dark oil

[thebeast]

I am brand new to "working" on cars so please forgive my ignorance.

I did an oil change on my 72 charger about two weeks ago.  I only drove it for a week after the change.  I checked my oil today and it is pitch black.  Like the old oil I had drained when I did the change.  What does this mean?  Is it a normal thing with a car this age or is there something wrong?

[C928BRAN]

Oil will turn black after it heats up. this is normal, and alot of times you cant get all the old oil out, when you change it, and it mixes with the new. it is ok, normal thing.

craig

[Chryco Psycho]

the other way to look at it is the engine may be dirty inside for past neglect , oils contain detergents to help keep the engine clean so the oil is doing its job ! you may want to change it frequently for a while to help clean the engine

[thebeast]

Great info! You guys are the best.  Thanks a lot!

[Kern Dog]

Apples and tomatoes here, but.....
A friends MINI Cooper has a 15,000 mile oil change interval. The dealer backs it up. They use a synthetic in the 5w30 weight. By 7500 miles the oil is black. When you smear it, it looks clear though. If I owned one, I'd change the oil at 7500. 15000 miles !!?? I can't see how THIS can be good. Another friend has a Neon with 98,000 miles. Today I looked at his oil on the stick with 3000 miles on the oil... It looked like pancake syrup. Newer cars can and do go longer between oil changes due to better fuel and spark management.

[resq302]

One thing I noticed even with after our engines being rebuilt was that after you changed the oil, after a short amount of time the oil would get to be that blackish color.  My thought is that the oil is collecting some of the carbon soot from combustion where as newer cars do not make that much pollution like our old cars due to better spark management and better emissions controls.