My oil is usually caramel colored on the dipstick, pull the drain plug it’s jet black
dark oil, real fast.
- Thread starter wxtech
- Start date
I have noticed that any car with HPL engine oil gets dark very, very quickly. It is the only brand where I have noticed this.
How motor oil color affects performance. (Hint: It doesn’t). - AMSOIL Blog
Oil color is not an indication of the lubricant's condition. Oil analysis is the most accurate way to know a motor oil's condition.
blog.amsoil.com
What Causes Black Motor Oil? Is it a Bad Thing?
Find out why motor oil turns black and how that may affect your engine and, more importantly, if it signals the time for an oil change.
blog.amsoil.com
That's my nice way of saying that I'm not going to elaborate on my experience with Quaker State. What you don't know won't hurt you.
SammyChevelleTypeS3
$50 site donor 2023
A good choice indeed. On past advice from Overkill , Kschachn and a few others at BITOG, I changed from Blackstone to Oil Analyzers Polaris labs. I buy the prepaid postage kits thru an Amsoil website. Oil Analyzers are quick to respond and give very clear and easy to follow reports. You can feel a lot better about the fuel % in your report from Oil Analyzers because they use the gas chromatigraph mass spectrometers unlike Blackstone who does not. The Blackstone fuel % is simply as good as a guess minus the use of a GC meters. When I first caught wind of all this on BITOG I thought it was a lot of over the top hype, apples vs oranges until I used both labs and learned the actual differences. It is wild to think a lab (Blackstone) can charge folks for these type of samples and simply not use a GC meter. Especially since fuel , is being one of the many results automotive folks want to know. The easily available, just about everywhere , GC meters are in just about every lab I have heard of or been to or even used on the job. Maybe it is all just another one of those "up-sell" type of things we all see from time to time? Just like for instance some will ask you to pay extra $$ to have your TAN or the TBN results included in your reports.
My Ecoboost 2.0 (Gen2) which the 2.3 is based off of, does not have this issue.
Me too..
My Nissan Altima VQ the oil very slowly got darker the longer it was run.
My current Honda is in the same pattern… Really slowly gets darker. The motor is exceptionally clean from what can see from the fill hole. This is a port injection motor like the Nissan Altima VQ was.
The lady’s 98 Toyota Camry had oil that looked perfectly new and clean when we got it. Then around 1500 miles it suddenly turned black and had black small pieces in the oil… My operating theory was the car had been run for years doing extremely short trips… Never got close to operating temp. I think black gunk built up inside that 2.2 liter motor. Well, after enough true up to operating temp cycles put on it all that black hunk got released into the oil.
It never ever happened again in the Camry in the last 9 years.
Does this car mostly get used in short haul city traffic?
Shel_B
Site Donor 2023
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That's a great way to participate in a forum that's set up to share information and experiences.
You think I'm stupid? You want me to fill you in on the details? You think I like swimming in shark infested waters?That's a great way to participate in a forum that's set up to share information and experiences.
"Don't be dissin my Quaker State man"
I am running QSUP in my F150. I have 3,300 miles on the OCI at the moment and I just did a check this morning...the oil is amber colored. It is the OP's engine, not the oil. For reference, I checked my wife's Altima which is running the new Mobil 1 EP. It has 2,800 miles on it and the oil is dark brown. Either way, the color doesn't matter.
The size of soot is not an issue here, it’s the amount of it.How motor oil color affects performance. (Hint: It doesn’t). - AMSOIL Blog
Oil color is not an indication of the lubricant's condition. Oil analysis is the most accurate way to know a motor oil's condition.
What Causes Black Motor Oil? Is it a Bad Thing?
Find out why motor oil turns black and how that may affect your engine and, more importantly, if it signals the time for an oil change.
View attachment 160362
OP mentioned coal black oil in 700 miles. That is only normal in diesel engines.
This much soot will eventually start depositing in the engine as gasoline oils don’t have the same amount of dispersants and detergents to deal with it.
Also, not sure how many here handled old diesel oil. Rub some between your fingers and see just how much soot gets imbedded in your skin and how sticky it is.
Soot particles may be small, but they do lump together into bigger ones if the are not suspended in the oil. If soot starts to deposit itself in the engine, it will eventually cause trouble.
As the article said only one way to find out. Sample.
It would be good for OP to post a picture of the dipstick to see just how black the oil got.
If it truly does get coal black this quickly, where other ecoboost engine owners don't report the same, that would point to the EGR problem. It must be dumping a lot more exhaust gases for some reason.
If it truly does get coal black this quickly, where other ecoboost engine owners don't report the same, that would point to the EGR problem. It must be dumping a lot more exhaust gases for some reason.
Sure, if you want to know the exact amount of soot the oil has.
But most of you keep repeating that oil color doesn't matter where it actually does. The darker the oil, the more soot is in it. And if the oil gets coal black quick, where others with the same engine don't report the same, means there is an abnormal amount of soot there.
I read what blackstone has to say about it and their normal is 1%. They don't mention if it's for diesel, gasoline or both. I presume it's for diesels since they have an example from a VW TDI engine.
Is the same soot loading of 1% being safe in diesel engines, with diesel oils can be assumed to be safe in gasoline engines with PCMO oils?
"It’s common to assume that black motor oil has worn out or become too saturated with contaminants to protect your engine and requires changing. Not necessarily. As we saw, discoloration is a natural byproduct of heat and soot particles, which are too small to wear out your engine.
Oil darkness is not an indication of the condition of the oil itself. The detergents and dispersants in the oil are what causes it to darken as it is doing its job in cleaning the engine and carrying particulates to the oil filter.
The only surefire way to determine if the oil has reached the end of its service life is to perform oil analysis. "
I'm not saying it should or shouldn't be changed. I'm saying oil color isn't necessarily reliable. Test it and go from there.
