Quote:
Originally Posted by twobjshelbys
The important thing to realize is that changing the oil after sitting is a waste of time. If moisture is built up in the crankcase it'll still be there and the sediment will still be on the bottom. Oil doesn't degrade (remember it was buried for millions of years) it only gets dirty and unless you run it to warm it up you will neither remove the sediment or the moisture. Run it at operating temperature for a bit and then change oil and filter. |
For practical purposes this is close enough but not factually correct, for the purists.
I'm not sure how many years it was buried, but what was buried was vegetation and not refined oil. What we use is refined oil that has all types of things done to it. Molecules are cracked and chains of molecules are attached or polymerized. Motor oil is a concoction of additives that are mostly hydrocarbons that came from crude oil and went through some chemical altering process. There are additives that prevent rust, others increase shear load resistance, and on and on.
I'm quite certain that what I just wrote is also technically incorrect in some ways, as well. However to get to my point, oil does not wear out, but it does break down and additives go bad.
The oil that is in it is fine to start it up on. After a couple heat cycles, definitely change it out.