Oil turned dark 2k miles after oil change - normal?

[Gigaton Punch]

I got an oil change a few months ago and only after 2,000 or so miles, the oil is pretty dark (although still slick / no thick or clumpy). Is this normal for the oil color to get dark early on? Should I get oil change earlier?

 

[Jango]

This website has lots of good discussions on oil: https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/t...ny-miles-on-oil-visually.366953/#post-6436495

 

[EdP]

I got an oil change a few months ago and only after 2,000 or so miles, the oil is pretty dark (although still slick / no thick or clumpy). Is this normal for the oil color to get dark early on? Should I get oil change earlier?

I've seen it get dark in 200 miles. Especially on older engines. Keep in mind, they did not change "all" your oil, just most of it. You can let it drain for hours, but there is still a coating of the old oil on the parts andf will mix in over time.

 

[JCtx]

I changed mine at 1,724 miles, and it was quite dark already. I assume due to assembly and break-in crap. Did it again at 4,949 miles, since I had a long trip, and oil look quite dark again. However, we did lots of short trips during those 3,225 miles, but still, the 2.5T in the Santa Fe does a lot better on oil contamination. Probably because the G70 is DI only, rather than dual-injection, like the new 2.5T engine. But I plan to do the next oil change at my regular 5K interval (10K total), so we'll see how it looks by then. If I don't take it on another trip, it might take well over 6 months to get there. It's about 6,600 now.

 

[Gigaton Punch]

My oil is dark and I'm planning to go on a 1,000 mile road trip. Safe to go? Or should I change the oil out of an abundance of caution?

 

[Hueydriver]

My oil is dark and I'm planning to go on a 1,000 mile road trip. Safe to go? Or should I change the oil out of an abundance of caution?

When was the last change?

 

[TinsleyC]

Follow the manual for your OCI, or just change it and the filter every 5k miles. Don't worry about the color. The filter keeps it as clean as it needs to be.

 

[JCtx]

My oil is dark and I'm planning to go on a 1,000 mile road trip. Safe to go? Or should I change the oil out of an abundance of caution?

The color shouldn't be that concerning by itself. It depends how many miles you have on the oil, for how long, and the kind of driving you've done. I was going to go over 5K on my trip last month too, and since most of the miles so far were from short trips, and oil was super dark, decided to change it. Since I do it myself, it's cheap insurance. I typically do 5K OCIs, but if lots of highway miles on long trips, I leave it 6K, or a little more. Just never go over what Hyundai calls for, which is 7,500 miles (in some places it says 8K, but in others 7,500, so I'd go with that), at least during warranty.

 

[Gigaton Punch]

My last oil change was last December and about 3,500 miles ago. Mix of city and highway driving.

 

[JCtx]

If you have 3,500 now, you'd be back with 4,500 (less than 5K), I'd change it upon returning.

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