So went to buy some 5W40 Shell Rotella T6 Synthetic oil in the 1 gallon jug at Walmart and when I got it home noticed the plastic locking ring had already been sheared off... as in the bottle had been already opened. I went back to Walmart and checked their stock, five one gallon jugs on the shelf, one more had the broken seal and the other four were OK. I tried to explain to an employee in automotive that this is unacceptable and he just have me a blank stare. Be forewarned and check for tampering.

hahah. blank stare. like, "if I don't disagree and I don't agree, I will not offend anyone and I will not be responsible for anything." Oh well, it's Walmart.

thanks for the heads up. I'd be a little concerned. I might return the bottles. I would definitely not use if the foil seal was gone or broken. Used or tampered with.

So why did you expect something other than a blank stare from a Wal-Mart employee? If the guy in the automotive department was capable of something beyond that blank stare, he'd be the store manager.

I don't shop there even though it's marginally cheaper. There are alternatives, use them.

Drained the oil out as a precaution, just not worth taking the risk on an expensive engine IMHO. I idled it for a couple of minutes to get it hot and then drained the oil out and replaced the filter. Bought another 1 Gallon jug of the Rotella synthetic from a different store, lock ring was intact on this one, I made sure. Both oils looked, felt and smelled the same so probably the oil itself had not been tampered with but there are several threads on the forums where Walmart employees have used the Rotella and replaced with an inferior grade of oil and put it back on the shelf. Think of the time and effort it would take to do this to save maybe $10? There are some real dirtbags out there apparently and most seem to be employed by Walmart.

Drained the oil out as a precaution, just not worth taking the risk on an expensive engine IMHO

Good plan. Chances are that the oil was OK and some kid with nothing better to do loosened some of the caps. But then someone might have put some contaminants in it or, as you say, some loser Wal-Mart employee switched it out for some cheapo oil. Either way, not worth the risk.

Does the Rotella not have a foil seal?

Negative Hagrid, they dumped the foil seal when they went to the lock ring.

I'd probably just pour it into something clear and strain it with a filter. Its not like its expensive enough that someone switched it out with a cheap non synthetic oil. If they were going to do that they would use Pennzoil ultra or something.