Dipstick color

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Oil on the dipstick - does lighter mean it's not cleaning? Or does it mean I have a clean engine?

After dumping Next Gen after 4200 miles, it was pitch black. Dark as ever. Put in my Mobil Super Syn, took a long trip, after 1,500 miles it's still a wonderful golden color on the dipstick.

What does the color mean, if anything, on the dipstick?
 
Only way you can really tell is by popping a valve cover really. There's too many variables to really tell anything. Some will say a dark oil is the oil doing more cleaning, some will say a clean oil might not be cleaning a dirty motor, clean oil might mean a clean motor...mix and match what you wanna believe.

But in general colour is no indication of oil and engine condition. I've had oil that stayed clean for a really long time, and I've had oil thats seemingly gone dark after the first 1k. My engine is in great shape regardless.
 
Originally Posted By: tommygunn

But in general colour is no indication of oil and engine condition. I've had oil that stayed clean for a really long time, and I've had oil thats seemingly gone dark after the first 1k. My engine is in great shape regardless.

Yes, color is useless. Some compounds in the oil may change color for various reasons.

Try using color on a diesel. Theres an exercise in futility.
 
Like yours, the oil never gets black on my dip stick, even after 10K. Just that dark amber colar. Also my engines stay very clean. Also engines that I have seen that had sludge, the oil was very black on the dip stick. And diesels always get black very quickly. Can't compare diesels to gas engines. Apples and oranges.
 
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I've noticed this too and i've come to my own conclusion. It's because on the dipstick it's only a very thin layer of oil so it's see through compared to when you change it it's much thicker when it's coming out of the drain plug hole so it's black. clean on the dipstick and black coming out. Also i've never seen an engine with black oil on the dipstick even at oil change time. Diesels are the exception though.
 
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Originally Posted By: tig1
Like yours, the oil never gets black on my dip stick, even after 10K. Just that dark amber colar. Also my engines stay very clean. Also engines that I have seen that had sludge, the oil was very black on the dip stick. And diesels always get black very quickly. Can't compare diesels to gas engines. Apples and oranges.

Dark amber is not how it went in. Mobil 1 is so clear its hard to see on the stick at first. So you indeed you have a darkening of the dip.
 
I think the color of a dipstick means something and can't be discounted. If the dip is turning black it may be a hint to something awry. Sludge, oil contamination from fuel, air filter/intake has a leak, running the oil too long are some. On the other side, an oil that looks the same on the stick at 5k as it did when it was first put in suggests to me its not a very good cleaner and lacks good suspension properties. I have seen this before. An unmentioned dino stays perfectly clean for 5k, Mobil 1 High mileage was very dark, had black sludge in it at 5k. Same car. Some say it means the oil is "burning". I have seen the example of one oil doing nothing, another turning black, same car, short tripper in the dead of winter. So flashing had nothing to do with it.

I presented reasons why I think dipstick color means something. Those that disagree please say why.
 
Originally Posted By: zerosoma
Oil on the dipstick - does lighter mean it's not cleaning? Or does it mean I have a clean engine?

After dumping Next Gen after 4200 miles, it was pitch black. Dark as ever. Put in my Mobil Super Syn, took a long trip, after 1,500 miles it's still a wonderful golden color on the dipstick.

What does the color mean, if anything, on the dipstick?

It looks like you change oil brands a lot, so I would say your story goes something like..

You switched to Next Gen from something you had been using for a while. The Next Gen was fouled at 4200 with deposits. To me it means Next Gen cleaned something the prior oil didn't. The next oil you put in, Mobil Super Syn is now running in a cleaner engine. But the Next Gen example was 4,200, and your question relates to 1,500. You cant make anything out of the comparison without using the same 4,200 for Mobil Super Syn.
 
Sticky rings = dark oil. Hot pistons and cheap VII = dark oil. Bad spray pattern on FI = dark oil. Hot heads and cheap basestock = dark oil. Unbalanced DP = dark oil. Good oil in dirty engine = dark oil.
 
My wife's 2002 Corolla is a known sludger and oil-consumer. I've been doing short 3k OCIs with name-brand dino and good filters for years and the oil always comes out dark brown as expected.

The most recent fill is NextGen MaxLife, which is the first time I've used a high-mileage oil to try to reduce the consumption. It's at about 2.5k miles and the oil on the stick is still just a medium/dark-ish gold color. So does that mean the MaxLife is doing less cleaning than a non-HM oil? Or is the Bosch Premium the greatest filter on the planet?
 
What did the Next Gen look like on the dipstick? Old oil at the drain plug can't be accurately compared to new oil on the stick.

Don't overthink this. My oil always looks dark in the drain pan, much darker than the dipstick would suggest. The oil always gradually darkens throughout the OCI, too, no matter the brand. The more worn-out the engine, the faster it happens.

Just for grins, try doing blotter tests every so many miles--put a drop of oil on an index card and see how the spots compare as the oil is run longer. You can probably find an explanation somewhere on this site.
 
Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
I presented reasons why I think dipstick color means something. Those that disagree please say why.


In my view, it means something if I find something abnormal. If I'm using the same oil and basically the same driving pattern for thousands upon thousands of miles, and something "weird" happens on the dipstick, I would take notice. If it's always fairly clean, but in one OCI it goes jet black, there's a problem. As you hinted at, jet black is not the same as really dark. Or, if it comes out with milky residue, I might have a PCV issue.

Aside from that, I find it problematic to discern much from the oil color, especially if comparing different vehicles and different oils. For example, when I had my 1999.5 F-150 Lightning (bought new), I ran a few conventional OCIs then switched to Mobil 1. I was doing the 3,000 mile thing at the time. The conventional Motorcraft stayed a lighter color than did the M1 over a similar interval. I just chalked that up to, "That's what M1 does in that engine."
 
Scrutinizing oil on the dipstick is problematic but fun none the less and I bet a whole lot of BITOG'ers do it.

As an example, my Jeep engine is known to be less than stellar clean inside the engine but not awful, but I can see crud. I have tried a lot of oils in it since I've had it, all will be dark brown at about 2,500 to 3k but PYB will turn that color in 1,500 miles, about a 1,000 miles earlier than anything else I've tried including Rotella. Does that mean PYB is cleaning better than anything else I've tried? Maybe, maybe not...but I find it interesting since PYB is promoted as a "cleaning" oil.

Any oil I've put MMO into has turned dark in about 500 miles, in that case yes I'd believe its cleaning too much of a coincidence.

I did one test run of Delo and a high concentration of MMO and it was absolutely black in a few hundred miles.
 
Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
Originally Posted By: tig1
Like yours, the oil never gets black on my dip stick, even after 10K. Just that dark amber colar. Also my engines stay very clean. Also engines that I have seen that had sludge, the oil was very black on the dip stick. And diesels always get black very quickly. Can't compare diesels to gas engines. Apples and oranges.

Dark amber is not how it went in. Mobil 1 is so clear its hard to see on the stick at first. So you indeed you have a darkening of the dip.


Yep, you are correct.
 
Originally Posted By: Bottom_Feeder
My wife's 2002 Corolla is a known sludger and oil-consumer. I've been doing short 3k OCIs with name-brand dino and good filters for years and the oil always comes out dark brown as expected.

The most recent fill is NextGen MaxLife, which is the first time I've used a high-mileage oil to try to reduce the consumption. It's at about 2.5k miles and the oil on the stick is still just a medium/dark-ish gold color. So does that mean the MaxLife is doing less cleaning than a non-HM oil? Or is the Bosch Premium the greatest filter on the planet?

Sludge isn't a problem on the 98-02 1.8L 1ZZ-FE. That sludge issue involves the larger I4's and V6's. Yours is the design of the pistons. Too few oil return holes. The few that are there are too small. They clog, the oil cant return to the sump, oil ends up in the combustion chamber. Especially at high revs, highway, etc. Until thats fixed thin oil is out of the question unless you dont mind adding 1qt every 600-1k. Its not a rubber valve seal problem, so a High Mileage oil wont help you much other than thickness or external leaks. My 00 corolla consumed a whole lot less of the rotella t6 5w40.
 
Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
Sludge isn't a problem on the 98-02 1.8L 1ZZ-FE. That sludge issue involves the larger I4's and V6's. Yours is the design of the pistons. Too few oil return holes. The few that are there are too small. They clog, the oil cant return to the sump, oil ends up in the combustion chamber. Especially at high revs, highway, etc. Until thats fixed thin oil is out of the question unless you dont mind adding 1qt every 600-1k. Its not a rubber valve seal problem, so a High Mileage oil wont help you much other than thickness or external leaks. My 00 corolla consumed a whole lot less of the rotella t6 5w40.

Interesting. Thanks for the info.
 
Repeated piston soaks is your best chance other than tear down. I cleared one with Kreen/Techron concentrate. Not sure which one was responsible. 1oz per cyl overnight, over and over and over.
 
Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
Originally Posted By: zerosoma
Oil on the dipstick - does lighter mean it's not cleaning? Or does it mean I have a clean engine?

After dumping Next Gen after 4200 miles, it was pitch black. Dark as ever. Put in my Mobil Super Syn, took a long trip, after 1,500 miles it's still a wonderful golden color on the dipstick.

What does the color mean, if anything, on the dipstick?

It looks like you change oil brands a lot, so I would say your story goes something like..

You switched to Next Gen from something you had been using for a while. The Next Gen was fouled at 4200 with deposits. To me it means Next Gen cleaned something the prior oil didn't. The next oil you put in, Mobil Super Syn is now running in a cleaner engine. But the Next Gen example was 4,200, and your question relates to 1,500. You cant make anything out of the comparison without using the same 4,200 for Mobil Super Syn.



Fair enough,

it seems that there's not much info on Mobil Super Syn, so I wasn't sure if it was a good cleaner.
 
The only thing I do go by for color on a gas engine, is if I go to buy a used car or look at one, the first 3 things I do is:

1) Pull the oil dip stick. If it is JET black, skip step 2 and go to step 3.
2) Pull the tranny dip stick. If it is JET black, go to step 3.
3) Don't bother, the car is abused don't inspect further.

I know it isn't a good method, but it is guaranteed to weed out the bad apples quickly. It surprises me how few people regularly check and change their motor oil. And Transmission fluid? The people who check and change that are even rarer.

Bonus: if it is an older car, 5+ years, and the brake fluid is clear... You may be in the process of buying a Bitoggers car
smile.gif


But when you pull the dipsticks and they are clean fluids, you may have a nice car on your hands. That is when you politely ask if they have service records before you bother with a test drive in case they only change the fluids before they sell a car.
 
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
Also i've never seen an engine with black oil on the dipstick even at oil change time. Diesels are the exception though.


Really? I have seen many a dipstick with black oil. Years ago, with all the blow by the oil would get really dark and nasty looking and smelling.
 
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