I am a lil worried about a few things with my car. The other day my car was in the garage, flat surface, cold. so i decided just to check my oil level. Now I have 25K Amsoil oil in there and im not due to even change the filter until 19,200 miles. I'm, only at about 15,600 right now. When I pull the dip stick, the oil was VERY dark, almost black.. maybe I'm wrong (Which is usually the case) but I thought that the oil being dark was a bad thing?? Chelly, Dan, Rick maybe.. can you guys help me out on this one? Thanks in advance!!
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It's not about what you have under the hood, it's about who you have behind the wheel...
Chelly, I dont think she has, 6 months will be in October... and I dont think she has gone 12,500 miles yet... i could be wrong.
Tiff... i dont know what to tell ya... when my oil was draining onto the highway it looked all good.... and it was obviously workin since my engine didnt seize... hell... your oil has only been in your car like 30 min longer than mine was... cant see it gettin the dirty that fast unless you are doin something to that car we dont know about.
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I would say if you're worried about it, feel free to change your filter early or we can do an analysis if you like.
I've been running Amsoil for nearly 30kmiles (collectively from 7500-the series 2000 now) and my oil is always very clean.
I'm assuming the engine flush took care of most contaminants from the conventional oil, but then again, there may have been some residual left. Potentially enough to cause whatever was left to make the synth look dirty. Only a theory here. Are you experiencing any issues? noise, burnoff etc? is your level still good?
You just let me know what you would like to do and we'll work on it together.
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Chelly- I am due to change my filter at 19,200 miles, that will be the 12,500 mark. The oil is very dark and i dont think it could be from anything left in there. We did the engine flush and all should have been well shouldnt it. Even if i change the filter. thats not going to change the color of the oil right? It just seems like something has to be wrong and now that I know about it, I want to take care of it so I dont do furthur damage.
I dont think I drive my car harder than others to cause this to happen or anything. So I dunno, what do you think I should do?
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It's not about what you have under the hood, it's about who you have behind the wheel...
ok, here is a question for those of you experiencing the "dark" oil.
Tiff, is this your first change to synthetic on your car? I'm thinking yes and if that is so, the detergents are, in fact, doing their job and suspending the contaminants up and off of the surfaces where they would acumulate and/or cause damage.
it is meant to suspende particles so they don't "stick" and "gunk up" or "sludge" as conventional oils do.
As I've said, I've run my car with Amsoil synthetics for nearly 30k miles now and my oils are always very clean. I'm going to call my tech service dept. and see what they have for information for you and everyone who may be concerned.
***Just got off the Tech Service line with "TIM" and he did verify that this is very normal and you should worry if this was not the case.
The coloring you are seeing is microscopic and the oil is doing what is is meant to do, as I mentioned, and keeping the deposits from "sticking" to the internals of the engine.
I will say that it is very good and IMPORTANT! that everyone, even though you're running this 25k-35k mile change interval oil that you check your oil each week as you would with conventional oils.
This oil has a very minute vaporization "burnoff" ratio, but it can happen, so I do suggest that everyone do as they should each week with your vehicle anyway.
1 - Always Check your oil after it has had a chance to cool and settle
2 - Check your tire pressure each week while tires are cool to make sure you're running at the proper PSI
3 - Enjoy your car!
Last edited on Tue Aug 17th, 2004 05:57 pm by Chelly03PZEV
____________________ Get in, Sit down, Shut up and HANG ON!
You cant judge an oil's condition by the color of it. The engine heat alone is going to turn it darker over time, however, it does not mean the oil is not doing its job. Only oil analysis alone can accurately gauge an oils condition and the amout of usefulness it has left. That being said you can get a rough idea of how the filters are doing using a simple test. Its not a scientific way of gauging the oil, but it will give a general idea of the condition of the oil and the filters.
Pull your dipstick out within a few minutes after shutting the engine off. Pull the dipstick between your fingers, then rub the oil you pull off between your fingers. If it feels 'gritty' then you are probably building up contaminants in your oil and is an indication of the filters probably being clogged up or not doing their job.
You mentioned that you weren't due to change the filter until 19,200 miles. If you were running non-synthetic oils prior to that you still shouldnt have had too much build up internally from that, certainly not more than the Amsoil engine flush could handle.
So I would say that what you are seeing is as Chelly stated, the oil doing its job. Every car is going to react a little differently. Some will darken over time, others may look brand new for nearly the life of the oil. As long as you dont have a lot of 'grit' in the oil, you're probably fine. However, an oil analysis will tell you with certainty. I do recommend to customers of mine that my be a little 'concerned' about the extended drain intervals to get an oil analysis done a couple times the first time they use Amsoil just to give them the confidence that the oil is way more capable in doing what is is stated it can do. It does drive up the overall cost of using the oil the first time around, but there is nothing like a visual cue in the form of lab test results to show them they have made a sound decision in their choice of engine lubrication.
____________________ My car is a synner! It uses Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants.
2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP
It whines a lot, but I like it
