New oil for old?

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
View Threaded
Sun 7 Apr 2013 11:15
New oil for old? - monian

Apologies if this topic has been discussed before but can anyone advise what happens to all the old & dirty oil from the nation's sumps after being drained? Is there a difference between mineral and synthetis oil?

Monian

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 7 Apr 2013 11:41
New oil for old? - John F

Some is in a old pan to evaporate and thicken over a few months. I paint it onto exposed metal bits on the underside of our cars. The rest gets applied to fencing etc as a wood preservative. Some is allowed to settle, decanted, and reused in our old mowers. Formerly, the still-good stuff from my quality car was decanted into my sons' 'bangers' [Peugeot 309s] on the correct prediction that the engines would last longer than their car ownership.

On dry days I pour approx 200mls around fence posts in the happy belief that it might prevent rot. But there is never that much as I always wait until the level is at or just below the minimum before I change it.

Waste not want not!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 7 Apr 2013 15:28
New oil for old? - RT

So you're breaking the law by dumping old oil in the ground, albeit your ground, and allowing it to drain into the water table and cause pollution - great neighbour you'd be !

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 7 Apr 2013 20:01
New oil for old? - John F

So you're breaking the law by dumping old oil in the ground, albeit your ground, and allowing it to drain into the water table and cause pollution - great neighbour you'd be !

Well, it's either that or creosote plus synthetic weedkiller. At least the oil goes back where it came from, as do the metal particles [lots of iron ore round here!]

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 7 Apr 2013 20:58
New oil for old? - FP

"At least the oil goes back where it came from..."

No, it doesn't. Your oil tipped into the ground might end up in a lot of places, but it certainly doesn't go back to oil-bearing layers of rock which are typically in excess of 1,500 metres below ground level.

And as for "...it's either that or creosote..." - are you suggesting anyone should tip creosote into the ground? (By the way, creosote is banned for DIY use - has been for some years.)

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 7 Apr 2013 17:33
New oil for old? - mss1tw

It's cleaned up a bit and used as shipping fuel, or your mechanic's workshop heater.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 7 Apr 2013 17:50
New oil for old? - gordonbennet

My lad an i went on a tank driving fun day, enjoyable it was too.

The lads there were saying the tanks they run are multi fuel and can run on virtually anything that will burn, including old engine oil.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 7 Apr 2013 22:26
New oil for old? - Hamsafar

It's collected in small tankers and returned to a depot where it is processed and resold to blenders and made into new oil at the bottom end of the market or fuel oil....

www.ossgroupltd.com/oil_waste_disposal.php

Edited by Hamsafar on 07/04/2013 at 22:28

Reply | Report as offensive | Link