What would cause oil to darken quickly?

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The Mobil 1 in my '94 Camaro always turns dark pretty faster (faster than any of our other cars that run it). Could this be from sludge? The oil analysis I ran last time showed normal wear. Thanks.
 
I should add I've only done two changes since I bought it. Could this be the Mobil 1 cleaning deposits out of my engine? The previous owner used Valvoline group III and only drove it on weekends.

[ February 02, 2003, 07:14 PM: Message edited by: RobZ71LM7 ]
 
What about with other oils? It could be that your engine simply turns any oil darker faster. My wife's Honda doesn't turn oil dark at all, not even after 5k. But my 95 Firebird Formula turns it dark pretty fast (but oil analysis looks good)
 
I haven't tried any other oils. I'm thinking of running Mobil Drive Clean 10w30 with some AutoRx since it (autorx) seems to have cleaned your LT1 up so well.
 
I HAVE A 98 EXPEDITION 5.4 L AND CROWN VIC 4.6 98 I USE IN BOTH DELVAC 1 AND EVEN WITH MOBIL 1 SS MY OILS STAY REALLY CLEAN EVEN WITH 2500 MILES ON IT AND THEY DO NOT USE 1 DROP OF OIL.
 
quote:

Originally posted by boxcartommie22:
I HAVE A 98 EXPEDITION 5.4 L AND CROWN VIC 4.6 98 I USE IN BOTH DELVAC 1 AND EVEN WITH MOBIL 1 SS MY OILS STAY REALLY CLEAN EVEN WITH 2500 MILES ON IT AND THEY DO NOT USE 1 DROP OF OIL.

Same here on my '00 Silverado that I use Mobil 1 in.
 
i seen new cars that can have oil for ever and still be clean. unlike older cars the oil changes color quick..like my accord...its a 91 and at 1500 miles i see it start to turn color to a darker color...i do have alot of crap in there but i havent got a hold of ne neutra cleaner to clean it out, maybe thats my oil working to clean my engine? or maybe its something else?

hehe ne one know if i can get neutra for my oil in a store?
 
Maybee it's a diesel j/k
wink.gif
The first thought that I had was blowby. In my 1998 Z28 the harder I drive it the quicker it gets dark.
 
the oil in my saturn usually stays clean looking till 1500-2000 miles into the interval.

--Matt
 
I think it's doing it's job well in terms of cleaning/keeping your engine clean. My 4.3 S10 with 135k I used to have always stayed pretty clean with 3k intervals. However LT1's are reverse cooled, so the oil temps are hotter which certainly puts more of a strain on any oil. Synthetics such as M1 and Redline, etc are probably the best thing for those motors especially ones without oil coolers.

Just some food for thought. I have a test of a 96 Grand Sport Corvette (LT4's) from Car and Driver. They spent a paragraph saying how much synthetic is needed in these cars without the coolers. When they did a top speed run in it, they were scarcely up there for maybe a minute when the oil temp guage became pegged in the red zone
shocked.gif
. Granted for an oil like M1 or Redline, that's no hard feat to, but for dino oils, that's a bit of a strain and risk I wouldn't take if I had an LT1 car. A GM engineer they quoted said that is the exact reason GM recommends synthetic in LT1 and LT4 engines.

Jason
 
quote:

Originally posted by boxcartommie22:
I HAVE A 98 EXPEDITION 5.4 L AND CROWN VIC 4.6 98 I USE IN BOTH DELVAC 1 AND EVEN WITH MOBIL 1 SS MY OILS STAY REALLY CLEAN EVEN WITH 2500 MILES ON IT AND THEY DO NOT USE 1 DROP OF OIL.

that must mean you never start the engine.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Greg:

quote:

Originally posted by boxcartommie22:
I HAVE A 98 EXPEDITION 5.4 L AND CROWN VIC 4.6 98 I USE IN BOTH DELVAC 1 AND EVEN WITH MOBIL 1 SS MY OILS STAY REALLY CLEAN EVEN WITH 2500 MILES ON IT AND THEY DO NOT USE 1 DROP OF OIL.

that must mean you never start the engine.


I thought his reply was really useful too
rolleyes.gif
.
 
quote:

Originally posted by mebanditws6:
I think it's doing it's job well in terms of cleaning/keeping your engine clean.

That's what I'm thinking so I'm going to try a flush before the next oil change.
 
I wouldn't do a flush as this could start to or plug up the pickup screen with gunk being basically moved from the engine to the oil pan. Trust me, this happened on my Jeep (but it was so bad it lost oil pressure on occassion on a long drive). Somehow, the rod bearings and everything else is still in good shape much to my mechanic's suprise. Keep doing what you're doing as this will best clean out the motor by liquifying it and not stopping up anything.

Jason
 
quote:

Originally posted by RobZ71LM7:

quote:

Originally posted by Greg:

quote:

Originally posted by boxcartommie22:
I HAVE A 98 EXPEDITION 5.4 L AND CROWN VIC 4.6 98 I USE IN BOTH DELVAC 1 AND EVEN WITH MOBIL 1 SS MY OILS STAY REALLY CLEAN EVEN WITH 2500 MILES ON IT AND THEY DO NOT USE 1 DROP OF OIL.

that must mean you never start the engine.


I thought his reply was really useful too
rolleyes.gif
.


Actually Greg is correct. It's impossible to have an internal combustion engine that uses zero oil. By nature that is never going to happen. But some engines do consume so little that in 3000 miles they might only be down 50ml, so not even enough of a drop to register on the dipstick.
 
I think someone was tryin to be a wiseguy in saying the Ford modular motors are crap.

Prior to 98, the modular motors had faulty valve stem seals which would cause oil consumption.

However, sometime after 99, Ford began to use revised valve stem seals.

As long as the engines are broken in properly, they wont consume much oil (not enough to register on the dipstick).
 
quote:

Originally posted by mebanditws6:
Or just do the auto-rx treatment and be done with it in a matter of 2k miles or so.

Jason


That's actually what I was going to use I knew I shouldn't have used the word "flush."

Patman I agree with Greg I was actually talking about boxcartommie's remark.
 
quote:

Originally posted by metroplex:
I think someone was tryin to be a wiseguy in saying the Ford modular motors are crap.

Prior to 98, the modular motors had faulty valve stem seals which would cause oil consumption.

However, sometime after 99, Ford began to use revised valve stem seals.

As long as the engines are broken in properly, they wont consume much oil (not enough to register on the dipstick).


I've never been a big fan of those things from the start. Don't get me wrong they're not bad engines, but they aren't as durable as the old 302's, 351's of yore. By far the weakest link on the Lightnings is the rods. The block castings aren't the best for stiffness either. Granted the 03 Cobras have some nice bottom end parts, but then again having a forged crank, rods, and pistons should make for a strong bottom end on just about any V8.

Jason
 
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