When to change oil by the color

[pedaltothemetal]

For my extended drain, I want to drain based on color rather than mileage. But in no way I am going over 6000 miles no matter what. So if it get too dark at 5000, I will drain it.
Say I check my oil at every fill up. What color should it look like before I should actually change it. From the colors I would guess "yellow let it mellow", "brown it ain't down", and "black give it the smack!"

 

[Ryan]

I guess it all depends. I have a 99 Z28... I put 6000 miles on Mobil 1 and sometimes the oil would be darker than others. I think it ended up looking darker when I drove around and didn't let the engine get hot enough, so I guess there was a lot of fuel in the oil. The next time I checked it after I drove around a lot, it was cleaner looking than before. When I drained it at 6000 it looked pretty clean for 6000.

 

[darrenc]

No offence, but oil color has little to do with its serviceability. In fact, in certain applications, I’d be particularly concerned if the oil didn’t turn deep brown (an indication that the detergents are working). Back in the day, when I switched from Castrol GTX to Delo in my Jeep Grand Cherokee, I was absolutely shocked at how quick the Chevron Delo turned deep brown/black: within about 1,500 miles. Now I know that it was due to the Delo’s high detergency cleaning out all the fudge left by the Castrol. Now I run extended intervals with my Jeep (15K-24K miles) with very good, if not excellent, trace constituent concentrations…using PAO synthetics, of course. When I drain that stuff, it looks down right nasty. Just something to think about at 1 am while drinking a nice Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. Merry Christmas!

[ December 24, 2002, 04:54 PM: Message edited by: darrenc ]

 

[satterfi]

You can buy an hour meter for less than $40. McMaster Carr # 1877T81 is only $34.

That makes more sense to me than using color or mileage for that matter.

I'm considering buying one of these since sometimes I do a lot of short driving and sometimes I do a lot of hiway driving.

 

[Smitty]

Why is it that cars and light trucks go by miles to do maintenance? Tractors, airplanes and other equipment use hours because of the relative short/long distances they travel in relation to hours run. You can have 2 cars, one with 100,000 miles and the other with 50,000 and both run the same number of hours. If I changed my Mom's oil by miles, I'd do it about every 5 years! It took me forever to convince her its months OR miles. I think it should be months OR hours.

 

[Ryan]

I would guess because airplanes usually go at a cruising speed, that being said, if we all drove our cars at a set highway speed all the time then maybe we could go by hours. That is my uneducated guess.

 

[Pablo]

Color doesn't tell you much. The oil in my turbo gets pretty dark at 5000 miles, but it is still fine at 10000 miles.

Diesels get oil REAL dark REAL fast - but have plenty of life left in them.

I'm not saying go over 6K or whatever - but listen to the guys that preach oil analysis over all

 

[pedaltothemetal]

I am still skeptical about the continued use of oil when it becomes black. Even if a oil is still serviceable, when it gets black it has a lot of very fine carbon particles in suspension. How else will it be black! You would think these particles can be abrasive. So why would you want to keep using it? Only way I would continue using it is if there is a filter that can strain them out. I know some taxi services that use toilet paper remote filters to clean all the carbon out of the oil. Also huge truck filters can do the same. But the puny Fram type spin on filters CAN'T. Until oil can be strain to amber, I will not go beyond BLACK color!

 

[segfault]

IMO, Mobil 1 starts out very dark compared to other oils. So I am not shocked when it gets very dark in between changes (10,000 miles).

 

[Tommy]

quote:

---

But in no way I am going over 6000 miles no matter what.

---

I cannot fault your theory but..............don't be calling it an extended drain!

 

[Jay]

For a particle to be abrasive it must be as hard or harder than the metals in your engine. The particles held in suspension that make the oil dark are not hard enough to cause abrasive wear.

 

[OneQuartLow]

Pedal, Beyond what's been said, you could also mistake light colored oil as good when it isn't. If you're talking about an OTC dino then 6K might just be pushing your luck. I'd pay once or twice for baseline tests and eliminate the guesswork.

David

 

[MolaKule]

"If you can't see the stick,
give it a flick."

 

[pedaltothemetal]

quote:

---

Originally posted by MolaKule:
"If you can't see the stick,
give it a flick."

---

That a good one!

 

[pedaltothemetal]

Seriously long haul truckers would never use oil that is black and inundated with carbon, and soot. Look at what they use to filter their oil so it takes all that stuff out. Bypass filters! If you do REAL extended drains you should have one!
Here is a link to one:

http://www.oilguard.com/

 

[pedaltothemetal]

Here is more info from:
http://www.oilguard.com/side_menu/bypass_filtration/bypass_intro.php

The two most important points to understand about oil filtration and engine protection:

Oil does not wear out – it gets dirty.
According to studies – 90% of engine wear is caused by dirty or "contaminated" oil.
What exactly is contamination and how does it enter an engine’s oil system?

There are four main types of harmful contamination that can enter your engine’s oil system. For an in-depth description of each type, click on a link.

Engine Wear (metal particles)

Sulfuric Acid (soot and water combined)

Environmental Dust (caused by a worn air cleaner)

Fuel (dilution)

Standard Filters versus the OilGuard Bypass Filtration System

Standard engine filters, also known as full-flow filters, are incapable of maintaining oil purity at a level that prevents most engine wear. To compensate for this weakness, manufacturers recommend an oil change every 3,000-4,000 miles.

The basic job of a standard full flow filter is to trap large contamination particles ranging in size from 15-40 microns, while at the same time allowing 7-10 gallons of oil to pass through the filter per minute. The most damaging contamination particles however are not in the 15-40 micron range, but in the smaller 5-15 micron range. Just for reference a human hair is 100 microns. Particles in this smaller range get wedged between moving engine parts, causing friction, resulting in engine wear.

To effectively remove these smaller damaging particles and to guard against engine wear, a bypass filter must be used. OilGuard’s patented bypass filtration system removes contamination particles as small as 1 micron, thereby providing an engine with four main benefits.

Cleaner Oil

Reduced Wear
Longer Engine Life

Extended Oil Change Intervals

[ December 25, 2002, 03:49 PM: Message edited by: pedaltothemetal ]

 

[Ken2]

Pedal--your point is...?

We can read bypass filter blather for ourselves, and many of us can write it. Sure, bypass filters work, and unless you drive a lot, plan on owning your vehicle for a long time, plan on transferring that filter to your next vehicle bypass filters usually aren't worth the money.

And, color can tell us a few things about motor oil, but not if it's time to change it. Diesel engines will have soot-black oil from just about the first running after the oil change, and the oil is good for many, many more miles or hundreds of hours.

Ken

 

[pedaltothemetal]

I'm just a new guy finding out more and more info. Guess you have seen this info for a million times. Anyways I have gathered all my info now, and will know now what to do without any more confusion. My head is straight!

 

[G-MAN]

quote:

---

Originally posted by pedaltothemetal:
The basic job of a standard full flow filter is to trap large contamination particles ranging in size from 15-40 microns, while at the same time allowing 7-10 gallons of oil to pass through the filter per minute. The most damaging contamination particles however are not in the 15-40 micron range, but in the smaller 5-15 micron range. Just for reference a human hair is 100 microns. Particles in this smaller range get wedged between moving engine parts, causing friction, resulting in engine wear.

To effectively remove these smaller damaging particles and to guard against engine wear, a bypass filter must be used.

---

This is such BS. (That comment is not directed at you, pedaltothemetal.) Mobil has done numerous extended drain and high mileage tests using OTC Mobil 1 as well as experimental Mobil 1 blends, and in all cases--even on the BMW they ran ONE MILLION miles--the wear numbers on cams, bearings, rings, and cylinders were all within the specs for a NEW engine. The only filters used were OEM spec full-flow filters. And in the case of the "Aunt Minnie" test, the car was run for FIVE YEARS on the same oil and filter.

There is no doubt that a bypass filter will filter the oil better than a full-flow filter. But the evidence just isn't there to show that your engine is going to self-destruct from abnormal wear if you don't use one. Ain't gonna happen.

 

[Kernel Potter]

Instead of using oil color to determine when to change oil, it seems a blotter test should be more accurate. From reading this link, it seems doing this test, will generally tell you if there's remaining life still left in the oil.

http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=21;t=000001