Oil turning black
01-17-2019, 09:09 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: Oregon
Posts: 14
Oil turning black
Hi all,
I bought a 2018 EcoBoost mustang, after about 2000 miles, the oil was black, had the dealership do an oil chang with full synthetic oil, have about a little over 500 miles now and the oil is turning black, was wondering if this is normal with EcoBoost engines?
I bought a 2018 EcoBoost mustang, after about 2000 miles, the oil was black, had the dealership do an oil chang with full synthetic oil, have about a little over 500 miles now and the oil is turning black, was wondering if this is normal with EcoBoost engines?
01-21-2019, 04:51 PM
#6
Banned
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 2,327
2000 miles, and black, is not abnormal for any car, let alone a turbo... It's heat,
but mainly soot that turns oil black. Since soot particles are less than one micron,
in size, they typically don’t cause engine wear. Human hair diameter is 60 microns,
and soot is < 1 micron, so...
Another misconception is, black oil means it's time to change it. Discoloration is a
natural byproduct of heat and soot particles, which are too small to wear out your engine.
The only surefire way to determine your engine oil has reached the end of its service life,
is to perform an oil analysis. You send some out, and have it chemically analyzed, that
will reveal the true condition of the oil, the presence of contaminants, fuel dilution and so on.
Well, you can't afford to do that time and time again, so just follow the OCI in your car's
owners manual. The truth is Synthetics can run upwards of 25,000 miles, and a 100,000
miles test was done on synthetic. By changing the filter, and topping off every 10,000, you
can get 100,000 miles before having to change all of it. Saturn did such a test, and the
2.2 Ecotec motor was fine.
Also, most people associate soot with diesel engines, but gasoline engines produce soot as
well, particularly modern gasoline-direct-injection engines.
Some oil additives are more susceptible to darkening in the presence of heat than others. In addition,
normal oxidation can darken oil. Just as a note, oxidation occurs when oxygen molecules interact
with oil molecules and cause a chemical breakdown, just like how oxygen causes a cut apple to brown,
or iron to rust, and, high heat accelerates oxidation.
but mainly soot that turns oil black. Since soot particles are less than one micron,
in size, they typically don’t cause engine wear. Human hair diameter is 60 microns,
and soot is < 1 micron, so...
Another misconception is, black oil means it's time to change it. Discoloration is a
natural byproduct of heat and soot particles, which are too small to wear out your engine.
The only surefire way to determine your engine oil has reached the end of its service life,
is to perform an oil analysis. You send some out, and have it chemically analyzed, that
will reveal the true condition of the oil, the presence of contaminants, fuel dilution and so on.
Well, you can't afford to do that time and time again, so just follow the OCI in your car's
owners manual. The truth is Synthetics can run upwards of 25,000 miles, and a 100,000
miles test was done on synthetic. By changing the filter, and topping off every 10,000, you
can get 100,000 miles before having to change all of it. Saturn did such a test, and the
2.2 Ecotec motor was fine.
Also, most people associate soot with diesel engines, but gasoline engines produce soot as
well, particularly modern gasoline-direct-injection engines.
Some oil additives are more susceptible to darkening in the presence of heat than others. In addition,
normal oxidation can darken oil. Just as a note, oxidation occurs when oxygen molecules interact
with oil molecules and cause a chemical breakdown, just like how oxygen causes a cut apple to brown,
or iron to rust, and, high heat accelerates oxidation.
Last edited by 08'MustangDude; 01-25-2019 at 10:57 PM.
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