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Black Oil

teacake

teacake

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Location
South Wales
Car
08 Tourer EX CTDi
Hello all

Is it usual for the engine oil in diesel cars to look black? I had the oil changed when I got my Accord, but when I checked it about a month later it was black. Suspecting the previous owner had used cheap oil, I decided to get it changed again after 3000 miles to give it a chance to clean out, which I've had done today. But the new oil looks all horrible and black already.

I've only got experience of petrol-engined cars, where the oil would remain a clean, golden colour for several thousand miles after a change. Is it a feature of diesels that their engine oil looks all manky?
 
Not sure about all diesels but, yes, the oil in an Accord diesel goes a filthy black in a surprisingly short time. I have noticed this happens whichever oil I use.
 
Ah. Should have checked before I wasted a load of oil and a filter. Thanks, Jon.
 
Yes completely normal and it shows the oil is doing its job.
On all diesels iv ever owned the oil will be black within a week.
The oil is taken all the soot from the fuel.
 
If it is not black then the engine is not running, LOL no worries, just keep a check on the level and change at 6,000 then the next 6,000 do the filter as well. Use 0-30 fully synth, best deal at lubetecch through the forum. Not one of the better known brands but it works for me and lot more on here.
 
Thanks for the advice, everyone.

Looks like it's been slightly overfilled. The oil reads about 3-4mm above the top mark on the dipstick. Is this okay, or do I need to drain some off?
 
edgeoftime said:
If it is not black then the engine is not running, LOL no worries, just keep a check on the level and change at 6,000 then the next 6,000 do the filter as well. Use 0-30 fully synth, best deal at lubetecch through the forum. Not one of the better known brands but it works for me and lot more on here.
Click to expand...
Don't need to change oil filter at the 6000 miles interval?

I thought oil and filter always change together.......
 
I always change the filter as well as its daft to spend £50 on oil and not change a £6 filter.
This is on a K24 prices for the diesel filter are slightly more expensive
 
service schedule is 12,000 why double the filter change? and a proper filter is in excess of £30. No way can you keep a diesel fresh and clean!!
 
My personal view it's false economy not to change the fiter with nice new oil.
Regardless of the colour you still risk contaminating the oil with small particals of engine wear.
If your not changing the filter at 6k then just go with the recommended oil change at 12.5 K by Honda.
 
To be fair, there should be half the amount of 'wear debris' if you changed the oil at half the recommended interval.

Question is, why change the oil sooner than absolutely necessary? I am aware that many owners do this, but is there any evidence that Honda wrongly specified a 12,500 mile / annual interval? Is the build up of soot worse than Honda expected? Does soot do any harm anyway?

I've always pushed my service intervals to the limit but now (at nearly 160k miles) my Accord does have very, very noisy timing chains, which will have to be replaced sooner rather than later... is this because I didn't change the oil every 6000 miles???
 
Not at all Jon I think it's more of a personal choise.
I must admit I have gone to the full 12K without an oil change in my car and can't see any differance only slight less MPG.
All I'm thinking if you change the oil at 6k because your being very kind to the engine why not dot the filter for good measure as well.
I can see this becoming a great TA debait lol
 
That's what I was hoping!

I'd really like to know why people change the oil sooner than the manufacturer states. Personally, I don't see the point but hopefully someone can explain.

And what else do people do to their cars more regularly than Honda suggest? Change brake pads when they're only half worn?
 
I do 12K a year and I do the 12K annual service at Honda. So I'm bang on the schedule and have been since I bought the car. But I always feel guilty to my car because so many people here do it every 6 months... Reading your point on this Jon is reassuring and a reminder that if it's the recommended interval, surely there's nothing wrong with it...?
 
Hi guys
I like to change my oil at 6k as you can't beat having fresh clean oil in an engine & do filter at the same time!
Audi service some models at 20K I would still do it at 6k
Oil is the life blood of your engine & I want mine to last for 200k
 
Jon_G said:
To be fair, there should be half the amount of 'wear debris' if you changed the oil at half the recommended interval.

Question is, why change the oil sooner than absolutely necessary? I am aware that many owners do this, but is there any evidence that Honda wrongly specified a 12,500 mile / annual interval? Is the build up of soot worse than Honda expected? Does soot do any harm anyway?

I've always pushed my service intervals to the limit but now (at nearly 160k miles) my Accord does have very, very noisy timing chains, which will have to be replaced sooner rather than later... is this because I didn't change the oil every 6000 miles???
Click to expand...
YES you tight git give her a Birthday new oil & filter!
 
Hi Woody - I'm not spending any money on her until I actually replace the chains... only buying fuel in 10L amounts at the moment!

Wouldn't it be even better if you changed your oil every 3000 miles?
 
A guide to oil changing at 6.000 rather than 12.000, vauxhall omega 2.5 6 pot 298.000 not a murmer the body work gave in before the engine, Honda 2.2 diesel, 190,000 still pullimg like a train not a murmer from the engine, and the bodywork is still "alive" Will very likely see me out.
 
Jon_G said:
Hi Woody - I'm not spending any money on her until I actually replace the chains... only buying fuel in 10L amounts at the moment!

Wouldn't it be even better if you changed your oil every 3000 miles?
Click to expand...
People do don't they. It's a badge of honour to be able to say you change your car's oil every other week with the finest fully synthetic acquired in a lead crystal decanter from a supplier to an F1 team. :lol:
 
Ooh, satire!

John - but maybe you're just a careful driver who doesn't hammer the engines? I also had a V6 Omega... really great car back in the day.
 
for a petrol engine, remove the spark plugs, put a bit of grinding paste down into each cylinder, replace spark plugs
for a diesel engine, remove the injectors, put a bit of grinding paste down into each cylinder, replace injectors

then the engine will burn the oil, so just keep topping up, and never need to do an oil change :lol:
 
:DMy lawn tractor never needs the oil draining out, put needs regular topping up.

This would be a mystery unless you're in the vicinity when I start her up from cold... I filmed it last week and -WHEN I CAN POST LINKS - I'll put it in a thread to show everyone how smoky an engine can get! :ph34r:
 
enginesrepainted001_zps8d995e13.jpg


We got two of these, but no videos, unable to find camera!!
 
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