Looking at Oil Colors In the Pan and On the Stick

[Mikhail]

Hi people at this super cool site. I don’t know if this is normal but after 1000 miles my motor oil is golden brown on the stick but black when it comes out of the pan. Is this normal? It does smell kind of like gas too but I heard that was normal for short trips and constant idling.
I am afraid the gas smell is what’s making the oil smell and turn black. People tell me that gas smell in the oil is a bad thing. I know I have good compression in the engine so its not from worn rings. If anything it maybe from too much fuel pressure.

I did replace the injectors with cheap ebay ones cause I thought they were causing this, but it seems not to have fixed the black oil and the smell.

What is it and how to fix it? Fuel pressure regulator?

Thanks.

Topic

[W00DBar0n]

To your first question, this is fairly normal. I bet the oil you drain from the pan would be the same colour if you dipped the dip stick in it and look at the colour.

The second, it is normal for short trips and constant idling… because the engine rarely gets up to operating temp. This means the gaps in the engine are not taken up by expansion and between the piston and cylinder wall, combustion gases are allowed to pass by and into the crankcase. This is what gives you the the smell of gas in the oil. It’s not a major problem, i wouldn’t get it on your hands a lot and don’t forget to wash it off…

To fix it, longer trips, allowing the engine to get up to operating temp.

[Mikhail]

[quote=”W00DBar0n” post=33344]To your first question, this is fairly normal. I bet the oil you drain from the pan would be the same colour if you dipped the dip stick in it and look at the colour.

[/quote]

Yeah it does, its just black in a container, but on my finger or on a dipstick it looks golden brown.

[quote=”W00DBar0n” post=33344]

The second, it is normal for short trips and constant idling… because the engine rarely gets up to operating temp. This means the gaps in the engine are not taken up by expansion and between the piston and cylinder wall, combustion gases are allowed to pass by and into the crankcase. This is what gives you the the smell of gas in the oil. It’s not a major problem, i wouldn’t get it on your hands a lot and don’t forget to wash it off…

To fix it, longer trips, allowing the engine to get up to operating temp.[/quote]

Okay thanks. But what if its not because of short trips and idling, are we looking at maybe a gas pressure problem or what? Can’t be the injectors, I replaced those. The oil does smell gaseous, like fuel. Even though I read motor oil and gasoline can have similar smells due to being made from the same things (fossils or whatever), I don’t know if what i’m smelling is normal.

[EricTheCarGuy]

Try not to look for a problem where there isn’t one. Do you have any performance problems? Does your oil light come on? Are you overheating? Do you have poor gas mileage? Do you have a check engine light on?

If the answered yes to any of this then it would be a concern but if they were all ‘no’ then I would just keep an eye on the situation and move on.

If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

[Mikhail]

[quote=”EricTheCarGuy” post=33405]Try not to look for a problem where there isn’t one. Do you have any performance problems? Does your oil light come on? Are you overheating? Do you have poor gas mileage? Do you have a check engine light on?

If the answered yes to any of this then it would be a concern but if they were all ‘no’ then I would just keep an eye on the situation and move on.

If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.[/quote]

Well basically yeah, I would answer “no” to all those questions. I have great performance, the oil light does not come on, it is not overheating, and I am getting good gas mileage (30 mpg). Also it starts up fine, its not flooded and there is no gassy smoke coming out of the tailpipe. The exhaust smells like exhaust and not fuel.

However, I see some bubbles on the dipstick, what does that mean? The oil does smell a bit like gas but its not black, its golden. I am more concerned about the bubbles now…

[EricTheCarGuy]

There will always be about a quart of old oil left in the pan during an oil change so this may be what you’re observing. Don’t worry about the bubbles as this is normal as well, if it’s whipped up into a froth you may be overfilled but if it’s just a couple of bubbles I wouldn’t worry about it. Also be sure you’re checking the level on a level surface, if not then you’ll get false readings and you may overfill or under fill the crank case.

[Author]

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