The oil looks darker after I added a quart

[GearheadTool]

Yesterday, I put a quart of Nextgen Maxlife (red label not green) 5W-30 in the 5-cyl turbo Volvo. Drove for a couple of hours, had the intermittent lights, getting codes scanned today most likely. Today the oil is just below the full marks on the crosshairs, and the oil looks a bit darker.

I dont know what kind of oil is in there but it looked recently changed. I am wondering if the quart of this oil is somehow initiating some more advanced cleaning? This is my first turbo engine, and the oil level is almost to the top of the crosshairs, yesterday it was slightly above the bottom of the crosshairs. Checked cold.

Are my observations off-base or is the oil I added doing anything? It is high in Moly content as well, that particular Maxlife Nextgen and that is why i selected it as opposed to other oils on the shelf! Ran me $7. I dont like Autozone!

 

[Donald]

If you want to look at oil wipe it on a white (unused) coffee filter. But looking at oil does not really tell a lot, only a UOA does. Now if you ran the same oil ,change after change and on one occasion it turned dark after 1000 miles and it never had before, it might be something to examine more closely.

 

[skyship]

It would be good to know the exact engine model, in addition to the last oil & filter change. What oil was used before adding the quart?
It is very rare for modern oils not to mix well, but if the original oil was a cheap one with ineffective detergent additives (Calcium compounds) and you add a good high detergent oil, then it might start chewing up sludge and turn black fairly quickly.

 

[JHZR2]

not sure why on an unknown car like this, it wouldnt already be in the shop for the TB change (and wp, antifreeze, etc while at it), and then be getting an oil change done on it with a good batch of cleaning oil...

 

[GearheadTool]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
not sure why on an unknown car like this, it wouldnt already be in the shop for the TB change (and wp, antifreeze, etc while at it), and then be getting an oil change done on it with a good batch of cleaning oil...


I cant just bring the car straight there, JHZR2! I topped it up, yes. Been checking as I go along. We are going to get it there when the money provides. It has been seeing getting her (my friend) to work in the A.M., and proved extremely useful over the T yesterday to pick up meds. Its the car, and it really was needed, and is! I am doing all that I can (this includes asking many questions) to plan to do the BEST that I can do.

Previous poster: it is a 5-cylinder Turbo non-T5 model, from what I know. Beyond that, all I know is that it is a 2000 V70 XC AWD.

 

[GearheadTool]

Who wants to see the fill hole? Please choose preferred thead, and it shall come to be. I also took a video of engine running but I do not know how to post that.

 

[GearheadTool]

Fill hole pic coming up.

 

[fdcg27]

You mean red bottle Maxlife, not Nextgen, which is in a slime green bottle.
These oils are effectively identical, and have some moly, although not loads of it.
I've found Maxlife to be an exellent choice for my old BMW, but it is not turbocharged, of course.
Were it not for the turbo, I'd recommend Maxlife 10W-40, Nextgen or not, for this Volvo engine, although on drains shorter than 7.5K.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, you may be on borrowed time with that timing belt.
I know that the replacement is not cheap, but it will be preferable to having your 2K bargain turn into a 2K lawn ornament.
You'll no doubt feel bad about spending seven or eight hundred dollars in maintenance on a car you just bought.
You'll feel worse if a sudden silence ensues while you're driving, and the engine cranks unusually quickly when you try to restart it.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, you may be on borrowed time with that timing belt.
I know that the replacement is not cheap, but it will be preferable to having your 2K bargain turn into a 2K lawn ornament.
You'll no doubt feel bad about spending seven or eight hundred dollars in maintenance on a car you just bought.
You'll feel worse if a sudden silence ensues while you're driving, and the engine cranks unusually quickly when you try to restart it.


Exactly. Penny wise pound foolish.