the garage until they really started to get in the way. I consolidated into one jug until I filled it to 4.5 quarts... and did an oil change.

My daughter, the engineer at the oil refinery, says, "Dad, I'm not sure I would do that.... they are the same weight but different additive packages." I say, it's a 2003 Acura TL-S with 265,xxx miles! It's probably better than the dirty stuff that was in there!

This is what went into this oil change:



OK. I probably wouldn't do this with a newer car... but look at all the jugs I now get to recycle!

Worst case scenario is you finally start burning a little oil and use the half quart between changes!

A Dad after my own heart, maybe we're twins in another life

quote:

Originally posted by wreckdiver:
A Dad after my own heart, maybe we're twins in another life

Sigforum brothers!

I would probably be more concerned with moisture since they've been opened and sitting in the garage than I would about mixing additive packages.

Im lucky. My truck takes 7.5 quarts so I only have a half filled 5 quart jug at any time.

Nope. I got you beat, brother. My Tundra developed a bad transmission. To get it to work right I had to change the fluid in the pan every 3 months. 3 quarts Dexron and 1 quart Lucas additive went in each time. The Lucas was so thick that I had to squeeze it out of the bottle into the funnel and it would take 30 mins to ooze down from there. There was always a good amount of Lucas oil left in the bottle that would take forever to empty. At 13.99 a bottle I decided to let each bottle drain into the first bottle until I had a quart to use. Took years, but I got my free fricken quart. I got a new trans that year.

quote:

I would probably be more concerned with moisture since they've been opened and sitting in the garage

Ya... probably right. But it looked better than what I took out! This car used to be my daily driver but doesn't get driven much anymore. It's been over a year since the last oil change...
I was just cleaning it up a bit after sitting outside and realized that it needed an oil change... so I just decided to make due with what was on hand.

quote:

Took years, but I got my free fricken quart.

Same topic, different application:

Being both cheap and impatient, changing oil presented a conundrum: I want to use every drop out of every bottle, but I can't be bothered to wait for it to drain.

So, I put a bottle in the funnel and drain like 99% of it into the engine, take that bottle out and turn it upside down in a large-mouth quart jar and let it drip while I put the next bottle in the engine, etc.

One 5 quart oil change is good for about half an inch in the jar. A car, a truck, 2 tractors, a motorcycle and a lawn tractor...it adds up to enough to fill my oil can as needed. I'll add a dollop of chainsaw bar oil to thicken it up a bit, works great as drilling lubricant on my drill press.

I wouldn’t worry about the different additives as long as you change your oil on a regular basis. I change my own oil every 5k with synthetic and I could go much longer between changes but at $40 a change I see it as cheap insurance.

Unless the containers are open any moisture that gets into a closed container will be minimal and evaporate as soon as the oil heats up. There’s no difference between oil sitting in closed containers and the oil in your engine.

BTW, someone makes a device that drains 1 quart containers. There are many out there: https://www.toolplanet.com/pro...AEAQYBCABEgKrnvD_BwE

My car is 4.5 quarts. I change oil at 5000 miles, but it uses a quart every 4000. So I keep the jug in the trunk, and when the oil hits the add mark I put the rest of it in. This gets it by until the next interval.

quote:

All right … so I'm cheap!

No, that's being smart and thrifty. Cheap is when you need salt to melt the ice on your sidewalk, so you send your daughter out to gather up the salt thrown onto the edge of the road. (Ex-boss, emphasis on the ex.)

When I drove a '77 Mercedes 300CD, the cute coupe diesel, I'd set the empties upside down on a jar in the garage, letting each drain fully for a day or so. And pick up another few ounces of oil. My mechanic buddy, cheaper than me, commented "Well, why not? You paid for the oil, might as well use it".

So I do this but in a bit different way. I usually have about 1 quart leftover. Next oil change I add that 1 quart first. Then I fill with the new jug. So I am always only storing 1 jug. I usually always use the same brand oil. Sometimes I've had different. I never thought about additives being different.

Not cheap,just frugal.

Not cheap, just thrifty and environmentally responsible.
You can also fill up a small bottle for a lifetime supply of gun oil.

When you get a new car but keep the high miles Acura, run the short interval synthetic change out of the new car recycled into the Acura. Then its called "Mobil 2"


I'm running the Redline I ran for 5K miles in my Silverado in my 1999 Accord with 215K miles on it.

Non harm at all that I would worry about.

My wife's car uses a bit of oil so it usually gets any left over, and it also comes in handy for doing that oil change in the mower I have been putting off and oiling the grandkids bikes and etc. I keep some in one of those pump oil cans.

quote:

Originally posted by pbslinger:
When you get a new car but keep the high miles Acura, run the short interval synthetic change out of the new car recycled into the Acura. Then its called "Mobil 2"

I love it... Mobil 2

Recyclers won't take oil jugs.

They do, however, make a much easier way to drop oil off than lugging the standard drain pan/bucket into a parts store or such. Easy to carry in 10-15 qts. at once, dump in their bin and stroll back out.

Changed oil in one car this weekend that requires 9 liters of an oil that only comes in 1-liter bottles and forgot what a pain it is without the big jug!

Our recycling center takes jugs.