starting on the sig

[tezzz]

Well the head from the hiace goes for a new face tomorrow so i started on the sig today.
there is no gasket on the sump is this normal? The clean new oil i put in is black after a drive round the block.
There are two small pieces of metal in the sump, looks flaky.
So, i took off the bottom of the front main bearing and everything is clean and smooth. I put it back on and did the first bigend no slack nice clean and smooth. i skipped to the difficult main in the centre above the main brace the engine sits on, this was ok but what a dog to get the bolts loose. That was it for the day. getting the sump bolts out proved easy with the use of a flexible shaft philips screw driver, this got out those two tricky bolts over the engine brace. I bought it years ago and thought it was pretty useless until i learned to use it. particularly with a battery drill.
oh well at it again tomorrow

[shuggy]

oil will always go black as soon as you turn the key. black is good, brown is bad.
the bits of metal in ya sump might be bad but probably nothin serious, thats why your oil pump has a filter ;)
if you want your engine oil to stay transparant for more than 30 seconds then you will have to flush your engine with engine flush, then replace oil and flush again and maybe again. then it will be clean - but pointless exercise

[81GL]

oil will always go black as soon as you turn the key. black is good, brown is bad.

no man... no.
black oil is bad.

& yes, there is meant to be a gasket on the sup tezzz.
For future reference, what engine are you working on?

[shuggy]

really? i know if its brown or its rough its bad thought black was fine? coz my oil is always black, if you wana drive your car its gonna go black

[Superscan811]

A lot of oil companies now add a chemical that turns the oil a dark BROWN, to supposedly stop people selling used oil.
I believe the colour is designed to make the UN-informed driver want to change the oil more frequently.

If the oil is BLACK, it usually means that there is a lot of soot and/or carbon in the oil. NOT GOOD.
It could be caused by blow-by or the oil getting too hot.

I've got a bypass oil filter (0.5 micron) and a stainless steel filter (35 micron) and my oil still turns a brown colour.
The standard spin-on paper filter is usually around 60 to 80 microns.

I would recommend an oil cooler (even a small one).
It will not only cool the oil but will also increase the volume of oil, which is a good thing.

Once oil goes over 100 deg, the viscosity rating and oil life deteriorate VERY QUICKLY, even synthetic oils.

Hope this gives you something to think about.

Cheers.

[77galantv6]

depends on what shade of black we are talking...

it will get darker, as it is collecting the crap around the engine
but it shouldnt look like an african in the dark though...

so it will be caramel when new and then slowly get darker
as you drive...

[Rally_2.6LC]

Caramel = extremely bad, normally blown head gasket.

[shuggy]

yeh my rafiator is stock and my thermo is running at a average of 100 degrees C at the moment so probably explains the blackness and the ois usage ahah

[tezzz]

it,s an '84 gj wagon with 2.6.
I am now bunging on the gasket on the hiace (again).
i have bought the mitsubishi workshop manual so
everything is a bit clearer. how would i check the oil pump if all else seems ok?
there is a link to photo bucket on my intro page. i managed to do something right.
It looks white, in fact it is a darkish blue.
I think because the sky had a lot of reflective cloud.
Black oil bad. clear oil good.

[77galantv6]

Caramel = extremely bad, normally blown head gasket.

when i said caramel i meant the colour it comes out of the container....

[Rally_2.6LC]

Caramel = extremely bad, normally blown head gasket.

when i said caramel i meant the colour it comes out of the container....

ok well that caramel is good.....if its been in your engine for a long time and its like a milky caramel (cant see through it at all) then thats blown head gasket