Hi Guys,

More than 3 weeks ago, I had a service station change my oil (the first oil change with this car under my ownership). It was way overdue (5k miles+) and there had been below freezing temps for a long time, so I bit the bullet and had em do it.

I brought 5 qts of Mobile 1 5W-20 and a Puralator Pureone filter with me and gave it to them. A-hole overfilled my car even though I told him to only put 4.5. My mistake was giving him 5 qts to work with. I was fuming and decided to gtfo there before I lost my temper. I was planning to get the extra out on my own later that day...

Anyhow flash forward to last night and I finally get time to get the extra oil out and also do a transmission change. I found the extra oil coming out was black as heck. Is that normal? I think this might be attributed to them not letting all of the old oil drain out and rushing to put the new one in. I'm just concerned cause I remember when I was testing the oil level with the dip stick, it wasn't exactly amber/honey clear like new oil was. Should I be concerned and change the oil again?

I researched this before posting here and found that diesels get dirty quick but a lot of people say their synthetic stays clear/clean for awhile. I also learned that color isn't an indicator of oil quality?

Thanks guys!

I have an I4, and with the same oil you're using it doesn't turn black, something doesn't smell right. Did you see them pour the oil you brought into the car, for that matter did you even see them drain the car?

The other possibility is that the previous owner didn't do the 35K service and you're actually 12K miles since the oil was last changed. Did you check the oil when you took ownership? What colour was it then? Rule of thumb, always do a full service on a preowned car when you get it no matter what paperwork it has regarding service.

I saw them drain and fill it myself.

Carfax said oil change was done prior to my ownership, and there were frequent oil changes done. I just checked the dipstick when I got the car to see it was amber and it was. Funny thing is it still kinda is, only what comes out the bottom is dark.

I knew about the rule of thumb but it was cold, I was lazy and I trusted the Carfax... :(

I think your best bet is to do the oil and filter yourself. At least you know it will have been done correctly.

One of the things Mobil 1 does very well is cleaning. Assuming it has had regular oil in it prior to now this is not unusual at all. On the second or third change with M1 you will notice that the oil will remain clean longer. Some of the old oil remains in the engine so it will take several changes to have all M1 in the engine. It's doing it's job. Darkening is not necessarily indicative of needing an oil change. Are you positive that they changed the filter?

If you're going to be that picky about an oil change, I don't see why you don't do it yourself. The only thing you paid the oil change place for was taking off a bolt, really..

RTexasF: I'm glad to hear that Mobile 1 was a good choice. I checked last night while getting the extra oil out and indeed and new filter was installed.

Accordriver: I only went to have it done because it was below freezing outside and I didn't have access to an indoor garage. I honestly prefer to do things myself and will do so in the future.

Thanks for the great responses guys!

Another good rule of thumb is to check all the fluids when buying a used car. I just go ahead and change them all out, that way I start out with a clean slate and I can predict the next change interval without having to guess what the last owner did or didn't do.

Just my 2 cents.

The color is not a good indicator of oil life. If you really want to know what's going on, get a UOA (used oil analysis) done.

The color is not a good indicator of oil life. If you really want to know what's going on, get a UOA (used oil analysis) done.

Yea, don't worry about the color. Especially if it's the first time you're run Mobile 1 in that engine and it's not very low miles/new. It cleans the engine big time. I had the same issue when I switched my Blazer over (around 35K miles on the OD) to Mobile 1 synthetic. After a few changes, it came out much clearer every time (always tested good, hence why I raised the interval from 5K to 9K.) I switched to the EP version somewhere around 100K and started to do it once a year (about 10-13K miles), still tested good and it's still driving/running strong after 166K+.

When you say overdue, do you mean it was 5K since the last change or it hadn't been changed in 15K/20K miles? The 03 Accords had a 10K interval for 4cyl and 7.5K for V6 models under normal service conditions. Check your owners manual for more info.

So first of all, the 2.4L I4 and the 3.5L V6 hold 5 quarts (regardless of what the book says) - so a 5 quart bottle will bring it to the full mark after the oil filter has been primed after the first start.

That being said - are you sure that they actually changed the filter? Leaving the old filter on would result in some extra oil in the system, and also could account for the black color you're seeing. That'd be my speculation...

andy

Hi Guys,

More than 3 weeks ago, I had a service station change my oil (the first oil change with this car under my ownership). It was way overdue (5k miles+) and there had been below freezing temps for a long time, so I bit the bullet and had em do it.

I brought 5 qts of Mobile 1 5W-20 and a Puralator Pureone filter with me and gave it to them. A-hole overfilled my car even though I told him to only put 4.5. My mistake was giving him 5 qts to work with. I was fuming and decided to gtfo there before I lost my temper. I was planning to get the extra out on my own later that day...

Anyhow flash forward to last night and I finally get time to get the extra oil out and also do a transmission change. I found the extra oil coming out was black as heck. Is that normal? I think this might be attributed to them not letting all of the old oil drain out and rushing to put the new one in. I'm just concerned cause I remember when I was testing the oil level with the dip stick, it wasn't exactly amber/honey clear like new oil was. Should I be concerned and change the oil again?

I researched this before posting here and found that diesels get dirty quick but a lot of people say their synthetic stays clear/clean for awhile. I also learned that color isn't an indicator of oil quality?

Thanks guys!

For starters, 5k miles isn't exactly "way overdue" for an oil change.

How much over the full mark on the dipstick was the oil level? Just because they added all 5 quarts in doesn't mean that the oil level was too high. In fact, a half quart is really not anything to be concerned about. I wouldn't even bother trying to drain it out as it would only put the oil level slightly above the full mark.

I can't imagine that they'd start filling the oil before letting the old oil drain out as that would make quite a mess trying to put the drain bolt back on while oil was still coming out in a full stream.

You didn't mention how many miles you drove in those 3 weeks.