Update: Oil turns dark quickly

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Sep 27, 2015
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Hello all,

My previous "oil turns dark quickly" thread seems to have been remedied.

02' Ford Ranger 3.0L 77k(original) 4x2 Automatic.

I bought the truck with 66k miles on it, i changed the oil which was conventional Castrol 5w20 and a champ filter over to Castrol edge 5w30 and a fram ultra. In less than 1k miles, the oil was pitch dark from the first change I did so I waited until 3500ish miles and changed it out again to the same filter and oil. Same thing again in roughly the same mileage. So a month or so ago, I changed the oil to M1 5w30 regular synthetic with a M1-209A and we are at 779 miles on the OCI and the oil is just now starting to turn an ever so slight hue of brown.

I'm guessing the add pack in Castrol edge may have had something to do with it I'm not sure, but the M1 seems to be holding well. I'm not a fan of the luevers in the M1 filter though. I'm sure it is fine, but I'm not a leuver guy. I'm probably going back to the Fram ultra after this OCI or a Napa platinum/gold.

The picture below is of the M1 after 779 miles. It is overcast outside so I apologize for the quality, but the hash marks on the stick are very visible. The Castrol Edge was so dark at the same mileage that you couldn't even see through the little hole on the dip stick through the oil. I'm not bashing Castrol at all. It is a fine oil.

F55EA626-E9CD-476C-BC83-39BE463BB75A.jpeg
 
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I'm not following your logic here at all.

In your eyes the Castrol Edge is somehow inferior because it's turning dark sooner than the M1? The M1 is holding up better in some way? That's not how motor oil works.
 
That's really low mileage for how old it is. It's just doing cleaning from likely short trips and not adequate oil changes.

Nothing to see here.
 
I think the Castrol was cleaning the engine. It may be that if you did your next change with Castrol that it wouldn't turn dark brown so quickly. I would do an experiment the next OC and use the Castrol like you first did.

Would an oil that turned black quickly be better than an oil that didn't turn black quickly? Me thinks it would be.
 
Originally Posted by Bottom_Feeder
I'm not following your logic here at all.

In your eyes the Castrol Edge is somehow inferior because it's turning dark sooner than the M1? The M1 is holding up better in some way? That's not how motor oil works.


It was suggested in the prior thread where I initially addressed this issue that it was possibly the Castrol edge with its particular add pack cleaning the internals of the motor because it was low mileage and 20 years old. I drain and filled the crank case to see if it was the oil cleaning or if it was an additive issue. The Mobil 1 has been in service for nearly the same amount of time as the edge and the Mobil 1 is cleaner. Cleaner because the last two fills did most of the cleaning already? I don't know. I did this for my own piece of mind.
 
Or conversely it may show that the Casstrol is oxidizing/shearing/evaporating at a rapid rate due to its inherent cheap build quality and the M1 utilizes something better in its manufacture and stays better/cleaner/longer.
 
Originally Posted by sloinker
Or conversely it may show that the Casstrol is oxidizing/shearing/evaporating at a rapid rate due to its inherent cheap build quality and the M1 utilizes something better in its manufacture and stays better/cleaner/longer.



Maybe so.
 
Originally Posted by sloinker
Or conversely it may show that the Casstrol is oxidizing/shearing/evaporating at a rapid rate due to its inherent cheap build quality and the M1 utilizes something better in its manufacture and stays better/cleaner/longer.

Or maybe it doesn't since you're just guessing and apparently making stuff up with no technical data to support your claim.
 
Gebo said:
I think the Castrol was cleaning the engine. It may be that if you did your next change with Castrol that it wouldn't turn dark brown so quickly. I would do an experiment the next OC and use the Castrol like you first did.

^^this is as close to an answer as you might get^^

Both good motor oils and have not pushed either far … No worries.
 
Originally Posted by 4WD
Gebo said:
I think the Castrol was cleaning the engine. It may be that if you did your next change with Castrol that it wouldn't turn dark brown so quickly. I would do an experiment the next OC and use the Castrol like you first did.

^^this is as close to an answer as you might get^^

Both good motor oils and have not pushed either far … No worries.


It's really weird how certain oils react differently to different engines and driving styles. What works for one doesn't work for the other.
I've just recently used both the Castrol Edge and Valvoline Advanced. The Castrol stayed amber much longer than the Valvoline Advanced, which turned black in under 2K. That has me to believe the Advanced has more cleaning power than Castrol Edge.

What I witnessed was done in under 11k total engine miles.... right after the factory-fill was pulled at 3K.
So all theories get blown out of the water at our BITOG residence....lol
 
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It was vice versa for me. I was using Castrol EDGE Titanium, it didn't turn dark as fast as the Mobil 1 EP 5W30.
 
I've heard a lot of people say the same thing about Quaker State. Especially the high-mileage version turning black quickly
 
Hasn't there been countless threads about how an oil turning color really doesn't matter-or how it does/doesn't affect it's protection/cleaning abilities?

Let's do it one more time I guess.

I'm just going to dream things up to create topics......
 
Hasn't there been countless threads about how an oil turning color really doesn't matter-or how it does/doesn't affect it's protection/cleaning abilities?

Let's do it one more time I guess.

I'm just going to dream things up to create topics......
I mean this is a MOTOR OIL FORUM
 
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I've seen Castrol Edge dirty up very quickly in a Chrysler 3.6. I posted about it a while back and I believe someone else had the same exact scenario. I have not tried another oil yet because of the MS 6395 requirement of Chrysler. So there may be something to this, maybe not.
 
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