Oil colour

[peejay]

Evening all,

This is a very basic question but please humour me as I'm no mechanic.

I've just had the initial (15,000KM) service on our recently acquired (August 3) T6 Frontline Camper. It's the TDI340 engine.

It's just 16km from the workshop to home and for no reason at all I checked the oil this morning. It's black. I would have expected it to be lighter than it is, for no other reason than it has only seen 16kms use.

It just doesn't seem possible that the workshop has not changed the oil as that is really all that happens at this service other than the usual inspection type items.

I can appreciate that diesels are different to petrol engines and I haven't owned another diesel for about 8 years now but I am genuinely surprised by the colour of the oil.

I have attached a photo (I hope) that may be of some use.

Any advice would be appreciated so I can sound knowledgeable when I visit the workshop on Monday. I have to go there anyway to return the socket extension they left under the bonnet.

Thanks and Regards,

pj

[Umai Naa!!]

It's normal.

You only have to run a diesel for 10mins for the oil to go black.

[Kiels3927]

.....unless you have room under the bonnet to fit a Frantz filter.

[Umai Naa!!]

Wouldn't make a whole lot of difference. The oil has a lot of friction modifiers and detergents in it, so for the oil to discolour, it is doing it's job.

[LogicprObe]

Yeah........it goes black pretty quick but mine takes a couple of days usually.
About 500kms.
The oil costs a heap more than an oil filter...........just sayin'.......

[Kachingg]

Yup that's normal for a diesel its the oil suspending all the soot ect from the combustion process

[Transporter]

Unless you change it more often it doesn’t stay clean for too long. So, it looks like normal too me considering it’s the first and only 1 oil change at 15,000km.

My old T5 5cylinder 4Mo would have already 3 oil changes at its first 15,000km, and I can confirm that the engine oil never went so dark so quick within 1 day and even week after changing oil it was still looking better than the OP’s.

[peejay]

Thanks for your responses, fellow VW owners.
I’m satisfied now that the oil and filter have been changed, so that’ssomething less to worry about.
The only diesel I’ve owned previously was a MKV Golf, boughtnew in 2005. I had the oil changed every 7500km and from the comments offeredhere, I should follow the same procedure with the Transporter (and oil filtertoo).
I no longer have the Golf but it’s still running around with250,000 KM’s up.
Cheers,
pj

[LogicprObe]

Every 15K is fine.
Mine comes around real quick, about every two months.
I think in Europe they do them every 30k but we're classed as 'dusty' out here.