every car i have ever owned is black when the 3k mile mark comes around.. well when i mean black i mean when you drain it. the color of all the oil coming out is black.. the color on the dipstick would be a really dark brown

 

Just out of curiousity, what type of air filters are you running??

 

purolater. nothing else. same with oil filters except the occasional yota filters

 

mobil 1 syn in my diffs....

castrol synthetic in my motor.

 

I use it in my 4Runner. In my BMW, I use Castrol because Mobil is a bit thin (5w30 is really more like a 5w20). Anyway, recommended oil for the BMW I have now is 5w50 which is inexpensive at Costoco anyway, so...

 

(BMW uses castrol synthetic, just repackages it)

 

I know. But Castrol at Costco = cheaper than BMW oil at the stealer.

 

I run mine up to 12kmiles with 3 oil filters and top offs. I'm pretty much planning on tearing into my oil pan soon so I will let you guys know the results and post pics. I came to find out 2 weeks ago from a former classmate in GM school and is now a Toyota technician that we should use 5w-30 instead of 10w-30 because of Toyota's tighter clearances? I'm not too sure about that but I'm going back to 5w-30 next oil change.

 

Your friend is right. That's what my 2001 Tacoma 2.7 owners manual states...
5w30 and I use Mobile 1 and always have.My Tacoma still purrs like a kitten, Mike

 

Yes, in mine it also states that you can run 10w-30 in warmer climates; but not to exceed the 10w-30 rating. In my dealership I am told 5w-30 is more for gas mileage, easier starting, and better wear for the engines. I've had no problems before running it, other than an almost unnoticeable slower start on colder mornings. However; we do not get down below 30F much here in SC. I'm just going back for gas mileage mainly. I still have my doubts on what he said.

 

Yeah I change my oil every 3k miles and it comes out jet black as well. I use Castrol GTX and Purolator filters.

 

Is it possible that you may have a little sludge build up so there for your would-be clean oil gets dirtied up fast...? Maybe try to change it a couple times before it gets black and maybe it'll cycle some of the "blackness" out. I understand tho, who really has time to change your oil that often. good luck!

 

I put 8-9k miles on my synthetic and when I change mine is far from black and is just a tad darker than when it was fresh.

 

I just switched over to mobil 1 syn in my engine about 2wks ago and wow, what a difference it makes.

I'm on my 2nd full tank of gas since the swap and I just got 40 miles more out of this tank of gas than previous tanks w/o syn oil.

My driving habits remained about the same. During this tank of gas since the swap, I actually drove faster than usual and still got better gas milage.

Granted, I will keep track of my gas milage just to see if other possible factors played a role in this gain in gas mil...i.e. quality of gas I happened to purchase, weather conditions and so on.

Either way, I plan to stick w/ Mobil 1.

 

I'm new to my 4runner but on my other cars I run mobile1 syn and change the filter out at 3-4K miles and top of the oil and run it to about 7500-8000 miles. I haven't pulled the M3 apart..(yet) but when doing the valve adjustment everything is clean.

My road race car (93 NX2000) I have pulled the motor apart for a cam install and to put in a better oil pump for track use an with 130K its clean, and that motor makes about 320whp and when its driven its only driven peacefully until its warm... I use the same interval as the M3 and oil doesn't look new but its never dark

I would suggest trying the same method double check anything related to the PCV system as leaks or a bad PCV valve would make the oil dark/dirty prematurely... also, sending it to a lab to get checked is worth it.

In perspective I work with late model porsche and they use 0w-40 M1 syn but have an oil change interval of 12K miles or one year... but then they do hold 10-11 qts and are quasi-dry sump... but I have yet to see any engines in bad shape yet if there is ever a failure its due to a defective part

 

I will add my few cents too to this converstation. I have run my old Cobra to 12K on M1 5-30 and 2 Motorcraft Filters. Just topped off the oil at that point and I noticed immediately that the oil got cleaner when I changed the filter.

For those with black oil at 2-3K, you are simply getting too much fuel. I would look at your O2 sensors and your MAF. Your fuel mileage should be poor too if it is that black that early.

I am running the Napa Gold 1516 filter and using the Ford Synthetic Blend 5-30 on the 4runner. I am interested in seeing how that oil holds up. I really liked that oil when I ran it in my old Rodeo. It was awesome. I know people hate Ford but their oils and filters and pretty much everything is solid.

 

It could be that or exesive idling as well.

 

I also run mobile1--change the oil every 8-10k. oil comes out darker--but nothing like Dino juice. Maybe it is also black because you do alot of short trips? Idunno. My old boss of yore used to put 25k on his oil changes--usually put 200-300k on a motor within 4-5 years. He/we were welders and had to drive everywhere--never had one fail yet--not saying i recommend it though. I know it better for the environment (ah--how sweet henry).

cheers

 

Use it in the three bikes that I have, not cost effective in the four wheelers, 185k and running strong !!!!!!!

 

Mobil 1 synthetic extended here