Black/dirty oil in new car?
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Black/dirty oil in new car?
I have a 2003 Chevy Malibu, 3.1 V6, auto, just over 12k miles and 12 months old. I have changed the oil (5w-30) every 3k miles - so it has just had its 4th oil change. I noticed that the oil comes out BLACK and Dirty. But how can this be with a new car and an oil change every 3k miles? I have a 1988 Toyota Camry wagon with over 200k miles on it and the oil still stays clean between oil changes - so how in the world can the Malibu's oil came out black and dirty? Is it because it is 5w-30 oil? Is there something wrong? If there is something wrong, how do I convice the dealer to do any warrantee repairs when nothing seems wrong except the dirty oil
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Do you put the same oil (brand, type) in both cars? Toyotas do seem to have much cleaner oil after 3K miles. The Chevy engine is probably not as "good" as the Toyota one.
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Reply to trinitro
Actually, I use high quality oil in the new Malibu - Castrol/Penzoil, while in the Toyota, I use whatever I can get cheap - 99 cents/qt or less - since it has over 200k.
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I would not be concerned myself darker oil means the detergents in the high quality oil are doing their job by removing and suspending contaiminates in the oil.Really clean oil is either being changed to often,leaking out(continuous flush)or has very little detergent properties in it.If you change your oil every 3k and have receipts you will have zero warranty problems.As for Toyotas having cleaner oil I hear the Sienna v-6 engines have a clogging/sludge buildup problem.No car is perfect never will be.Maintainance is key for any car as is documentation of it.