Green Factory fill oil

[Nick R]

So changed out the FF today at 817 miles for PP and a motorcraft filter. When I captured some in a clean, dry bottle (waiting for sample kit from [censored]). Look at the color!!! It's GREEN! What the heck?

Also, the Factory filter looks to be a Champion Labs filter, a Mobil 1/K&N Clone judging from the baseplate. Hope to get it cut open later tonight and will post pics. In the meantime... Wth?

 

[hounddog]

Factory uses different dyes in different fliuds.Keeps them from getting fliuds mixed up plus if any thing leaking they have a clue to what.

 

[SZR48207]

Why did you change out the FF at 800 miles? Why not let it go at least 5k?

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Reddy45
Why did you change out the FF at 800 miles? Why not let it go at least 5k?

Here comes another debate on when to drain FF...

 

[addyguy]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Reddy45
Why did you change out the FF at 800 miles? Why not let it go at least 5k?

Here comes another debate on when to drain FF...

That's NOT an unreasonable question - 800 miles is unecessarily short for a dump of the FF. After Nick said he would originally go 2k on the FF and then go to PP, it shows how easy it is to give into 'new car hysteria' - "Oh no! It's full of break in metal! It'll chew the engine to bits!"

Oh well - what'cha gonna do?

The green colour most likely come partially from engine assembly lubes being disslolved into the oil. Nick has said he got his car with like 4 miles on it, so it would have lots of assembly lube that has gotten into the oil during this 800 miles.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: addyguy


That's NOT an unreasonable question - 800 miles is unecessarily short for a dump of the FF.

I'm with you on this, but there's a bunch of BITOGers here as well who will tell you that 800 miles on FF is way too long and they would have changed it 3 times already by then.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: hounddog
Factory uses different dyes in different fliuds.Keeps them from getting fliuds mixed up plus if any thing leaking they have a clue to what.

I like this explanation.

 

[Nick R]

I was going to leave in for 2k, but I changed my mind and decided I'd rather have PP in it than unidentified oil from factory. At first I thought maybe it was GC! lol

 

[MetalSlug]

send it to the lab,

 

[Audi Junkie]

First OCI depends on the mfg of the vehicle. I did mine at 1000.

Green is a common colour for "work shop" oil. This is partly for customers to know they got a specific spec oil at service. This is why GC was dyed green, it's for extended drain applications where all involved need to know the proper oil was used.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Audi Junkie
First OCI depends on the mfg of the vehicle.

Can you elaborate on this?

 

[Audi Junkie]

Well, just guesswork that the mfgs that show high break-in metals, like my VW 2.0T, would benefit from an early OC, verses say a Honda with low break-in metals.

 

[Rockford Fosgate Fan]

I ran my FF to 5K but that is also going by the manual as well.

 

[saberz]

I usually go 2500-3k on my FF. Gives it more than enough time and different driving habits to get most of the engine settled in. Lots of highway, city and high revving when I had my tC.

 

[addyguy]

Originally Posted By: Nick R
I was going to leave in for 2k, but I changed my mind and decided I'd rather have PP in it than unidentified oil from factory. At first I thought maybe it was GC! lol


'Unidentified factory oil' LOL!

You've been here long enough you KNOW it's MC 5W-20 - you just wanted an excuse to change it!

...which is fine, but c'mon, who do you think you're foolin'???

 

[Throckmorton]

Could be Brad Penn.

 

[mechtech2]

Who knows what extra additives are in the initial factory fill for any new car?
This of course includes any break in lube smeared on parts.

It would have been best to leave the oil that was in there, in there. At least for a couple of thousand miles.
This is 2010.

 

[sciphi]

Likely no harm in changing it early. There are pros and cons to each. Pros of leaving it in: factory break-in things work longer. Con: possibly more metal flowing around.

FF changed at ~2k miles on the Fit (factory recommendation for FF: 10k miles), then PYB, next PP, now M1 Xw-20's. Currently ~5000 miles on this change, hasn't burned a drop of M1. Fuel economy averaging right about 30-31 mpg with lots of spirited highway driving (her).

 

[MNgopher]

If you search around:

The green oil color may be from assembly lubes and or oil with dye in it to aid in leak detection.

The factory filter is a Champion filter - not the Motorcraft Purolator you buy at the store. Easy way to verify if the car was ever serviced after leaving the factory, no?

 

[Ben99GT]

Originally Posted By: hounddog
Factory uses different dyes in different fliuds.Keeps them from getting fliuds mixed up plus if any thing leaking they have a clue to what.


This is correct.