Changed oil, came out pitch black..normal?

3773 Views 8 Replies 6 Participants Last post by randeez11, Oct 15, 2012

BK2BLKGT

Discussion Starter · Oct 14, 2012

Changed my oil today after hitting 30k and my last was at 24 or 25k if i remember correctly. oil came out pitch black, is this normal? always used motorcraft oil 5w-20 syn blend with the filter.

Thought it should have looked a bit lighter and now im wondering if this motorcraft filter is garbage or just normal with this engine.

thanks

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duckbubbles

· #2 · Oct 14, 2012

You can't say for sure without having it analyzed. 5-6000 miles on the oil, I wouldn't be too concerned.

Frank

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BK2BLKGT

Discussion Starter · #3 · Oct 14, 2012

cool, appreciate the quick response.

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1st RoadRage

· #4 · Oct 14, 2012

I agree you cannot tell anything from the color - old pros can tell a lot by the smell, and by how the oil looks on blotter paper. This is also true for ATF's by the way.

But UOA's are the only scientifically means to determine how your engine, oil, and filter are performing. Keep in mind that a good UOA sequenxe involves at least 3 analyses done continuously (that is, without skipping an oil change analysis). A cheap tool that can alert of dramatic internal probs is a magnetic oil drain plug. Large shards can alert of serious issues requiring further research, while fine dust-like sludge is normal.

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BK2BLKGT

Discussion Starter · #5 · Oct 14, 2012

1st RoadRage said:
I agree you cannot tell anything from the color - old pros can tell a lot by the smell, and by how the oil looks on blotter paper. This is also true for ATF's by the way.

But UOA's are the only scientifically means to determine how your engine, oil, and filter are performing. Keep in mind that a good UOA sequenxe involves at least 3 analyses done continuously (that is, without skipping an oil change analysis). A cheap tool that can alert of dramatic internal probs is a magnetic oil drain plug. Large shards can alert of serious issues requiring further research, while fine dust-like sludge is normal.

and with that i will be buying a mag oil drain plug lol:bigthumbsup

thanks.

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stevegt2012

· #6 · Oct 14, 2012

If oil doesn't get dirty it is not doing it's job. Every time I drain oil it looks black in the pan too, even though it did not look that way on the dipstick prior to draining.

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randeez11

· #7 · Oct 14, 2012

It is quite common in any engine to have black oil after 5,000 miles. A lot also depends on driving conditions. A lot of stop and go driving, constant cold to warm engine conditions will get quite a bit of carbon in the oil. I wouldnt worry about it. As for a magnetic drain plug. having metallic particles in the oil have absolutly nothing to do with oil being black. Aluminum, cast iron and steel are not black.

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Bryonl

· #8 · Oct 14, 2012

Like Steve said. If the oil is not dirty, it is not suspending the contaminants for the filter to clean. If your oil in not dirty, then the contaminants are staying in your engine somewhere, so dirty is good.

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randeez11

· #9 · Oct 15, 2012

Bryonl said:
Like Steve said. If the oil is not dirty, it is not suspending the contaminants for the filter to clean. If your oil in not dirty, then the contaminants are staying in your engine somewhere, so dirty is good.

True. We aint driving model A's any longer. Hense the appearance of "detergent" oil lol.

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