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Actually,
the one on the right. A common misconception is that an oil’s color is an indication of how “dirty”
it is. Any oil will turn black after a short period of use. Some oils may stay “clean” looking
longer than others, but eventually they all will turn black. This is perfectly normal.
In general, the color of an oil does not have any bearing
on its lubrication ability or whether or not the oil is suitable for continued use. Most oil and especially diesel
engine oil will turn black in the first few hours of operation due to contamination generated by the combustion process and
soot particles. It is the job of the filtration system to filter out the larger sized soot particles that can cause engine
wear and the additive package of the oil to neutralize and hold in suspension the soot particles that are too small for the
filter to trap and hold.
Under certain
conditions such fuel dilution, water contamination or glycol contamination, for example, the color can provide insight that
something is mechanically wrong and in need of repair and/or additional analysis, however under normal operating conditions
without mechanical problems present the black color which is commonly referred to as “dirty oil” in the vehicle
servicing industry does not have any bearing on its lubrication ability.
The only
way to accurately determine an oils lubricating value or contamination level is through (spectrographic) oil analysis.
Oil analysis is common practice used regularly in commercial, industrial and fleet operations and can also be used
for passenger cars, light trucks or any other application.
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