Shop actually changed oil??

[yuletak]

Hi, tried to do a search but couldn't come up with anything.

Here's my story. My brother took his car to some local shop to get an oil change on Friday. I took at look at his oil level just because it's a habit of mine. Discovered there was too much oil, at least half a quart. I figure the "tech" simply dumped in 4 quarts in there when only 3.5 is required. Anyways, I went to siphon some of it out today. When I did so, I had discovered the oil was dark, darker than I would have thought for recently (2 days, probably < 50 miles of mixed driving since change) changed oil. My question is, does anyone know roughly when the color changes under normal, combined driving conditions?

TIA

 

[panthermike]

Oil that new should look good(pretty clear).

 

[hate2work]

Some oils are darker right out of the bottle. What brand did they supposedly use?

 

[yuletak]

I'm not sure the brand they used. And I should mention that it was coffee black, as in I couldn't see anything through it at all in the bottle I had put it in. Any recourse if I brought it back to the shop? My brother has gone back to LA with the car already though. I think there's very little we can do, just won't go back there.

 

[panthermike]

Not much you can do, just tell him to change the oil when he gets home.

 

[Vilan]

Is it a diesel? Diesel oil gets black pretty fast.

 

[chet2]

a sleazy mechanic did that to me one time...i know he didnt change the oil just by looking at DS

 

[callbay]

I have had new oil look very dark right away when the engine oil had not been changed very often in the past so the engine was not clean inside to begin with. I have also seen that if the oil is changed when the engine is cold it makes it worse.

 

[CROWNVIC4LIFE]

A Toyota dealer in Deerfied Beach did that to my sister when she had her Camry [awhile back] in for a oil change..They never changed it..When confronted after I checked it and found the oil dirty right after she got the car back they said they could not investigate it any further..Toyota service is so bad down here she sold it for a Mercury.

I could only imagine how many people this happens to.

I never leave the dealer or anywhere before checking the car out before I leave..I have been short changed on oil,oil cap missing and have been overfilled though the years.

 

[StevieC]

Just change it again. Oil is cheap.

 

[Greggy_D]

Originally Posted By: StevieC
Just change it again. Oil is cheap.

I would have to agree with this. Just from the peace of mind aspect.

 

[JakeR22]

Sounds like you've gone through more trouble, then if you would of just changed it for him in the first place.

 

[mpvue]

it's been said here many times, oil color alone is not a good parameter; however, it sometimes is all we have to go on. I would think that a day or two of driving would still show golden oil, unless that vehicle is known for dirtying up oil right away.

 

[KrisZ]

On my car it takes about 600 to 700 miles for the oil to start darkening. The reason I notice this, is because the oil dipstick on my car is so hard to read when oil is new.

Anyone with 2006+ Mazda 3 will confirm this, the dipstick is bare metal, and when the oil is fresh I have to look at different angles and try multiple time to read the oil level. At around 600 miles the oil darkens a little and it's much easier to read.


Why did they screw up perfectly good flat metal dipstick that was on 04's and 05's is beyond me

In OP's case I would go ahead and change the oil and never use that shop again.

 

[oilyriser]

"trust but verify"

 

[addyguy]

If you have to check the oil on your brothers car, and he took it to a shop for maintenance; he's probably not too fussy about doing maintenance on the car, and he probably sent a long, long time on his last change.

Oil is probably dirty from all the junk in the engine from before....

 

[StevieC]

Originally Posted By: KrisZ
On my car it takes about 600 to 700 miles for the oil to start darkening. The reason I notice this, is because the oil dipstick on my car is so hard to read when oil is new.

Anyone with 2006+ Mazda 3 will confirm this, the dipstick is bare metal, and when the oil is fresh I have to look at different angles and try multiple time to read the oil level. At around 600 miles the oil darkens a little and it's much easier to read.


Why did they screw up perfectly good flat metal dipstick that was on 04's and 05's is beyond me

In OP's case I would go ahead and change the oil and never use that shop again.


Same with our Kia/Hyundai vehicles. The dipstick is like a raw aluminum colour and you can't see the reading without looking close and holding it at a certain angle. Takes about 1K KM (600 miles) to see it.

 

[demarpaint]

A lot of cars are that way, and a lot of oils are very clean. I made the switch from 0w20 Mobil 1 to ASM 0W20 in one of my vehicles, the Amsoil ASM is so clean it is very hard to see. IIRC one of our respected members said the most expensive additive to engine oil was dye, I think he might have been serious.

 

[oilyriser]

I've found new oil is easier to see if the previous fill was left in for a long time and very dark.