Color of oil

[davizzel]

Hello Guys, This might be a dumb question, after performing an oil chnage this weekend. I was pouring the new oil into my vehicle, when my curiosity kicked in. The oil I drained out, looks nothing like the oil I poured in, obviously the oil somewhat cleans the engine I’m assuming. But, should my car oil be a dark brown color? Or should it be close to the rich gold liquid I poured in during my last oil chnage. Again, I apologize if this is a silly question, but the more I read on this site, the less I realize I know! Btw my OCI is about 5k miles. Thanks!

 

[JustN89]

Yep, perfectly normal. Your oil cleans, but it also traps dirt and other debris and ferries it to the oil filter where the filter holds on to it until an OCI is performed. Over time, this darkens the oil and commonly becomes varying shades of dark brown.

 

[dishdude]

Goes in looking like honey, comes out looking like poo.

 

[FCD]

Perfectly normal.

 

[jakewells]

golden honey in and chocolate syrup out.

 

[kr_bitog]

I beg to differ on this one... if you put on diesel car, my understanding it goes black almost immediately. However on gasoline engine, I find the color change is progressing slowly

 

[Virtus_Probi]

Seems like my oil get dark really quickly...I've assumed that's because of the hot turbo, but I guess I don't really know what the reason is.

 

[Donald]

Normal on a gas vehicle.

 

[code5coupe]

Originally Posted By: kr_bitog

I beg to differ on this one... if you put on diesel car, my understanding it goes black almost immediately. However on gasoline engine, I find the color change is progressing slowly

"Slowly" is a relative term. By the time 3000 miles has been put on an engine's oil, it will have become noticeably darker.

 

[HondaBroMike]

I love it when a UOA matches what you predicted how long the TBN would last and predict it to a T. I prefer oil to go in looking light beige and come out, well I use the napkin test and if it black on it, it's time for a change as far as wear goes but TBN could still be there, that is why it is not accurate to go by color when coming out.

 

[HondaBroMike]

 

[WyrTwister]

Originally Posted By: kr_bitog

I beg to differ on this one... if you put on diesel car, my understanding it goes black almost immediately. However on gasoline engine, I find the color change is progressing slowly

I do not know personally , but I have read it darkens quickly in a diesel from the black soot / carbon ?

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted By: WyrTwister

Originally Posted By: kr_bitog

I beg to differ on this one... if you put on diesel car, my understanding it goes black almost immediately. However on gasoline engine, I find the color change is progressing slowly

I do not know personally , but I have read it darkens quickly in a diesel from the black soot / carbon ?

I had a VW TDI and would pour out black oil, pour in clean oil, start it up and check it and it would be almost jet black. After 50 miles or so it would be completely jet black.

 

[WyrTwister]

So , assuming the black is carbon soot , I guess it does not hurt anything ? I personally have next to no diesel experience .

 

[Panzerman]

Nothing turns blacker than Castrol GTX conventional oil. Not saying it's good or bad but it's always the blackest.

 

[StevieC]

Amsoil always seems to stay golden brown on the dipsticks of my vehicles and always come out a very dark red to brown colour.

 

[ZZman]

Seems many have it change little and others have it pitch black. It depends on the additives, engine condition, miles, use type etc.

 

[BrocLuno]

Any blow-by will usually turn it coal black in a few thousand miles. No bigee, it's just the add-pak doing it's job

 

[barryh]

Going a little deeper into oil colour I thought some of the better base oils are naturally clear and need to be dyed amber to look like our expectation of new oil. I've used synthetic gear oil that was perfectly clear.

 

[Seventh]

I've always been impressed with how light and clear chevron conventional oils pour out of the bottle compared to others, even full syn oils. Otherwise yes, oil gets dirty by using it. Color isn't an indication of condition necessarily however. An engine that gets routine changes with quality oil at moderate intervals will sometimes turn oil darker more slowly because the engine was clean inside already when it was poured in. An engine that has been neglected can be more likely to turn oil dark more quickly due to the contaminants that were already inside the engine when the oil was poured in, that are now being picked up into suspension by the new oil. And of course diesels turn it dark real quick, and all engines are different. Some accumulate fuel in the oil, have higher or lower oil temp, or have more or less oil shearing components, turbos, direct injection, egr... all things can affect how the oil performs and how quickly (or not) it changes color. Not to mention end user operating style. The only vehicle I change oil based on color is my old hot rod truck. Odometer is broken (probably only 1k miles yearly), and it usually takes 3-5 years for it to start to darken significantly.