Black oil

[Pops1050]

The oil in the wife’s 2020 Honda Pilot darkens as quickly as any vehicle I’ve ever had. This is the J35 V6 and the oil is black literally after ~500 miles into an oil change. Has been this way from the start. It’s just interesting to me the difference in engines in this regard. My 21 Tundra’s oil remains golden til well into the oil change.
Am not overly concerned but thinking about shortening the interval between changes in the Pilot to 5,000 miles and disregarding the OLM. Overreaction? I’d appreciate any thoughts.

 

[demarpaint]

Overreaction? Maybe, maybe not. Get a UOA with TBN and eliminate opinions and guesses. You'll also be able to establish an OCI based on data as long as the driving conditions don't change much. As an added bonus you'll know if the air filtration system is doing its job, if coolant is mixing with your oil, and you'll see if fuel dilution is a problem.

 

[Silver]

I experience a very fast darkening in our Pentastar.

My old '02 Ford Vulcan needs several thousand to darken oil any noticeable amount on the stick. Granted, oil will always look much clearer on the stick than drained.

Oil properties? Sooty engine? Hot spots in engine? Who knows...

 

[Brian123]

The oil in the wife’s 2020 Honda Pilot darkens as quickly as any vehicle I’ve ever had. This is the J35 V6 and the oil is black literally after ~500 miles into an oil change. Has been this way from the start. It’s just interesting to me the difference in engines in this regard. My 21 Tundra’s oil remains golden til well into the oil change.
Am not overly concerned but thinking about shortening the interval between changes in the Pilot to 5,000 miles and disregarding the OLM. Overreaction? I’d appreciate any thoughts.

What Oil are you using?

 

[blufeb95]

Direct injection motors do that, they produce quite a bit of soot.

 

[doublebase]

Direct injection can do that, IMO, and I had similar issues with my 2018 Silverado. Thing always seemed to darken oil pretty quickly, and the oil would smell like fuel sometimes. Sometimes it wouldn’t. And it always consumed oil too. Meanwhile now I have a 2016 Toyota Avalon that doesn’t consume a drop of oil in 10,000 mile intervals and the oil stays light and clean looking almost the entire 10,000 miles. Go figure.

 

[Jetronic]

if it bothers you add a can of mos2.... black from the start

Though the mos2 is a matt black with a bit of shimmer(as if there's crystals or metal flakes), while soot loaded oil is shiny black without shimmer. the shimmer dissappears as the oil ages in the engine.

 

[Graham Piccinini]

Oil color does not represent condition of the oil.
Glad to get it out of the way, phew....
Now, some engines run hotter and others run cooler. The chemical reactions of additives and temps sometimes darken the oil. Some detergent/dispersant (can't remember which) additives give oils a red tint/hue early into the OCI. GDI also has huge effect on oil color most of the time, with very few exceptions.
Your idea for 5k OCI is a correct one, many of us follow that interval with great results.

 

[Nesterenko]

Are both vehicles using the same oil or same brand? If not, use the oil from Tundra in the Honda next time and see if it goes black quickly. Could be GDI also causing it. After switching different oil to see if there's a color change, next step is a UOA.

 

[Pops1050]

What Oil are you using?

0-20 Honda full synthetic - All dealership performed.

 

[atikovi]

Oil color does not represent condition of the oil.
Glad to get it out of the way, phew....

HUH? So does that mean that red transmission fluid which has turned brown is in good condition too?

 

[Graham Piccinini]

HUH? So does that mean that red transmission fluid which has turned brown is in good condition too?

Not very good at catching sarcasm, huh? BITOG elders like to throw that underlined statement around, so I just threw it in the mix to disarm them early on. I personally trust my senses more than I would trust a UOA.
- ATF is brown and smells burnt? Time to change.
- Motor oil is extremely dark and smells of fuel? Time to change.
- Coolant looks like mud water? Time to change.
These are just some of the examples... Thousands more not listed.
But many members here claim that all our God-given senses fool us into placebo effects, and only way to know condition of any fluid or piece of equipment is some type of analysis or complete teardown of that piece of equipment.

 

[Exhaustgases]

Likely from Direct injection.

 

[RooflessVW]

My '22 Odyssey turns Castrol Edge brown very quickly.

Never black though...

 

[joekingcorvette]

Probably from the direct injection. My old beater 2012 Civic synthetic oil looks really good at 6,000 miles but I usually change it at 5,000 miles and I am at over 120 rounds on the vehicle.

 

[Revving2Redline]

Probably from the direct injection. My old beater 2012 Civic synthetic oil looks really good at 6,000 miles but I usually change it at 5,000 miles and I am at over 120 rounds on the vehicle.

Thankfully that R18 is not direct injection.

 

[joekingcorvette]

Thankfully that R18 is not direct injection.

No it's not direct injection. It runs good and the oil stays clean. As an old farmer friend used to say " She's a pretty good wagon but her box is shot " hahahaha. As long as the old Civic does a point A to B I am ok.

 

[Revving2Redline]

No it's not direct injection. It runs good and the oil stays clean. As an old farmer friend used to say " She's a pretty good wagon but her box is shot " hahahaha. As long as the old Civic does a point A to B I am ok.

Took my R18 to 382500 miles

 

[joekingcorvette]

Took my R18 to 382500 miles

That's awesome! Those R18's are good engines.

 

[Al]

I have always found black oil early and leaking rings go hand in hand. Not saying the oil will not test OK