Dark Oil - need an oil change or not?

Help2

My sister bought a almera (one of the newer ones 2007) from a garage about a month ago... apparently they serviced the car before she collected it.. This is a petrol engine... and has done less than 800km in the month since getting the car

I checked the oil today .. and it seems very dark...

i thought that this is a sign that the oil is old and needs changing?? or is this a myth??

I changed the oil on my own car recently and the oil is light golden on the dipstick.

What do yas think,

Photos below,, thanks.


IMG_20110922_164257 by whatcar2011, on Flickr


IMG_20110922_164237 by whatcar2011, on Flickr

Bumpstop

In my experience engine oil seems to go brown very quickly. But it depends on the weight of the oil, a heavy oil will cling to dipstick and look dark, a lower weight oil will drain off the dipstick and look lighter.
My diesel jeep can turn liquid engineering into treacle in 6 engine revolutions, I do notice fully synthetic stays golden a bit longer. I guess it's hard to tell as there are so many factors involved.

I'm probably of no help really:rolleyes:

challengemaster

Nah, it can go dark very quickly - just feel it with your thumb/finger and make sure there's no metal shavings in it

Atlantic Dawn

Usually even if it's dark after a recent change if you were to rub the diptick on a white cloth it should be like olive oil colour, if it's not my guess is it wasn't changed. Perhaps it was not due a change so they didn't change it. In my experience diesel engines can turn oil black almost immediately, petrol though usually stays fresh on a newish car.

mickdw

maybe garage sucked the oil out. This could leave a fair amount behind which would darken the new oil immediately. Certainly if properly drained, I petrol engine will usually keep its oil golden for many miles whereas diesel seems to be black regardless.

slimjimmc

To me that seems quite dark. The oil in my petrol car is a tan colour which is lighter than the colour around the edges shown on your photo. I changed it 7000miles ago using with an oil extractor.
My guess is they didn't change it, does the filter look like it has been replaced, any fresh looking stains around the filter mount ?

jackofalltrades

Does the oil filter look like it's been changed recently?

Help2

jackofalltrades wrote: »

Does the oil filter look like it's been changed recently?

cheers, Ill have a look tomorrow, dark now and torch broken!

iphone4g

If that's the amount of oil left in the sump after less than 800 km they either didn't change the oil,or check level properly after service or the car has a problem with oil leak or burning a lot of oil

Bobo78

+ 1

What I would do is go and change the oil again just in case.
Oil for petrol cars shouldnt go black that quickley and after such a small milage.

challengemaster

challengemaster wrote: »

........ just feel it with your thumb/finger and make sure there's no metal shavings in it

Because if there's not all is well :pac:

mondeo

That oil doesn't look like it was done recently, dealer pulling the wool over your eyes.

dougie-lampkin

After acquiring a '01 1.1 Seicento with 60,000 miles, and the previous owner saying they've never done an oil change in 2 years of ownership (around 20,000 miles), the oil is still the same colour as it left the can 1,000 miles after I serviced it.

OP, I assume it's the 1.5 petrol, in which case something's up there, I'd be chasing up the garage. A newish car shouldn't be turning fresh oil that colour after 500 miles.

Fishtits

OP, just get the oil & filter changed.

There's no point in getting spun up over something you can't control, ie when it was changed last.

It doesn't cost a fortune for peace of mind.

Everything in perspective.