I installed my occ about a month ago and the oil in the catch can is very dark in color. At first i thought it was alright but after seeing a couple of pics on the forum the oil in the can appeared to be clear like when it first goes in. Im using mobil1 synthetic 10W30 any feedback would be appreciated

Thanks!

 

You should be running 5-30 Mobil One. I am guessing your oil is due for a change due to its dark color.

 

Ya i was thinking of switching to the 5 but the oil was dark right after i got my last oil change and im only at 2800K since my last one

 

there is also a strong gas smell. is everyones oil in the can somewhat clear?

 

he "should" be running whatever oil weight he wants. there is no right or wrong when it comes to oil, and every person has their own preferance as to what they like to use and what their car prefers. a lot of people think i'm nuts for using such a light oil, but it's not their car and they can use whatever they want.

what catch can are you using and how often do you empty it?

 

Its the 20$ CH style catch can but its made by Parker i believe it looks exactly the same. I empty it about every 400K and thats with the white filter in.

 

I have to interject on your comment PSI chick. Yes, I agree, and no I dont. The diff. between 5w-30, 10w-30, and say 0w-30 is preference and what you feel your car runs best on, and what you are comfortable with. In theory, 5/30 is the same as 10/30 once the engine is warm. I agree 100% wit you on that.

What I would worry about is someone running 20W-50 in cold weather, or straight 30 or 40 for a daily driver in cold temps. The engines built now are engineered for light/multi viscosity oils. This does not mean you can't run something else.

Example: SRT4 driver has pumped his/her vehicle up to say 500whp. He/she goes to the track to run it on a 100 degree day. I might choose straight
30 weight over a 5/30 just because of the conditions. The big factor with oil is the API service clasification. SF or SM is fine. Any GF-3 or GF-4 classification is fine. NEVER USE straight mineral oil ( API SA.....I think).

I may be wrong on the SA classification, but I think it is straight mineral oil. Someone here could probably elaborate better on those.

Remember this. The heavier the viscosity, the less oil is actually contained per quart. The viscosity improvers are a type of polymer they add to thicken it up.
So, 5W-30 uses less polymer's ( same stuff is used in weatherstrip adhesive ) than say a 20w-50. Therfore, there is actually more oil in a quart of 5-30, and less additives. Make any sense?

Also, the only difference betwee GF-3 and GF-4 is the 4 is less destructive to the cat converter....oops, did I say that? What converter? LOL

 

If you are really conserned about your oil. Do an oil analysist. It is very common in fleet vehicles. If you use mobile, go to your mobile distributer and get a oil analysist kit, then pull a sample. This will tell you EVERYTHING that is in your oil. From antifreeze, metal, and how much additives are left. The advantage of this in fleet vehicles is that they will know when the oil is no longer good. You only change oil when the oil analysist says it is nessasary. This will also find problems before they get catastrophic. If your head is leaking, the antifreeze will be detected and you should be able to fix it before you damage your motor. If there is metal something is wearing unusual. The kit and analysist is not that expensive, so give it a try. Then you will not have any questions as to the condition of your oil and motor.

 

For more information on oil than you ever wanted to know, go to Google and type in "bob the oil guy".

It's the #1 internet site for oil information.............

Dusty

 

i agree, however in this case since he was talking about using 10w30 and it was suggested that he use 5w30. i was only really refering to this one case. of course no one should be running a 20w oil in winter, i think everyone would agree on that. i was mearly stating that one person's preferance for an oil weight doesn't mean that another person "should" be using the same weight. many of us here use various weights, and while we have personal preferences that doesn't mean that our weight is what's best for everyone else, or that other people would even consider using that weight (a lot of people tell me i'm nuts for using a 0w oil and would never use it themselves).

bob the oil guy rocks