Synth oil really dark 1200 miles after ARX rinse completed

[Jim 5]

- Did the ARX clean phase
- Did the ARX rinse phase on conventional oil

Switched back to Synthetic oil (XD3 0w-30), and 1200 miles later, the oil is really black. Seems blacker than it got during the ARX clean or rinse phase.

Could the HDEO be cleaning up some deposits that were loosened up by the ARX cycles?

Truck has 175k miles.

Anybody have any thoughts?

 

[Hammer]

yeah, it's still probably cleaning stuff out.

Hammer

 

[JeffPGH]

With 175K miles, you should have done 2 ARX treatments.

 

[bulwnkl]

I have observed in many vehicles over the years that HDEO darkens further and faster than 'regular' oil. Also, remember that oil color is NOT necessarily an indication of cleanliness. It has been posted here before (by the smart guys, not just me) that some additives are temperature-sensitive wrt color. IOW, they'll darken when heated. Thus, color doesn't necessarily tell you anything.

Though I always thought color was significant I learned the lesson above very well this past summer/fall when I got quite nervous about the dark color of my synthetic oil while on an extended drain. I had just completed a Neutra clean and rinse cycle. The oil sample was 'lost' in the mail and I chickened out and drained it in another couple thousand miles. The sample eventually made it to the lab (about 2-3 months late) and then over to Dyson Analysis. It was a spectacular analysis in that, besides very low wear metals, the TBN was still between 5 and 6 at 8200 miles and insolubles were 0.0%. The color was purely a temperature reaction.

 

[dbdeland]

Jim 5,

You may need to Auto-Rx it again it with the milage you have on your engine I had 185,000 on my van and I did 3 cleanings and I use the maintence program also good luck.

 

[Jim 5]

I should have done 2 arx treatments, but I didn't because I have the maintenance records for this truck showing an oil change every 3k miles for 175k.

I'm going to do a used oil analysis at around 4k to see how things are doing.

I'm not fussed about the color, but I found it interesting that it got so black so fast! It's the first time I've tried an HDEO on this vehicle, so it's interesting to see the difference.

 

[raynorway]

Have experienced exactly the same, after 2 treatments and rinses I switched to synthetic and it turned pitch black after just a few miles.
Somehow the synthetic oil washed out a lot more. The oil in the next change (also synthetic) stayed clear a looong time, and the OA of that oil showed no soot and very low wear.
My engine is a diesel, -yours too??

 

[Jim 5]

No, my engine is a Chevrolet 5.7L V8 gas, so the black couldn't be soot as I understand it.

I thought the synth/HDEO might be scavenging some junk that the ARX loosened up!

I like to think this is what is going on. We'll see how the next OCI looks.

By the way, I installed the same oil in my wife's acura 3.2TL at the same time, and she has gone triple the miles and her oil is clean...so there is a big difference.

However, her car has been on 3k miles OCI's from new on M1 Synthetic (in my pre-Bitog days)....her engine was plenty clean to begin with. A peep inside the oil fill hole shows sparkling clean internals....silvery new with not a hint of varnish.