Castrol EDGE turns black/red FAST

Joined
Jul 30, 2003
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GA
2016 Pentastar 3.6 in a Caravan.

Edge Titanium, EP and HM all turn jet black after 1000 or so miles with a reddish tint. It's done this since we bought it with 55k up to now with 89k miles. It runs fine but has a very, very, VERY slight sporadic stumble at idle in gear.

Maybe it's just a Castrol thing? I've stuck with these because they meet MS6395. I'll try something else at 100k. Thoughts, suggestions or just drive it...
 
Color is not an indicator of oil wear or performance
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Is the CEL on?
 
Originally Posted by bbhero
Port injection or direct injection ??



It's a Pentastar, port injection only.

5k OCI on this engine is a total waste, especially the ones that hold six quarts.
 
↑↑^^^^^^^^^


That is seriously what I was leaning towards being the correct answer.

Just asking if I could have been off base.
 
all my cars (past and present) with MPFI are easy on oil. oil color is relatively good up to 4-5K with many different brands of oil including lots of dino ... Our only DI engine is a different story. Used to go like ink within 700 miles.

Why is op's 2016 oil turning "jet black" so quickly not being a DI engine.
Pretty sure it's not the oil. Could there be something wrong with car or is this common with this type of engine?
 
Originally Posted by OilUzer
all my cars (past and present) with MPFI are easy on oil. oil color is relatively good up to 4-5K with many different brands of oil including lots of dino ... Our only DI engine is a different story. Used to go like ink within 700 miles.

Why is op's 2016 oil turning "jet black" so quickly not being a DI engine.
Pretty sure it's not the oil. Could there be something wrong with car or is this common with this type of engine?

.... or maybe the oil was only changed 3 times for the first 55k.

I would change the oil & filter every 3K until things look better. Might take 4-5 OCIs to see a real difference.
 
That may well be the case here ^^^^^^^

Super duper long ocis... The maintenance schedule of Champions
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Originally Posted by Triple_Se7en
Originally Posted by OilUzer
all my cars (past and present) with MPFI are easy on oil. oil color is relatively good up to 4-5K with many different brands of oil including lots of dino ... Our only DI engine is a different story. Used to go like ink within 700 miles.

Why is op's 2016 oil turning "jet black" so quickly not being a DI engine.
Pretty sure it's not the oil. Could there be something wrong with car or is this common with this type of engine?

.... or maybe the oil was only changed 3 times for the first 55k.

I would change the oil & filter every 3K until things look better. Might take 4-5 OCIs to see a real difference.


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You could be right. I've seen badly maintained engines eventually get better over time. However, I was assuming he should already be there after 34K (89-55) miles ... May be not!
 
Originally Posted by bbhero
That may well be the case here ^^^^^^^

Super duper long ocis... The maintenance schedule of Champions
lol.gif



Did you sell some of your Pepsi oil to him?
Black in black out ...
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Originally Posted by OilUzer
Originally Posted by bbhero
That may well be the case here ^^^^^^^

Super duper long ocis... The maintenance schedule of Champions
lol.gif



Did you sell some of your Pepsi oil to him?
Black in black out ...
grin2.gif




Nah...
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I save that for people I don't like
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"VERY slight sporadic stumble at idle in gear."

My dads Nissan Exterra had a stumble like you've described and I explained to him cheap gas doesn't cut it. Ran a couple tanks of top tier fuel along with chevron total fuel system cleaner and problem solved.

Couldn't hurt to run a fuel system cleaner through it, unless you've already tried that.
 
I've got 0w40 Edge in the van right now, it's currently a medium amber color. Changed it back in October. But I don't really care for the MS-6395 spec, last time I looked at it it seemed to just be a copy paste of the ISLAC specs.

As for the stumble, top tier gas seems to fix that. My 300 would have a ever so slight stumble/vibration when I ran non-top tier, started running top tier in it exclusively and it was buttery smooth after a few tanks.
 
No telling how the original owner was about his maintenance unless you have specific logged Maintenance or receipts showing the maintenance. I would drain it and fill with something on sale for 3/500 miles then change adding you favorite choice of oil. I do this to any car I buy anyway just to make sure it gets somewhat Of a flush. You could even go all out and add some type of flush to run with the first 3/500 mile flush. I just like my oil to look decent at all times. When I start to see it get dark it gets changed. Overkill?? Absolutely
 
So it has been this way for 35K miles? What is your OCI?

It seems it's doing a great job of cleaning. When I first got my used GX470 the oil turned a weird red color and it freaked me out.
I got some advice here and used some Delo and a 1K OCI and a 3K OCI and went back to my regular oil and all is well.

Since it has been the same after 35K, you may consider another brand of oil. But, I really don't think there is anything wrong with the oil.

I'd just change it more frequently for a few OCI's and see what happens.
 
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