Originally Posted By: jcwit
Have a '97 Geo Metro with almost 200,000 miles on it and the oil still stays amber till OCI at 5000 miles with Valvoline 10W/30 HM. I will say our new car doesn't get quite so dark but it has very little milage.
I believe the color change relative to the temperature exposed to the oil, so this varies for different engine.
Any new Toyota VVT-i and Honda is known to have high temperature on certain parts of the engine, so it makes the oil getting dark very fast.
Certain engine like this Geo Metro is very easy on oil, and mine also still looks amber after 10K. However, on my toyota, after 4K it is getting dark.
For diesel or hybrid it is different story, most of diesel produces soot that makes the engine oil getting dark almost instantly. On hybrid, engine is switched off frequently so the engine oil may not get dark fast, but it may suffer fuel dilution fast.
Have a '97 Geo Metro with almost 200,000 miles on it and the oil still stays amber till OCI at 5000 miles with Valvoline 10W/30 HM. I will say our new car doesn't get quite so dark but it has very little milage.
I believe the color change relative to the temperature exposed to the oil, so this varies for different engine.
Any new Toyota VVT-i and Honda is known to have high temperature on certain parts of the engine, so it makes the oil getting dark very fast.
Certain engine like this Geo Metro is very easy on oil, and mine also still looks amber after 10K. However, on my toyota, after 4K it is getting dark.
For diesel or hybrid it is different story, most of diesel produces soot that makes the engine oil getting dark almost instantly. On hybrid, engine is switched off frequently so the engine oil may not get dark fast, but it may suffer fuel dilution fast.