06 Kia Optima has some DIIIIIIIRRRTTYY Oil

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Nov 17, 2007
Messages
58
Location
Palm Beach FLORIDA
I have two cars one is my 06 Optima (commuter) with the 4 cylinder engine. I'm at strict 3000 Mile OCI's the car has 31K Miles on it, I use a purolator filter and castrol 5-20 (4.5 qts) and I dont even drive it hard, it's mostly highway (cruise control), no short trips etc...

Anyways, the oil always comes out dirty but yesterday was the worst. I pulled the plug and it was BLACK! I mean, I even dripped a little on my garage floor and wiht the lights on I couldnt see through it it was solid black. On my fingers it wasnt even transparant again, just black, and it stinks. Anyone else have a KIA ? I've always done the oil changes so they get down right at or before 3000 Miles. I use shell fuel and the car runs great. No smoke, not burning any oil etc.. During oil changes I even dump half a quart in with the drain plug out just to "rinse" things off and a bunch of dirt comes out.

My 01 toyota tacoma at 4000 Mile OCI's with the same filter and the same castrol 5-20 comes out golden after 4000 miles and thats a 4x4 with almost 100K Miles and I drive it hard..
 
Last edited:
Yeah, forgot to mention that, pulled the plugs (and replaced) 2000 miles ago along with an air filter change, throttle body cleaning, and engine bay cleaning. The plugs looked great, no carbon, no oil, just a light tan/choclaty color. Car is not showing a check engine light and it's getting over 30 mpg just as it should
 
I have a 05 optima with the 4 cyl its the same way with the oil.They do seem to run a little rich when the weather gets colder.The better synthetic oils seem to hold up better in my optima.I used royal purple 5w30 over the summer.I am running the qhorspower at this time but it is looking very dirty with only 2000 miles on it.I think i am going to change it at 3000 and switch to some havaline 5w20. By the way yours is doing great on gas milage mine will not top 25mpg the dealer has been no help in that matter.
 
My comments may not be helpful in your situation but genrally speaking darkened oil coming out is probably a better sign than clearer oil coming oil. Part of what oil does is trap and suspend contaminants so that they can be removed when you change oil. At least you know the oil is doing it's job in this respect, and very well it appears. A UOA may indicate any problems such as a potential rich fuel condition others have mentioned. I would check the PCV valve for proper function too as it evacuates some of the blow-by gasses.
 
Also, how is your air filter? Are you using the regular Purolator oil filters or the Pure Ones?
 
I will inspect/check/clean the pcv valve but it's been like this since the first oil change (I bought this car new) Air filter is new changed during tune up a couple thousand miles ago. I do not live in a dusty enviroment, no dirt roads, just interstate. actually with 30K miles the air filter was still relatively clean but I changed it anyways. Along with cleaning the throttle body and the mass air flow sensor. The car runs fantastic. I'm using regular purolator filters. I dont plan on keep this car, so I'm not all too worried about it. I will keep up wiht the 3K mile intervals and dino oil
 
It could be from the throttle body cleaning; did you spray cleaner directly into the opened throttle? Perhaps that allowed a bunch of liquidized carbon/gum/varnish to get past some of the intake valves and leach down past the cylinders into the oil.
 
Yeah I'm sure some got down there but it's been very dirty (unusually dirty) at past oil changes too. I'm only comparing to past cars, my toyota has clean oil 3000+ I had a 96 Ford ranger 275,000 miles on the 2.3 motor, and the oil looked "clean" after 3000 miles too. On the Kia you can hardly see the dipstick when checking it at 2500+ miles. I'm considering trying a different filter. Maybe I can find a bigger one, the filter they use is TINY, it looks liek the same size as the one on my lawn mower (seriously)
 
Key question is how clean does the engine look inside the oil fill cap area? If clean, then the oil is suspending the crud adequately, not breaking down too much, and likely doing an okay job keeping the rings clean enough to seal the combustion chambers adequately (at least for that oil viscosity).
 
I would change the oil today along with a new PCV valve and air filter, change the oil again after about 500 miles, change it again after about 1000 miles and then go for 3000 miles and see what happens. If your owners manual allows, i would also try using a good quality 5w30 instead of the 5w20.

Go to the dealer and buy an oil filter from the parts dept. See if you can find the exact thing on the internet and buy a case of them. After lots of trial and error, i'm all for using OEM filters instead of aftermarket ones.
 
Do the throttler-body cleaning 1K before the oil change. Then don't do any throttle-body cleaning for the entire next OCI. Then see if there's a difference in the oil's dirty look. Also change the fuel filter regularly. I change mine every 30K.
 
I realize from the other thread that you may not be a big fan of UOA, but that's going to be the only way to address this for sure. As a one-time experiment, a decent UOA will cost you perhaps a little more than $25 when all is said and done. If you want to go a tad further, I'd strongly recommend Terry Dyson's service (notwithstanding his departure from here...), as you'll get a good UOA and a skilled interpretation too, but it would cost you about $50. But a Blackstone with TBN should tell you most all of what you want to know.

Remember, oil color, while not totally worthless as an indicator, really doesn't tell you much about what's going on in your engine. Diesels blacken their oil almost immediately, and obviously, the oil is still OK.

Oh yeah, you could try a blotter test to give yourself some info, while spending virtually no $ in the process.
 
Cruz,
You are rightfully concerned as Castrol, for me, has always been the "cleanest" of any of the dynos that I've used. Many here say color is of no use as an indicator but I part company with that group, sorry. I have a TACO also and at drain time, 4,000 miles, the oil is vitually the same color as when it went in and my truck has 75,000 on it. Your concerns about the KIA are well founded as I would be concerned about black oil in anything other than a DIESEL. I would bet that your engine has plenty of SHEARING going on in there as these Asian manufacturers seem to copy exactly each others design. Toyota engines of the 1990s were known for internal shearing, especially at the top, at cam area. I gotta think thats where I would start, short of an oil sampling to confirm, and I would try some SYNTEC as you seem to be a CASTROL person. Also, I would go to 5w-30 and see if you get "cleaner" oil. There are vehicles that NEED 3,000 mile oil changes... even with your easy driving style. One size does not fit all, as I'm quite sure the Taco could go 7,000 miles on dyno and never have a problem. Good Luck!
 
Originally Posted By: CruzNlife1
but it's been like this since the first oil change (I bought this car new)



Do you know anyone with the same car? It's odd that soot should be getting into the oil on a new car. Mine is golden brown at 3000 miles, and the engine has about 100,000 miles. In fact, it never really gets black, just darker and darker brown.
 
Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
It could be from the throttle body cleaning; did you spray cleaner directly into the opened throttle? Perhaps that allowed a bunch of liquidized carbon/gum/varnish to get past some of the intake valves and leach down past the cylinders into the oil.


Bing! We have a winner.

I'd bet this does not help your color of oil. We all know that fuel in the oil (along with coolant) will make oil "look" worst.

Agree with Drew on this one.

Also, some brands do seem to get a different color than others when it comes time to change. For me, Pennzoil seems to be the lightest and Supertech was the darkest after a 5k oci.

Take care, bill
 
You guys are forgetting that he said the oil looked like that after the first oil change when he bought the car brand new. He didn't do the TB cleaning until many oil changes into owning the car, and it didn't change the oil color. It's not the TB cleaner. Sounds like fuel dilution to me.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top