What color's your oil?

[lectraplayer]

When I take the oil out of my '96 Taurus (with the Vulcan OHV engine), the oil is only slightly darker than when I put it in 5000 miles eariier. What color is the oil when you take it out of your car and how often do you change it?

[wrightz28]

Sounds like your oil is fine, and everthing is as should be.

Really black oil = bad

milky oil = worse, potntial head gasket leak

[lectraplayer]

I knew my oil was fine, but was wondering if my engine is exceptionally clean or if that was normal for a Taurus. I may can get 10,000 miles out of an oil change, but wouldn't try it without testing the oil often, even with Amzoil.

[Huney1]

Sounds like the inside of your engine is as clean as mine and it has 43K on it. I read a test with Mobil 1 and they went 5K mi then changed the filter and topped off the oil then went another 5K for 10K total. Claimed by changing the filter and topping it off with a quart of fresh oil that was enough to keep the oil fortified and the Mobil 1 did the job for 10K miles. All well and good but, to my way of thinking, changing the oil and filter every 5K miles is cheap insurance and if you don't drive under harsh conditions 7.5K changes are OK.

WalMart has SuperTech fully synthetic oil $13.28 for five quarts and their filters are $2.08 so that's a cheap oil change. I put Mobil 1 in mine last time but I think I spent money I didn't need to because the 03 Vulcan has never used a drop of oil.

This is interesting. I have a five year old 12.5 HP Briggs engine in a Murray 40" riding mower and using regular HD 30W oil it uses about a half pint every two cuts. For kicks thought I'd try a quart of WalMart full synthetic 10W-30 and in five cuts it barely used a fourth of a pint. The secret to long life for an air cooled engine that doesn't have a filter is change the oil every five hours.

[taurusffv]

I didnt know how often one should do oil change-I just changed mine-its been over 8,000 miles since the last change. Yes, what was left in there was really dark, the only way I know this is because the new oil is much lighter on the dipstick :-) I guess I was lucky I didnt cause damage.

[Willyum]

IF your oil isn't getting dark, it may not be doing its job. The idea is that modern motor oil is H.D. (high detergent) and is supposed to clean up the inside of the engine, keep the dirt suspended until you drain it out.
Before H.D. oils, oil stayed cleaner and the engine got dirty.

[Huney1]

"I didnt know how often one should do oil change-I just changed mine-its been over 8,000 miles since the last change. Yes, what was left in there was really dark, the only way I know this is because the new oil is much lighter on the dipstick :-) I guess I was lucky I didnt cause damage."

If you drive under normal conditions change oil and filter every 6 to 7 thousand miles. That means very little city driving idling the engine and not much on dusty, dirt roads on steep hills or pulling a trailer. Those are considered HARSH conditions so change every 5 thousand miles and preferably four thousand. I drive in easy conditions so change air filter every 15K miles, Don't forget the fuel filter should be changed every 25 to 30K miles.

One thing for sure, oil and filters are a whole lot cheaper than an engine overhaul. Also the transmission fluid should be changed, (or flushed), at 50K miles. Very important not to neglect the tranny because overhauls are very expensive. Look in the owners manual and it will give you a prescribed maintenance schedule, so adhere to it and you should be good to go.

Color of oil: When I change mine it's pretty clean for the first 1500 miles then it starts getting dirtier and darker which is what high detergent oil is suppose to do. Like Willyum said, that way you know it is doing it's job keeping inside of the engine clean.

Old tranny fluid will be dark reddish-brownish while fresh fluid is a light reddish-pink and if it smells burnt that indicates it's time for a fluid change. Don't forget the cooling system because that is one of the most important things and the most neglected. Maybe it's overkill but I drain and flush then replace the anti freeze every two years. Brake fluid and power steering fluid the same.

[mwt878991]

The only way you can tell how your oil is doing is to have a UOA performed.

You can get one done for approx 30 bucks and that will give you a scientific answer as to how long you should run a particular oil in a particular engine


Mike

[taurusffv]

Thanks-my Taurus if I understand this correctly uses the exact same fluid for power steering as for automatic transmission. I periodically have to add to the steering fluid container-I will notice the turns of the steering wheel get harder, and when I check, the fluid level is down. I never have any fluid leeks under the car. The automatic transmission dipstick is hidden at the back of the engine compartment and is almost impossible to get my hand down to it to check. I think maybe I should get this done next. Does a place like Jiffy Lube do this also?

[shorod]

This post should probably be a new thread, but you'll want to clarify what you are asking. Are you asking if the transmission fluid and filter should be changed, or if the power steering system should be flushed?

The power steering system and automatic transmission system are not connected in any way. When you add fluid to the power steering reservoir, it is not sharing that reservoir with the transmission.

-Rod

[Millermagic]

@ TaurusFFV, trans fluid is supposed to be changed every 30000 miles, do it at 20000 for longer transmission life.

I got mine done at a dealership service center, if you get yorus done at a jiffy lube, make sure they don't do powerflush