Dipstick Oil Colour

[jtay2024]

Hi All,

I have always checked my oil on a frequent basis with whatever I have owned. The current car I have is a Jag XE 2.0 petrol (GDI with 250hp). The one thing I've noticed with this is how clean the oil stays. I thought GDI's were known for contaminating their oil and darkening really quickly. A video by Engineering Explained showed in his car after 3000 miles it was almost black!



(See the 3 samples in this video nearest the mobil bottle of oil. One is fresh oil, one after 15 mins idling, the other after 3000 miles!)




This is what mine looks like near enough 12,000 miles into usage with a service coming up very soon. Still looks golden! Are some cars just much more prone to soot contamination due to the way they run? Or would fuel different potentially effect it as I'm from UK and he's in USA?

 

[CharBaby]

The color of the oil is no indicator of the oil remaining life or cleanliness/dirtiness. Heat alone will darken the oil as in EE's 2nd bottle.
I once had two different vehicles. A Toyota 3.0L V6 and a Nissan 2.5L I4. Both using the same oil. The 2.5L I4 always darkened sooner than the 3.0L V6. The 2.5 was darker in one week than the V6 was in 3 months. By that 3 months, the 2.5 I4 was almost coal black. I can't answer as to why.

 

[Boomer]

Both my VWs are DI and the oil stays very clear and clean on the dipstick of both during the 5000 miles I let the oil in the engine. Even wiping the oil from the dipstick onto a whit cloth shows it to be very clean. But I do see soot in the tailpipe.

 

[jtay2024]

Both my VWs are DI and the oil stays very clear and clean on the dipstick of both during the 5000 miles I let the oil in the engine. Even wiping the oil from the dipstick onto a whit cloth shows it to be very clean. But I do see soot in the tailpipe.

How modern are they? I know mine has a GPF filter, but some of the older DI petrols might not have had the GPF filter which would still mean soot build up on the exhausts. Mine are still clean metal on the inside currently and that's with 34k miles on the block now.

 

[Boomer]

See my sig. 2017 All Track, 2019 Passat

 

[Boomer]

Neiter of mine has the filter you mention, at least that I know of.

 

[jtay2024]

See my sig. 2017 All Track, 2019 Passat

Woops sorry! That's interesting. I'd expect both of those to have filters in the exhaust!

 

[jtay2024]

Neiter of mine has the filter you mention, at least that I know of.

Fair enough. I would have thought they'd have to have them being those years.

 

[PWMDMD]

I never go by color...only by taste test!

 

[danez_yoda]

The color of the oil is no indicator of the oil remaining life or cleanliness/dirtiness. Heat alone will darken the oil as in EE's 2nd bottle.
I once had two different vehicles. A Toyota 3.0L V6 and a Nissan 2.5L I4. Both using the same oil. The 2.5L I4 always darkened sooner than the 3.0L V6. The 2.5 was darker in one week than the V6 was in 3 months. By that 3 months, the 2.5 I4 was almost coal black. I can't answer as to why.

Was this with conventional or synthetic? I have found synthetics (Walmart synthetics) more resistant to browning due to heat than the old PYB I used to use.

 

[Lubener]

Color by itself is no indicator of an oil's condition.

 

[atikovi]

Color by itself is no indicator of an oil's condition.

But it's a good indicator of condition. This would be good condition.

 

[UncleDave]

I've never had gold oil that was regularly brought to full temp test bad.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

What brand and spec oil is used in the Jaguar? Is this a Turbo engine?

Maybe you require something with a more aggressive detergent package or you have a ringer for a motor.
That oil is not golden, and it is hard to visualise the colour on the stick. If it is somewhat chocolate brown appearing on the dipstick, it could well be very contaminated.

On the exhaust soot, I would say since most vehicle have two converters, that the soot occurs during startup and just the first few minutes of driving. After the converter gets hot I would assume it would catalyse carbon to CO2

Enjoy the Jaguar! - Ken

 

[Rand]

my 2002 ranger would turn the oil black in 1500miles almost like a diesel.(but not that bad)

my 2007 focus the oil would be golden after 6000 miles.

unless it looks like india ink or chocolate milk I dont worry too much about the color.

 

[Lubener]

But it's a good indicator of condition. This would be good condition.

View attachment 70824

It just means the oil is doing its job. I would be more concerned with clear oil after a 3k run. If it's not in suspension in the oil, crud then has to be accumulating in the engine.

 

[atikovi]

Or the engine is in very good shape and not making crud in the first place.

 

[LeoStrop]

Since it's only a thin film of oil that stay on the dipstick, it will look much more cleaner compared to the same oil drained on a bottle, like the third sample on the video.

 

[CharBaby]

Was this with conventional or synthetic? I have found synthetics (Walmart synthetics) more resistant to browning due to heat than the old PYB I used to use.

It didn't matter.
It was with any oil(s) that I used. But, I used the same oil at the same time in both engines(which ever 12qt case I'd buy). Regardless of dino or syn oils, the smaller Nissan 2.5L I4 engine in my case would darken faster than the larger Toyota 3.0L V6.

 

[xgmad]

Both my VWs are DI and the oil stays very clear and clean on the dipstick of both during the 5000 miles I let the oil in the engine. Even wiping the oil from the dipstick onto a whit cloth shows it to be very clean. But I do see soot in the tailpipe.

I think they have a secondary air pump on those engines if im not mistaken