An oil color story

[wbwanzer]

Somewhere around 1981 or 1982 I had a Honda Prelude that I had bought new. I guess a couple years after that I took it to my service guy to get the valves adjusted, I believe. While it was there I had him change the oil. I usually change oil myself, but it was winter and I was already there, so I had him do it. It was a small garage and I had gotten to know the guy a little so I was able to hang around in the garage while he was working, unlike most service places today. Anyway, after changing the oil and starting the car, he turned it off and pulled the dip stick. He was surprised by what he saw. I said 'what's wrong?' He replied that the oil was clean. Now I was surprised. I said 'why wouldn't it be clean? You just changed it.' He said that most of the cars that he worked on, after changing the oil it still showed black on the dip stick. I was surprised by that.

Now back in the 80s and even later I was changing my oil every 3000 miles like I was told to do as a car enthusiast and maintenance minded driver. I guess most drivers couldn't be bothered with their oil. It's probably still true today. Anyway, I never forgot that incident.

 

[Torrid]

Somewhere around 1981 or 1982 I had a Honda Prelude that I had bought new. I guess a couple years after that I took it to my service guy to get the valves adjusted, I believe. While it was there I had him change the oil. I usually change oil myself, but it was winter and I was already there, so I had him do it. It was a small garage and I had gotten to know the guy a little so I was able to hang around in the garage while he was working, unlike most service places today. Anyway, after changing the oil and starting the car, he turned it off and pulled the dip stick. He was surprised by what he saw. I said 'what's wrong?' He replied that the oil was clean. Now I was surprised. I said 'why wouldn't it be clean? You just changed it.' He said that most of the cars that he worked on, after changing the oil it still showed black on the dip stick. I was surprised by that.

Now back in the 80s and even later I was changing my oil every 3000 miles like I was told to do as a car enthusiast and maintenance minded driver. I guess most drivers couldn't be bothered with their oil. It's probably still true today. Anyway, I never forgot that incident.

I can't say it was all cars, but I did have a 2006 Jaguar XJ that would be dark on the dipstick after a change and after idling a few minutes. I think that car had some neglected maintenance before me because after a few oil changes it stopped happening so my thought was that some of the sludge or residue left behind cleaned up enough that it was no longer discoloring the new oil immediately.

I would think oil changes in particular could be an easy thing for a non enthusiast to neglect. I always check my oil level at every fuel up which my father taught me to do and it has stuck with me now for 30+ years. I don't see this as a common practice because I can't recall the last time I saw someone else do this, but I'm sure any of us car guys or those that are meticulous with our maintenance may do this too.

 

[Lapham3]

Gee Torrid, when I would check oil in public, somebody would come over and ask "what's wrong?" I very rarely see a hood up at a gas station anymore. My pal's son is a GM wrench and reports that they fairly frequently see cars towed in with trashed engines due to oil neglect. Different times.

 

[Kira]

My 7,500 mile OCI's got into my brain before a 3,000 mile habit did. I had heard of 3K OCI's, of course.
Sis got a '88 XJ (Jeep Cherokee Pioneer 4.0l, auto. w Select Trac) which dirtied her new oil pretty fast so I reduced the OCI to 5,000 mi.
When it remained "cleaner looking", over 5 oil changes, I upped her OCI to 6,000 miles.
That's where it stayed for the rest of her ownership.
I assumed the engine cleaned itself.
Perhaps the only legit use of 'color analysis'

 

[joekingcorvette]

When I first changed to Mobil 1 synthetic on an 87 Corvette I had I couldn't believe how clean the oil was compared to other dino no synthetic oils I had used in previous cars. I switched everything to synthetics and all my vehicles retained cleaner looking oil.

 

[Kira]

When you switched your vehicles over to synthetics, did you have the initial increase in oil consumption?
My friends and I all did. Two oil changes with synthetic were required before oil consumption ceased (or went to normal).

 

[UG_Passat]

Try having an older diesel.. On my Golf TDI.... Delvac 1 had a nice, clear gold liquid color.

Start the engine and run for a few minutes to check the level... instant black.

 

[hemitom]

Gee Torrid, when I would check oil in public, somebody would come over and ask "what's wrong?" I very rarely see a hood up at a gas station anymore. My pal's son is a GM wrench and reports that they fairly frequently see cars towed in with trashed engines due to oil neglect. Different times.

Probably because in the last twenty years or more most kids were in the house playing video games .
Couldn't be bothered to see what dad was doing under the car, most likely don't even know how to pop the hood let alone check the oil.