Changed engine oil, relatively dirty after 50 miles???

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BlazerLT

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I know that you don't judge oil by its looks, but I just changed the oil on my 1995 Blazer with a 4.3L Vortec.

Old Oil:

3.3L of Esso XD3
1.0L of Mobil1 5w20
Maintanence Dose of AutoRX: Couple Oz or so.
Miles on oil: ~4000miles
Date Oil Changed: Early February
Reason Oil Changed: Leaking rad leaking small amounts of coolant into the oil cooler.

New Oil:

Engine Oil: Esso XD3 Synthetic 0w30
Oil Filter: Valvoline Maxlife

Changed the oil two days ago a couple weird things happened.

1.) I put in the 4.3Ls needed for the oil change and it seemed to have overfilled it? Weird.... The truck was on ramps like any other time and it seemed to have filled the drain pan just like it always does but the oil but it was 0.5L overfilled....

2.) Took it for a 50 mile drive just thinking that the oil needed to circulate and fill in the void in the oil system but it was still the same level.

3.) Seeing the filter is mounted behind the front bumper horizontally, I just loosened the oil filter to drain off a half of a liter and tightened it back up and ran the engine for 3 mintes to reprime the filter and the system again.

4.) Now I took the oil and poured it into a glass measuring cup and shined a bright light through it just for fun. NOT ONE RAY OF LIGHT COULD GO THROUGH IT. COMPLETELY OPAQUE AND DARKER THAN MIDNIGHT.

5.) Emptied and cleaner the measuring cup and poured fresh oil in for a reference and the light came straight through bright with no obstructions.

Now my question is, after 50 miles could have this excellent oil done that much cleaning and suspended that much solids to make it that opaque?

And even if 0.5L of old oil was still in the pan hence the overfill, should it have affected the clarity that much in this little of time?

Also noticed some bits of hair strands of metal on the drain plug for the first time, but that could have been the AutoRX doing its job.

Your comments are welcome and please be civil, I just want to gain information and I know clarity is not the end-all-be-all of engine oil.
smile.gif
 
Hmmmmm, my Dad's 4.3L has weird things happend with the oil level as well. I'll check it after doing an oil change or after it's been run for a couple thousand miles after an oil change (usually it'll be near a quart low on the dipstick by that point - no biggie since it has 191,000 miles!). I'll add like under a half quart, and that sometimes will show slightly overfilled on the dipstick.
confused.gif
Almost like the drainback gallyes in the heads are clogged and adding oil splashes the oil stuck in the head enough to get through or something.

As fas as the color..........hmmmmmmmmmmmm, if the oil cooler has a leak and coolent is in fact getting in, that could be the culprit. I doubt your motor is so dirty that 50 miles of Auto-RX and synthetic oil could dislodge that much stuff. I'd make sure you are 100% coolent contamination free before jumping to any other conclusions. Perhaps a new rad is in order. My Dad had the exact same thing happen about 100,000 miles ago. Oil cooler was leaking and low dexcool levels coupled with the bad rad cap clogged the rad solid.
 
But coolant in the oil would look milky, not pitch black, not allowing any amount of light to shine through
 
Sorry to leave this out, the rad was replaced.

The oil before the rad change was under a month old so it wasn't too bad.

I changed the oil right after I got it repaired. That was in February.

This change two days ago was the first oil change since.
 
You sure though, I only used a 2oz maintanence dose and I am using synthetic oil all the time.
 
Had you used AutoRx before? Just once only with the 2oz.?

I'm never sure of anything (other than my hair loss) - but I'm just estimating:

1) You had a butt load of dirty oil left from the last fill. In your hoses to the oil filter, in your heads, pan, galleys. You mentioned some silliness with the fill/dipstikey.

2) You had a pretty dirty engine and your combo of old lubes did a good job cleaning that needed a flush, regardless of oil type.

Either are not that far fetched and would result in dark oil. I would just do a 3K run and change oil again and/or change your filter now and top up with fresh earl.
 
Auto-RX'd about a year ago.

Only 1/2 a liter was left in the engine, which I don't think is a buttload.

The truck has had XD3 for little over two years now so I can't see there being a huge dirt problem.

Maybe the crud in the engine from the coolant slowly seeping in is releasing the collected crud.

This oil is dynamite though.
 
With my 99' 4.3 Chevy S-10, it calls for 4.5 quarts with filter. But with that volume, it looks like it'a half-quart low on the dipstick. I questioned GM on this & looking a half-quart low on the dipstick is the correct meaurement. There are little cross-lines on the dipstick. I know it's full if (3) cross lines remain prior to seeing the the oil.

GM says it won't harm anything to use five quarts & fill to the last line -- which looks like the full mark, but I only use what's recommended in my owners manual.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Triple_Se7en:
With my 99' 4.3 Chevy S-10, it calls for 4.5 quarts with filter. But with that volume, it looks like it'a half-quart low on the dipstick. I questioned GM on this & looking a half-quart low on the dipstick is the correct meaurement. There are little cross-lines on the dipstick. I know it's full if (3) cross lines remain prior to seeing the the oil.

GM says it won't harm anything to use five quarts & fill to the last line -- which looks like the full mark, but I only use what's recommended in my owners manual.
Click to expand...
Actually, your 99 takes 5 quarts, my 1995 and older takes 4.5quarts which is 4.3L.....convenient measurement.

My 1995 when full is up to 3.4 on the cross-hatched are.

Overfill it and I get air into the oil system which causes the lifters to tap and the oil pressure to go nuts and flicking about from time to time.
 
quote:
Originally posted by drive4show:
Interested in how this topic ends up.

Your step 5 gave me a chuckle.... verifying that fresh oil is not opaque!
grin.gif


Good luck!
cheers.gif

Click to expand...
The XD3 is pretty dark yellow so I just wanted to see the relative difference for a reference.

When I saw the difference I had to post here to see what was up.
 
Next time use the drain plug to remove excess oil.

WATCH your oil filter through out the OCI for leaks.

Once you get the filter on, leave it alone!

Take care, Bill
biggthumbcoffe.gif
 
Why, it doesn't do anything to a horizontally mounted remote filter to loosen it a couple of turns to drain some oil out.

It doesn't effect the seal at all.
 
quote:
Originally posted by BlazerLT:
Why, it doesn't do anything to a horizontally mounted remote filter to loosen it a couple of turns to drain some oil out.

It doesn't effect the seal at all.
Click to expand...
You hope....

I would not take the risk.
spaz.gif


I would use the " drain " plug.
cheers.gif


thats cool. Whatever works...

Take care, Bill
biggthumbcoffe.gif
 
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