Hi. Just changed the engine oil in my Fabia 1.9 TDi, and the lovely golden liquid I poured in to the engine has turned black within minutes. I already clean out all the old oil from the filter housing, and pour a bit of new oil through both the filter housing, and the rocker cover, and let that drain. However, somewhere, there must be a fair bit of old oil left in the engine to change the colour of the new oil so quickly. Am I missing something, or are all diesels just dirty old oil burners!? BTW, engine oil drained with front wheels on 12" high ramps. The above procedure worked well on my previous petrol engined cars, and on my bikes. Anyone manage to get clean oil showing on the dip stick??

Colin

It's perfectly normal on diesels - think it's soot or something which contaminates the oil in minutes! Nowt to worry about

Chris

It's normal. Don't worry. Even if you flush it, it will go blackish very quickly.

The oil in Vag diesels is used to cool the underside of the pistons at the bottom of their stroke, so it gets very hot very quickly. There's also about 1/3rd litre which is virtually impossible to get out of the engine, so is a source of contamination for the new oil.

Anyone manage to get clean oil showing on the dip stick??

Colin

You won't. This issue has and I think always will be a problem for garages. You'll never guess the amount of poeple that have a service carried out, drive home, check their oil level and then drive staright back to the garage to complain their oil was never changed. In all diesel engine vehicles the new oil picks up the soot in the engine turning it black very quickly. We have had to prove this in the past by carrying out another oil change in front of the customer and then pulling the dip stick to show him what a fool he was.......

You won't. This issue has and I think always will be a problem for garages. You'll never guess the amount of poeple that have a service carried out, drive home, check their oil level and then drive staright back to the garage to complain their oil was never changed. In all diesel engine vehicles the new oil picks up the soot in the engine turning it black very quickly. We have had to prove this in the past by carrying out another oil change in front of the customer and then pulling the dip stick to show him what a fool he was.......

yep , had it happen to me , service manager comes through the workshop on the bounce after customer complains that the oil not changed , manager told to p1$$ off

I used to do changes on XUD and XUDT engines.

If you drained it, ran flushing oil in it for 10 mins, then drained that and filled it up with good oil it would stay clear for about 100 miles if you were lucky.

As long as the stuff looks relatively thin and not all powdery I woulddn't be worrying.

HTH

If you're worried that the oil hasn't been changed,try the taste test.Just a drop on the tongue and taste.New oil has no hint of diesel in it,whereas old oil tastes of diesel and the soot has a unique flavour all it's own.

Look, it is a diesel, get over it!

When I had my landrover, I was just glad to see oil ON the dipstick.