Evening guys,
I had my TF serviced on Friday and I have noticed that the oil is still dirty, Not as dirty as it was when it went in there but definately not the honey colour that is decribed here. Could it have to do with the car's age? Or did the mech just dump the oil and refill? The car did have nosiy lifters (?) until it was serviced

Sorry about the daft question.. Oh and the dodgy phone camera shot :ninja:
http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz322/kaitiemybug/IMG_1280.jpg?t=1298465835

draining the oil from the sump and refilling with fresh oil wont get 100% of the old oil out. a bit still sits in there, which may make your clean oil look dirty. how long was the old oil in there for? if it was really bad this is most likely the case.
i change mine every 5-6K and that makes it look clean after every change

It had been in there a while.. Over 10K at least, taking better care of it now!

If it was very black and it was just an oil change with no filter change it will still be a bit dark, not sure if quite that dark though. I like it a bit tinted sometimes, honey coloured oil is hard to check the level of at night, my TR has enough wear in the rings that it only needs a week of driving or two to get that dark.

should really do your own servicing it isnt hard :) i wouldnt be happy with that when i do my services color on the stick is the same as it comes out the oil container, then again i do a flush, good drain new filter & oil

I personally woukd just quiz the mech about it, every time I service mine, i take it for a spin and i cant even see the oil level because its clean as a whistle.

Perhaps they didnt change the filter? Some mechs believe it only needs to be changed every 2nd oil change.

Did they put engine oil flush in it?

The print out says the oil filter was changed, I may go in tomorrow and have a chat with them. There's no mention of an engine flush, though I thought it was standard..

The print out says the oil filter was changed, I may go in tomorrow and have a chat with them. There's no mention of an engine flush, though I thought it was standard..

If serviced at the proper intervals you shouldnt need it , although it is best to use anyway. Im pretty sure most mechanics just drop oil, change filter and thats it for the oil side of things, i dont know many to actually use engine flush anyway. Some people believe that the flush can remove deposits that are blocking a hole that oil could leak out of, meaning the mechanics may not use flush so theres less chance of oil leaks.

But let us know how you go.

If the old oil has been in there for over 10,000km as you say, then you would have to expect it to be very dirty. I'd figure there to be at least 500ml of dirty oil left behind when the oil and filter is changed and this will darken to colour of your new oil.
Next change it should be different, but as it stands, I'd say all is what you would expect. They would not have done a flush without asking you as they then could be liable for any future damage ( flush is not a specified service item).

How many km's has the motor in the car done?

Just under 209xxx

Could be getting a bit tired- contaminating the oil with fuel.....

Does the car blow any smoke?

No smoke. Nothing wrong with it except for a split cv boot.

When the fresh oil gets dirty quick it can be a sign that the old oil wasn't doing its job properly and the inside of the engine is dirty, or it wasn't drained completely. The fresh oil is cleaning the engine and going dirty quickly. 10,000 km is probably a bit much for the oil you had in there. Try 5,000 km (or annual if its not used much) changes for a while, with a fresh filter each time and it should clean up nicely. I had the same problem when I changed from dino oil to Mobil1, the oil went dirty real quick, but the inside of the engine was spotless when I pulled it down. (The engine threw a rod, but that's another story.)

The Verada when I got it was well-overdue for an oil change, it'd been long enough that the Valvoline oil filter's paint had started to crack. The oil was yuck, not burnt-smelling, just old.

A week ago I did a typical oil change: drain, new filter and fresh oil - here is the result:

http://i51.tinypic.com/2ps3vpc.jpg

In my opinion your oil doesn't look changed, maybe just topped up? - Can you confirm a new filter is installed (and not just wiped of old grease as I've seen that before!), it should have nice dark, unfaded writing on it.

If you feel you can't trust a mechanic to the extent that you need to check their work, maybe doing the oil/filter change yourself would be better?

I had the same problem when I changed from dino oil to Mobil1, the oil went dirty real quick, but the inside of the engine was spotless when I pulled it down. (The engine threw a rod, but that's another story.)

I'd be worried if the oil wasn't a little dirty as part of the job is to clean the engine,

I'd be worried if the oil wasn't a little dirty as part of the job is to clean the engine,
I wasn't complaining, it just shows that fresh oil can sometimes go dirty quick as it cleans a grubby engine after an overdue oil change.

Frankly, if one or more oil changes have been missed then a proper flush out should be done.

I.e add flushing agent to the existing oil, let the car idle, DO NOT DRIVE, for the recommended time. Empty out, new filter, prefill the filter if possible.

If the oil goes dirty soon after this, I am afraid you really should repeat the process.

Also just don't use cheap oil. Buy and use a good oil.
There have been many recommendations here on what works well in a Magna.
Gerry

I personally would only flush an engine that I know to be fairly clean anyway, hence almost defeating the purpose :)

My TF and Verada both have 300,000kms+ yet inside the engines they are fairly sludge free, just the yellow oil-staining on the valve gear, whereas my TE has 230,000kms and I wouldn't dare flush it as its rocker covers are fairly crap-caked and the flush would dislodge large chunks only to have it go all through tappets etc. I'll rip them off soon to get rid of the crap, as I don't want it falling off randomly and causing havoc.

Check to see if the oil filter looks new, if not go back and question the mechanic, I always change my own oil its pretty easy, and when the old oil has almost finished draining out I tip a little new oil in the motor just to help flush out some more of the old oil so it nice and clean when I fill it with new oil.