Motor oil
Exxon / Mobil 1 Batch Code Decoder
Exxon Mobil 1 quart bottles carry a six-digit Julian-plus-hour production code on the base of the bottle, used primarily for warranty and batch-recall traceability.
Decode your Exxon / Mobil 1 code
Format: YJJJ + hour + line. Example:
Enter a code above to decode the production date.
Format
YJJJ + hour + line
Example
609914
Year digit 6 + DOY 099 (April 9) + hour 14 of production.
Typical freshness
5 years
from production date
About Exxon / Mobil 1 batch codes
Exxon Mobil stamps every quart, gallon, and 55-gallon drum of motor oil with a six-character production code on the base of the container or the lower shoulder. The first four characters are a standard YJJJ Julian — one year digit plus three day-of-year digits — and the final two characters are the hour of day (00–23) during which the bottle passed under the filling head. A code 609914 means the bottle was filled during the 14:00 UTC hour on April 9, 2026. Motor oil does not "expire" in the way food does: the chemical properties of Mobil 1 and the other ExxonMobil synthetic lines remain within specification for at least five years from production provided the container is sealed and stored at reasonable temperatures. The Julian code matters primarily for warranty claims and for traceability in the rare case of a bad batch — ExxonMobil periodically recalls a specific production hour from a specific plant when a viscosity or additive-blend deviation is detected during post-production sampling, and the Julian-plus-hour format lets them isolate the affected units down to approximately 12,000 bottles rather than the entire day's run.
Need the general technique for any package? See how to read a Julian date code. For the regulatory background on lot traceability, read the manufacturing guide, or convert any date on the converter.
This decoder is based on Exxon / Mobil 1's publicly documented code format. Manufacturers can change codes without notice — treat the result as an estimate and check any printed best-by date.