People want dirty oil, why?

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Why do some people seem obsessed with wanting their oil to darken so much? I have a 2001 Camry 4cyl with high mileage that has never darkened it's oil hardly at all, at worst 6,000 miles maybe a shade darker, I had my valve cover off last weekend and you could eat off of it, slight varnish, that's it...I take "clean" looking oil as a sign of little blow-by, and by the looks of my engine /oil that's the case, what are you thoughts on this?!I've had this car since brand new , Trop-Artic 10w30 almost its entire life @ 5,000 miles oci's.
 
Originally Posted By: zach1900
Why do some people seem obsessed with wanting their oil to darken so much?

Huh?

Not sure I know what you're referring to. Who wants this?

Besides, oil color has little to do with the oil's actual condition.
 
They want it to look dirty because the combustion byproduct are being kept in suspension by the oil to allow them to be removed from the engine when the oil change is done. If your vehicles engine doesn't make as much byproducts as the next engine then your oil doesn't collect as many.
 
It just seems some people want their oil to darken the day they put it in as proof it's cleaning, I've had vehicles that darkened oil very quickly and incidentally had moderate blow-by, sorry I am not very good at articulating my thoughts.
 
It takes absolutely nothing except heat to darken motor oil. I just poured brand new motor oil into a saucepan and heated it to almost 500 degrees on the kitchen stove. It started smoking pretty good so I took it out on the concrete back porch.

I have an infrared thermometer that goes to 750 degrees. I turned off the stove and used leather gloves and channel lock pliers to pick up the hot pan and take it outside. If I can figure out how to post pictures of this, I will.

I also needed to get it out of the house before mom comes home and breaks my arm. Got some smoke in the house, smells like a garage.
 
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That's what I suspected , more so than actual dirt, as my engine has always seem to run pretty cool even during the summer.
 
Originally Posted By: zach1900
That's what I suspected , more so than actual dirt, as my engine has always seem to run pretty cool even during the summer.


all engines should have very high piston crown temps or they aren't combusting fuel properly. piston skirts should also be very hot. Being overly cool accelerates wear as well. I'm pretty sure the hotter the engine is the more efficient it is.
 
I have tried Mobile 1 and Pennzoil ultimate on ocassion, the Pennzoil actually darkened the oil by 2,000 miles more than any other motor oil I've tried.
 
Originally Posted By: Ihatetochangeoil
It takes absolutely nothing except heat to darken motor oil. I just poured brand new motor oil into a saucepan and heated it to almost 500 degrees on the kitchen stove. It started smoking pretty good so I took it out on the concrete back porch.

I have an infrared thermometer that goes to 750 degrees. I turned off the stove and used leather gloves and channel lock pliers to pick up the hot pan and take it outside. If I can figure out how to post pictures of this, I will.

I also needed to get it out of the house before mom comes home and breaks my arm. Got some smoke in the house, smells like a garage.


I have been known to use the bathtub to wash an engine, and the oven to bake on paint........But heating oil to the point of combustion in the kitchen.......Why?
 
Originally Posted By: Ihatetochangeoil
It takes absolutely nothing except heat to darken motor oil. I just poured brand new motor oil into a saucepan and heated it to almost 500 degrees on the kitchen stove. It started smoking pretty good so I took it out on the concrete back porch.

I have an infrared thermometer that goes to 750 degrees. I turned off the stove and used leather gloves and channel lock pliers to pick up the hot pan and take it outside. If I can figure out how to post pictures of this, I will.

I also needed to get it out of the house before mom comes home and breaks my arm. Got some smoke in the house, smells like a garage.


in over 9 years on bitog, I can't recall anyone doing anything as dumb as this, and then announcing it to the world, per bitog. no disrespect, but you 'gotta admit -- this IS dumb.
i already have a copy of this on my fridge.
some of us will be playing cards tonight, and all will be lol when they see this. thank you for my best laugh of the year , so far.
(are you carnoobie, chevy ????, ght, or technolog ?)
have a good evening.
 
It didn't "combust." A little smoke, it turned black. I have spent hundreds of dollars on UOA and particle counts, read countless opinions on "soot" which mean nothing to a gasoline engine. http://www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/712/diesel-engine-oil-particle

Now I KNOW what it takes to turn new motor oil black. No speculation. Heat alone. Which is absolutely normal in an internal combustion engine. I PASSED the flash point and it didn't actually burn, just smoked. https://www.amsoil.com/lit/databulletins/g2880.pdf There was a source of heat, but NOT a source of ignition.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_point Flash point is NOT to be confused with autoignition temperature.

Besides, the QUANTITY that I did was rather small. GASOLINE does not burn only because of heat. You need an IGNITION source. I didn't say I threw a match in it. A liquid past its flash point does NOT "spontaneously ignite;" without a source of ignition, it is CAPABLE of ignition. Yes, dangerous. BTW, I used to be a welder for a living; and I don't mean in the barn. Union Boilermaker, 6G certified with Inconel, F43.

I've never washed an engine in the bathtub, but when I was single, I kept my Harley in the living room. Didn't want it outside in the winter. Mom came home and got ****

Thanks for your interest. And maybe some humorous folks will watch for my next post. One test is worth a thousand expert opinions.
 
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Originally Posted By: Ihatetochangeoil
It takes absolutely nothing except heat to darken motor oil. I just poured brand new motor oil into a saucepan and heated it to almost 500 degrees on the kitchen stove. It started smoking pretty good so I took it out on the concrete back porch.

I have an infrared thermometer that goes to 750 degrees. I turned off the stove and used leather gloves and channel lock pliers to pick up the hot pan and take it outside. If I can figure out how to post pictures of this, I will.

I also needed to get it out of the house before mom comes home and breaks my arm. Got some smoke in the house, smells like a garage.


You're pulling our leg, right? You could probably make some pretty good popcorn that way.

Reminds me of a drinking buddy from long ago who used the vegetable crisper from the fridge of the house he was renting, to catch his drained oil.
 
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So, in your "9 years on BITOG," not counting today, have you learned so much as what turns used motor oil black?

Maybe I will now send it in for an oil analysis. Do you think it might still be useful in an engine? Who knows? What do you think the TBN and viscosity is? Is there anyone who feels confident enough to answer that? Maybe API service category SN is truly a marvel of modern chemistry?

Enjoy your card game tonight. Stay tuned; you might learn something.
 
Originally Posted By: Ihatetochangeoil
It takes absolutely nothing except heat to darken motor oil. I just poured brand new motor oil into a saucepan and heated it to almost 500 degrees on the kitchen stove. It started smoking pretty good so I took it out on the concrete back porch.

I have an infrared thermometer that goes to 750 degrees. I turned off the stove and used leather gloves and channel lock pliers to pick up the hot pan and take it outside. If I can figure out how to post pictures of this, I will.

I also needed to get it out of the house before mom comes home and breaks my arm. Got some smoke in the house, smells like a garage.


I agree with this concept. It is the heat from ring pack area at shut down that mostly cooks the oil and darkens it by oxidation. And that's why I always idle for a minute or two before shutting it down. Nothing dumb about empiric testing like that. This kind of curiosity is healthy, appart from the kitchen area.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/3544436/Re:_Pratical_oxidation_avoidan#Post3544436
 
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Originally Posted By: yeti
Originally Posted By: Ihatetochangeoil
It takes absolutely nothing except heat to darken motor oil. I just poured brand new motor oil into a saucepan and heated it to almost 500 degrees on the kitchen stove. It started smoking pretty good so I took it out on the concrete back porch.

I have an infrared thermometer that goes to 750 degrees. I turned off the stove and used leather gloves and channel lock pliers to pick up the hot pan and take it outside. If I can figure out how to post pictures of this, I will.

I also needed to get it out of the house before mom comes home and breaks my arm. Got some smoke in the house, smells like a garage.


in over 9 years on bitog, I can't recall anyone doing anything as dumb as this, and then announcing it to the world, per bitog. no disrespect, but you 'gotta admit -- this IS dumb.
i already have a copy of this on my fridge.
some of us will be playing cards tonight, and all will be lol when they see this. thank you for my best laugh of the year , so far.
(are you carnoobie, chevy ????, ght, or technolog ?)
have a good evening.


Your recollection is poor.

Ihatetochangeoil, your first post should have been written as well as your reply to its response. You set yourself up.

//

People who are trying to clean up a used engine look for a change in color as am indication of a proper cleansing. If the oil doesn't change color then the oil obviously isn't cleaning... Right? Who knows.
 
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My 2005 Altima 3.5 tuned oil black quickly since it was brand new. My 2008 Corolla the oil still looks clean after 4 or 5K.
 
Originally Posted By: gathermewool

People who are trying to clean up a used engine look for a change in color as am indication of a proper cleansing. If the oil doesn't change color then the oil obviously isn't cleaning... Right? Who knows.

But the fact that oil changes color is absolutely no proof that it's doing any cleaning.
 
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