she changed the oil not even a month ago and now she claims its black already? what can be the causes of that?

 

did she change the filter too?

 

Oil turning black can be an indication (all other things considered) of driving the car for very short trips, where the engine doesn't fully warm up. It's gas dillution, which is a byproduct of a LOT of cold starts, and the soot from the same cold-starts.
Again, If she didn't change the filter (which is SOooooo wrong) that would leave a quart of dirty oil mixing with the new.
So.....
P

 

im not no expert on oil but on mobil1's website they say that the oil turning black is a indicatiuon that the oil is actively working...how black until the oil is bad i dunno

 

you must clean the brim of where the filter must go throughly if any tainted oil remains and touches the filter the new oil will become instantly dirty..

 

P, I think your lost in the carburetor days............

 

filter was replaced too.

 

Could be PCV related. If an engine breathes poorly excess water vapor will build up and the oil will get thick and guncky, kinda a grayish sludge color. I've seen this happen with older cars running cheap oil, don't know about synthetic.

Its highly unlikely but another option is that the bypass valve is stuck. To my knowledge all cars have a bypass valve on the filter pickup (not the ballvalve on the filter itself, that stops backflushing). If it gets too dirty a spring loaded valve will flip, otherwise you'd starve you engine of oil (dirty oil is better than nothing). Last resort check and make sure that the oil is being filtered.

Might try running some sea foam or Lucas oil additive too.

Also:

I hate to ask who this "she" is and how much brains she's got. Cheap oil is always black/brownish. If she went to a crappy place like Jiffy Lube then she probably got what she paid for. I ususally go by miles and what the oil feels like rather than color alone.

 

shes using the mobile oil. car has 155K on it,shouldnt i be using something else?

-if its PCV related,how can i check/fix that?
-it its the bypss valve,how can i check/fix that?

she just wondering why the color is getting so dark so fast. MIGHT be nothing big,but INCASE i just wanted to ask. shes my girl and she knows less than i do. everything i know,i learned from here,so sometimes i do throw questions out.

 

Showing my age, Huh ?

Well, even EFI vehicles require a "cold enrichment" function during cold starts. The wonderful world of electronics hasn't suspended the laws of Physics yet, has it??

P - all in good fun

 

To check the PCV first you need to locate it. Its a little plastic thing usually bent at a 90 degree angle coming off the valve cover and then has a small vaccuum line going into the intake. [Make sure you have the right hose, my 96 EX has a large 1/4 in dia. hose going to the intake piping from the pass side of the valve cover, the PCV comes from the center of the valve cover and is a much smaller hose]. With the engine running squeeze the hose and you should here a clicking sound of the seal being sucked into place meaning that its doing its job. Its your call but you might want to go ahead and replace it, it should be under $5. As far as the bypass valve I really wouldn't worry about it (and without looking in a manual wouldn't know how to check it). She would have to be a chronic like 20k+ non-oil changer to clog it up that bad.

I've got 140k some miles and run castrol synthetic high mileage. Its a good oil (is a little pricey but I put about 5-6k miles on it) and works well in imports. Its cheapest if you can get your hands on the 5 quart jug (maybe its a gallon), Walmart is sometimes cheaper too if they stock it. I also run a K&N oil filter (again a little pricey but as good a filter as you can get) and that oil looks almost as good as the day I poured it in. It doesn't break down and doesn't mind a cold winter (5w-30).

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ghostmill &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you must clean the brim of where the filter must go throughly if any tainted oil remains and touches the filter the new oil will become instantly dirty.. </TD></TR></TABLE>

u r kidding ,,,,,,,, right ??,,,

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ThunderCat &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">she changed the oil not even a month ago and now she claims its black already? what can be the causes of that?</TD></TR></TABLE>

at what interval has she been doing oil changes before this?? has she changed filter every times??

 

the case is the car is a hand-me-down. her mom gave it to her. and her mom took horrible care of the vehicle.

my girl has had the car no more than 2months. we are just tryna' revive that accord because she still seems to run well despite being treated awful by her mother. i wouldnt know what the mother does,she claims she does everything. but its always us who finds out shes just bullshitting.


btw im looking to do a compression and leak down test on her. any thoughts? estimates on price?

 

i would jsut do a comp test, and if the results are bad then go do a leak down test. u can get a comp guage for like 20 bucks at any car store or sears or something.

 

if your oil is turnig black quickly, I would do what has been suggested

check to see if you have a leaky injector
leaky valve
exhaust blowby
PCV valve
blown head gasket

 

If your girlfriends' Mom was as bad about changing oil as you said, you've just answered your own question.
Sludge has built up within the valve train/cover area and in the oil pan.
As you're now putting new, fresh oil in, it's dissolving it into suspension, and carrying it to the filter.
The trick now is hoping that it isn't so thick that it breaks off in chunks, clogging the oil pump pick-up.

P

 

it's suppose to turn black.

People think their engine oil is black and it's a bad thing, yes it could be a bad thing but it;s also telling you that it's working.(the cleaning agent of the oil)

the color is not just sludge it's so doixded(SP??)

in other word, don't lose sleep over it, it's normal

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by iam7head &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">it's suppose to turn black.

People think their engine oil is black and it's a bad thing, yes it could be a bad thing but it;s also telling you that it's working.(the cleaning agent of the oil)

the color is not just sludge it's so doixded(SP??)

in other word, don't lose sleep over it, it's normal</TD></TR></TABLE>
wut was in my mind but coudlnt quite put it into r words like u...i read the same thing on mobil1.com...i use mobil1 in my engine and after about 4 weeks the oil is as dark as it is when i change it every 3 month

 

^that and im sure what P Adams said was correct for my case too. but ima go ahead and check the other possibilies too. just incase


btw,what about castrols synthetic oil for cars over 100k? shes at 155k