Grease when should it be discarded?

[Bgunner]

For those of us that are DIY'ers, at home, know that we need grease on hand at all times because, well it's darn useful for many things. My question is when should it be discarded? Grease guns drip like crazy for those that don't do it everyday and the cans get oil on top so at what point do we say (at home) I need to change this out for fresh?

Is there a texture change, buy amount of oil that seeps out or a time, months or years that pass that lets you know it is time?

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

As long as the product itself stays clean I wouldn't worry about the shelf life of grease.

There is a shelf life for oil bottles, they can seep around the little oil level window molded into them after a couple years and of course if you wait a really long time the plastic gets brittle.

 

[Bgunner]

as an example: One tube for my regular size grease gun will last me years with the ranger and the replacement joints on a dodge caliber. If I had to guess a tube in the gun will last 5 to 10 years for my standard usage for family work, at this time with more kids coming of age soon. So even though it's leaking all this time it is still good to use on front end parts, other than wheel bearings of course since that needs different type of grease, along with other odd and end usages?

 

[Bird76Mojo]

None of my grease guns drip at all

I use this grease on EVERYTHING

 

[rusty ol ranger]

I got a big ol can of marathon grease that came from my grandpa that he probably bought somewhere in the 60s.

I still use it regularly with no issues.

 

[Dirtman]

I throw it out when its full of more dirt than grease.

 

[Bgunner]

None of my grease guns drip at all

I use this grease on EVERYTHING

By "everything" are you including wheel bearings in this,not knowing much about grease here, as in an use all grease or it just doesn't drip?

 

[Bird76Mojo]

By "everything" are you including wheel bearings in this,not knowing much about grease here, as in an use all grease or it just doesn't drip?

I use it to grease the wheel bearings on both of my trailers, all of my greasable joints on my trucks, my mower decks, tractors, etc - but I run auto-greasing adapters on my trailer hubs so they always have a constant, fresh supply of good grease. The kind meant for boats. It may not be ideal wheel bearing grease, but I've had no problems, and it is indeed VERY sticky grease. I just haven't taken the time to look up the specs on this grease to see what it's really suitable for.

It is an EP (extreme pressure) grease so it should be suitable for nearly any heavy load application, except for anything requiring grease that is food safe.

 

[97RangerXLT]

I inherited my grease gun from my Grandpa. It still has grease in it and if I were to guess, he filled that up sometime in the late Carter or early Reagan administration (not quite as impressive as Rusty's stash from his grandpa, but still, almost 4 decades...). No issues

and it does not leak.

AJ