David JLM Posted June 16 Share Posted June 16 Car had it's first service at 1k miles with a dealer, and had an oil and filter change. At just over 2k miles (including two trackdays) I've undertaken its second oil and filter change. Motul 5w50 from Caterham. I was surprised the oil was black! This doesn't necessarily mean there's a problem but I was surprised. I've sent off for an oil analysis kit to see if there's more of anything in it that shouldn't be. I got about 3 litres out the dry sump, and 3 more out of the finger filter. I put in 6.5 and will monitor levels. Is this level of discolouration common after that level of use? Oil decanted into water bottles for measurement 😁. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GulfSeven Posted June 16 Share Posted June 16 My car has done about 3 track days a year since new (2020) and the oil has never looked black. It does about 2k miles a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlastererPete Posted June 16 Share Posted June 16 Same here. No track days but 2k a year and some hard driving. Never had it come out black. More dark honey colour if anything. But if it’s a new engine then I wouldn’t be surprised to see it darker than normal for a 5k miles or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David JLM Posted June 16 Author Share Posted June 16 Thsnks both. Looks like my oil is quite out of the ordinary then... I've two trackdays over the next two weeks. I'll take an oil sample between them and see how it looks. I wonder what the test kit will show! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian1959 Posted June 16 Share Posted June 16 Had similar colour oil on my second oil change at 2000 miles so not uncommon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aerobod - near CYYC Posted June 16 Share Posted June 16 Mine is pretty much like that after 4 track events and 1500km overall, with 5w50 Castrol Syntec. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Bennett Posted June 16 Share Posted June 16 Not engine oil but this was the colour of my gearbox oil. 🤢 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David JLM Posted June 16 Author Share Posted June 16 Ian and Aerobod - thanks for sharing, and good to hear I'm not alone, and your engines haven't blown... That gearbox oil!🫣 I'm going to change mine, and the diff oil, at the year end/start of next... I'm sure they'll look virgin.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Area Representative Geoff Brown Posted June 21 Area Representative Share Posted June 21 On 16/06/2024 at 21:16, David JLM said: Ian and Aerobod - thanks for sharing, and good to hear I'm not alone, and your engines haven't blown... That gearbox oil!🫣 I'm going to change mine, and the diff oil, at the year end/start of next... I'm sure they'll look virgin.... After 10 years & 25,000 miles the oil from my six speed was a very dull green/brown but not pitch black ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David JLM Posted June 28 Author Share Posted June 28 Full report due today, but on asking if they had received my sample, I received a follow up email saying: "The oil looks fine, nothing bad to report; good viscosity with minimal wear metals, fuel and soot". All would appear well in spite of the colour 🙂. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gridgway Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 Late to the topic but that oil looks exactly as I'd expect. Oil doesn't stay clean looking for any length of time at all. I've run many rebuilt race engines and it's always black at first change. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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