Black oil when I drain it

[Prodigyman]

I am swapping my turbos for FB Big T28 right now and I drained all my coolant lines along with all the oil I have.

Here is the post listing my mods and some pics too


My question is it normal for my oil to be black? I drained it to the plastic pan and its PURE black and it kind of smells like gasoline too. The thing is when I bought my car 3 weeks ago I putted in new Castrol synthetic oil with new oil filter too. Now 800 (500 Miles) later it looks like that? Not sure if its good or not but this worries me because I saw the 4.4 Liter Mobile 1 Synthetic oil and it looks clear and doesnt smell like gas.

 

[kgtalon95]

I'm in same boat you are, hopefully someone has a better answer than a rebuild

 

[rob_rousseau]

I've noticed that the 2 Tsi's that ive had/have would "blacken" their oil much quicker than any other car i've had/worked on. One was a 91 with over 200,000 km's on it, and the other 91 with a VERY low mileage. The turbo must be doing this? Anybody with any info on this?

 

[CanadianTSi]

I changed my Oil after 100kms once and it was pretty black.

 

[Prodigyman]

I've noticed that the 2 Tsi's that ive had/have would "blacken" their oil much quicker than any other car i've had/worked on. One was a 91 with over 200,000 km's on it, and the other 91 with a VERY low mileage. The turbo must be doing this? Anybody with any info on this?

WOW I am not alone. I really hope I don’t have to rebuild too. I can’t afford that at all with all the money I am dumping in the car I just bought. I use 94 Octane on daily basis from Sunoco if that helps.

 

[Prodigyman]

I changed my Oil after 100kms once and it was pretty black.

Did it smell little bit like gasoline?

 

[dhermann]

Most cars will have black oil almost immeadiately after you change it. This is caused by you not being able to fully drain a motor of all oil and the amount of built up sludge inside the motor helping to add black to the new oil the second you add it. Also the oil traps particles and chemicals (gasoline, combustion gasses, etc.) to keep them from harming anything and this discolors the oil as well. When I had to replace the gasket between the oil filter mount and the front case and the crush washers on the oil cooler and turbo oil lines I left the car up on jackstands for about 2 weeks. Even after having drained the crankcase the car still dripped a lot more oil out. When I replaced everything and filled it back up with oil the oil actually looked nice and golden/almost new for about 200 miles then it started to get pretty dark again from the above mentioned causes. So unless your car needs new piston rings and is dumping gasoline and combustion gasses straight into the oil you should be ok.

 

[Superbeast406]

Like he said, you can't fully drain the oil. But to top it off, your turbo just adds more space for the residual oil to hang out and not drain out. There is a process called an oil flush that some shops can do (not the stuff you get in a can at the parts store). With the proper equipment, a special expensive(about $400 for 5 gal.) solvent is pushed through your oil galleys and lines. This pretty much gets rid of most any of the stuff that causes the oil to go black. Even though we do this at my shop often as a service, I've never seen it done on a turbo'd car before. I forget how much the shop charges, but it's usually pricey. We usually just recomend it to people who go 10k miles without oil changes, but it definately cleans out the system either way.

 

[armandovivoni]

I have had 2 engines on my dsm, and this is very normal. in less than a week oil is very black and in a month or so it smells a little like gasoline.

im planning on using from now on the new mobil1 5,000 oil and change it every 2,000 like I do regularly

 

[armandovivoni]

advance autoparts does this oil flush for $129. it really does clean really good. but if anyone is taking your car there make sure they do it right! watch them. I used to work there and sometimes they didn't use the flushing machine.

 

[Talesin]

Another possibility is a severe rich condition, or a broken/leaking injector. I had the same problem on my 1G... oil that turned black FAST, and stunk of fuel. I had one injector that was stuck open, another that was jammed halfway and 'fluttering' (improper jet), and two others that were getting ready to fail. (A prior owner put in a Walbro 255HP without an AFPR, screwed the injectors)

The fuel got in and broke down the oil on the cylinder walls, and was carried down with the oil scraper rings into the pan. So I was getting carbon, diluted oil, AND unburnt gas in my sump.

Quick change of injectors, install of an AFPR, and two oil changes (with a 500 mile drive between), and it's back to clearish-yellow for the last 1200 miles. At least the gas seems to have cleaned out my engine somewhat, even if it had the risk of damaging it, or scratching the piston walls up like crazy. May need a rebore, but I dunno at this point. (read: Do Not Use Gasoline To Clean Your Oil System! It does baaaaaaaaad things.)


To check injectors, use a stetho to listen to see if they're clicking. If you don't have one, use a screwdriver... hold one end on the injector (metal), and the other up against your ear. Careful, sound transmits pretty well through the rail and fuel.

 

[95gstHRCsuper20]

Talesin hits the point of rich condition. Do not forget to check the factory fpr. OR whichever one you have. If the fpr is shot you may suck fuel in the vacuum line causing the same condition. If it is stopped up you probably won't idle at all. Keep in mind that oil does carry the biproduct of combustion Hydrocarbons (unburned fuel) as well as carbon monoxide oxygen and carbon dioxid. These are the measured gasses when a technician uses a four gas analyzer to check the emmisions of your vehicle. So your oil will tend to smell a little like HC even if your running a 14.7 fuel ratio. Anytime you release from a hard accel you will be running rich until the IAC can catch up.

 

[1fast97gsx]

don't waste your money on any of that engine flush bullshit that people sell and charge an arm and a leg for. All it is is a chemical that gets put in with the oil and the car gets ran for 4-5 minutes. You then drain the oil and then flush it out with some brand new clean motor oil until what comes out is clean. You may have to do this 2-3 times on our cars to fully clean the system out. You can buy the cleaner at a store for $5-$10 or you can use a 1/2 quart of atf as well.

 

[armandovivoni]

I dont know bout that flush chemical you are talking about. I think all the stuff thats going to get removed from the oil passages is going to end up at the crank. NOT GOOD. unless you are willing to remove the crank after that type of flush you shouldn't do it IMO.

 

[Turbo Talon DL]

Talesin hits the point of rich condition. Do not forget to check the factory fpr. OR whichever one you have. If the fpr is shot you may suck fuel in the vacuum line causing the same condition. If it is stopped up you probably won't idle at all. Keep in mind that oil does carry the biproduct of combustion Hydrocarbons (unburned fuel) as well as carbon monoxide oxygen and carbon dioxid. These are the measured gasses when a technician uses a four gas analyzer to check the emmisions of your vehicle. So your oil will tend to smell a little like HC even if your running a 14.7 fuel ratio. Anytime you release from a hard accel you will be running rich until the IAC can catch up.

Are you serious? WTF So, thats why my A/F ratio gauge still goes pig rich between shifts even with my BOV recirculated... It didnt do me any good of recirculating it then. Car doesnt run any rougher between shifts, just quieter.

 

[Talesin]

From what I gather, 2Gs have a higher stock fuel pressure... so it might be a bit harder to overrun their FPR. On a 1G though... we need a nice low pressure. Just so you know, with the Walbro255HP and no AFPR, I was running at 37psi with vac on, and 47 with it off. When it's supposed to be 26-28, and 36-38, respectively.

Hook up a pressure gauge at your fuel filter, and at the return line on your rail. That'll show you how much you'll be dropping. Pull the vac, and have someone rev it. That's how much you'll drop under 10psi boost. When you have an AFPR, you'll be able to tune your fuel flow... because it DOES sound like you're running pretty rich.

 

[sweet97]

I have had 2 engines on my dsm, and this is very normal. in less than a week oil is very black and in a month or so it smells a little like gasoline.

im planning on using from now on the new mobil1 5,000 oil and change it every 2,000 like I do regularly

The 5000 mile oil is NOT MOBIL 1. It is not a synthetic, just a regular oil that they put a 5000 mile lifespan on.
I am switching to Valvoline full synthetic 20W-50

 

[EclipseOwner95]

From what I gather, 2Gs have a higher stock fuel pressure... so it might be a bit harder to overrun their FPR. On a 1G though... we need a nice low pressure. Just so you know, with the Walbro255HP and no AFPR, I was running at 37psi with vac on, and 47 with it off. When it's supposed to be 26-28, and 36-38, respectively.

Hook up a pressure gauge at your fuel filter, and at the return line on your rail. That'll show you how much you'll be dropping. Pull the vac, and have someone rev it. That's how much you'll drop under 10psi boost. When you have an AFPR, you'll be able to tune your fuel flow... because it DOES sound like you're running pretty rich.

1G's have less problems overrunning the stock FPR because of it having a larger return line than a 2g, 2g's have a big problem with overrunning them with 255's , on my 1g I was running about 30 with the vac off on my stock fpr.

 

[Talesin]

Was that with, or without a hot-wire to the pump?

 

[Superbeast406]

don't waste your money on any of that engine flush bullshit that people sell and charge an arm and a leg for. All it is is a chemical that gets put in with the oil and the car gets ran for 4-5 minutes. You then drain the oil and then flush it out with some brand new clean motor oil until what comes out is clean. You may have to do this 2-3 times on our cars to fully clean the system out. You can buy the cleaner at a store for $5-$10 or you can use a 1/2 quart of atf as well.

If you read my post you'd see where I specifically noted, "not the can in a parts store". We use a machine that hooks directly to the oil filter boss and the oil pan drain plug, pressurizes the flush fluid and pumps it through the oil galleys, sucks it back from the oil pan and filters it through a filter on the machine( that we replace with a new one everytime), then sends it back through the engine again. It does this numerous times in a period of about 15 minutes. You don't run the car, because you drain the oil before hand. Using the flush that goes in while the engine is running, or atf even, could cause damage to the motor if not done properly. And like you said it doesn't get it all out the first time.

I dont know bout that flush chemical you are talking about. I think all the stuff thats going to get removed from the oil passages is going to end up at the crank. NOT GOOD. unless you are willing to remove the crank after that type of flush you shouldn't do it IMO.

And the only time we've had any problems with a motor after a flush, was with a Kia Sportage that was already screwed up.

 

[JiveMasterT]

oil will get dirty and black... that's why you change it. no need to worry about it.

 

[Talesin]

Well, if oil gets black, it's technically doing its job in carrying contaminants away from the engine. When it gets black within a hundred miles though, there's something very wrong, and it needs to be tended to before it screws up your car, as said contaminants aren't getting caught in the oil filter, one way or another.

 

[Defiant]

I'm closing this before it washes over the wader-tops.

Don't listen to anything your grandmother tells you about oil.