Did my first ever self oil change...

[lowspeed]

Anyway the interesting part is that i started to drain the oil after a 30 minute drive.

I was really surprised that the oil or the engine were not hot.

out side Temp was about 40.

I know it wasn't hot because when i popped the screw the oil splashed on my hand... it was just comfortably warm.

Then i decided to touch the engine block ... it was less then warm.

I put in a little over 3qt of mobil1

I did notice that at 2600miles the oil had quite of black in it. Is that normal ?

[Bill Lumbergh]

Originally posted by lowspeed@Mar 25 2006, 05:23 PM
Anyway the interesting part is that i started to drain the oil after a 30 minute drive.

I was really surprised that the oil or the engine were not hot.

out side Temp was about 40.

I know it wasn't hot because when i popped the screw the oil splashed on my hand...  it was just comfortably warm.

Then i decided to touch the engine block ... it was less then warm.

I put in a little over 3qt of mobil1

I did notice that at 2600miles the oil had quite of black in it.  Is that normal ?

[snapback]230150[/snapback]

If it's the first 2600 miles you've put on the car, then YES, it's normal. I call it the 'Break in" oil and it's expected to get thrashed about as the internals seat together.

I switched to Mobil 1 5-30 at 5200 miles and mine is still very clean even after a harsh winter, lots of short trips, and 5000 miles. I'm changing it sometime in the next 2 weeks.

[the fish]

lowspeed, congrats on the DIY oil change.

Every DIY project I attempt results in either an injury or lost/broken part. During previous DIY oil changes, I get burned about half the time and ruin clothing the other half.

But your story of tepid oil gives me new hope.

[Walker1]

It's always normal for organic oil to get black. Even syn. oil gets dark after a while. I personally leave Mobil 1 in my cars for 25,000 miles. I change the oil filter @ 3,000 miles & top off the oil. I've done this with my last 10 cars with NO engine problems. Many of them had over 90,000 miles on them when I sold them. All of them burned minimal amounts of oil. I stand behind Mobil 1 oil 100%.

[ScottY]

Remember, driving 30 min doesn't mean the engine is run for 30 min. What I did on my last oil change was to step on gas making ICE run continuously. Then monitor the coolant temp with CAN-View. It took about 10 min for it to reach 180 F with outside temp around 50 F at the time. Then I drain the oil.

I had 5k miles on the oil and it was dark. I've ask this question to PC members before concerning this issue. Some said their oil looks clean and some said theirs look dark (like mine). I had an oil analysis done and posted here before. The report show very few wear metals and the engine is doing fine. So dark oil doesn't mean the oil is bad. This site provides some simple explanation, http://www.nordicgroup.us/oil.htm#Th...k%20Oil%20Myth.

Dark oil does not indicate the need for an oil change. The way modern detergent motor oil works is that minute particles of soot are suspended in the oil. These minute particles pose no danger to your engine, but they cause the oil to darken. A non-detergent oil would stay clearer than a detergent oil because all the soot would be left on the internal engine parts and would create sludge. If you never changed your oil, eventually the oil would no longer be able to suspend any more particles in the oil and sludge would form. Fortunately, by following the manufacturer's recommended oil change interval, you are changing your oil long before the oil has become saturated. Remember, a good oil should get dirty as it does it's work cleaning out the engine. The dispersant should stop all the gunk from depositing in the oil pan.

The only real way to determine whether oil is truly in need of changing is to have an oil analysis performed. Since most people don't want to bother with this, it's acceptable to err heavily on the safe side and simply follow the manufacturer's recommended change interval for severe service. There are still a few cars that specify 3K intervals for severe service, but not many. If you look at countries other than the U.S., the oil recommended change interval is much higher than even the normal interval specified by vehicle manufacturers in the U.S.

[Frank Hudon]

to get the ICE fully up to temp before draining the oil, put the emergency brake on hard and start the car and put it in "B" 5 minutes and it'll be up to temp. And it won't hurt a thing.

[OverTork]

The following KB article explains how to make the car idle indefinately.

Inspection Mode

The maintenance manual has a stong caution that drivng the car in this mode will damage the transmission. To exit Inspection Mode turn the car off before driving. These instructions are in the 2005 repair manual. I don't know if it's the same for all years and I haven't tried it personally.

[tochatihu]

Inspection mode is accessed the same for Prius since 2001 at least. Rick57 said as much in the KB thread, but I repeat it here to answer the question. Also repeating that you do *not* want to fast-spin a front wheel in this mode.

[lowspeed]

is it absolutely necessary to get the engine up to 170 or so for the oil drain ?

[ghostofjk]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(lowspeed @ Mar 29 2006, 03:19 PM) [snapback]231896[/snapback]</div>

is it absolutely necessary to get the engine up to 170 or so for the oil drain ?
[/b]

No, it's not. But the thinner the oil is from being heated up, the more quickly it drains.

How long you let your oil drip/drain after removing the drain plug obviously will affect what percentage of your dirty oil actually gets drained. That's one reason I'd never use a Jiffy Lube or similar facility. Speed is their game, so considerably more of your old oil gets left in the engine---they slap the drain plug back in while it's still dripping pretty readily. And this also makes it easier for them to overfill, if they put in exactly what's called for. There could easily be half-pint of old oil in there when they put in the new.

I've been changing my own oil for 50 years, and always try to allow at least half an hour for the oil to drain. Usually it's still dripping, but very slowly, when I put the drain plug back in.

As far as getting oil on your hand/wrist/sleeve during the initial "burst": do you remove the drain plug with your fingers the last few turns? If so, when you think it's on the last thread or two, change your grip to put your fingers on it from above rather than below. It can be awkward, but helps. Or grip it the last thread or two with an 8" pliers, and distance your hand from the oil.