The car (2003 cab) has 47,500 miles on it. Got one of those coupons from the dealer in the mail, so took it in. The filter cover didn't look like it was touched/removed, so I took an oil sample and it still looked dirty. Oil is Mobil-1 0w40. Last oil change was about 9,000 miles ago.

I went back to the dealer and they said they changed it again "just to be sure" and gave me the "removed filter" which did look clean, but again the oil looks dirty when taking a sample after getting home.

Here is a pic of the sample after the first oil change, the sample was taken after about 70 miles:


Here is pic after the 2nd oil change. The 2nd change sample is on the right in larger bottle. The 2nd sample was taken after about 20 miles.



For a comparison here is a picture with new oil direct from the bottle compared to the two samples.



What do you think?
I read somewhere that Mobil-1 turns color quickly, but this just doesn't seem right.

Thanks,

 

My Mobil 1 stays golden for at least 1k miles probably more like 3k ...how long had old oil been in car ? It's possible you had lots of carbon build up etc. and new detergent in oil is flushing that out ... But if that is the case I'd drive a couple of hundred miles more and go to good indie and get the oil properly changed ...

 

I don't think the new oil should look that dark(not the same as dirty) after only 70 miles IMHO but I could be wrong. Was the service performed by a Porsche dealer? I can't believe they gave you a second change on the house and I certainly do not think they would claim to have changed your oil twice but yet not even change it once. Also, it's hard to see the second oil sample in the colored bottle. Is it also very dark?

You mention that the filter housing does not look like it was touched but you should see scrapes(new marks in the old dirt) on the bottom of the housing from the socket tool. Also, check the drain plug. If the drain plug looks new then they definitely completed the oil change.

 

Yes, it was a Porsche dealer. Yes, I didn't believe they changed the oil a second time "on the house" either, that was the reason for taking the 2nd sample. Yes, the second sample looks exactly the same as the first. It isn't as black as before the change, but it still doesn't look right.

Yes, after the first change, the lack of marks on the filter housing is what made me think of taking a sample. After the 2nd "oil change" the filter housing was cleaned/wiped off.

 

They didn't change it. They changed the filter which can be done without dropping the oil. Save all the palaver, do the oil change yourself. I do NOT change my drain plug when changing oil. Use synthetic and drop it every 5000 and cut your filter open to check for debris. I use Excess 800 motul synthetic.

 

Or ... Take it back to the dealer ... Show the general manager the oil sample .. Have a " master tech" do it again while u watch .. Or loan you a. 991 to tool around in for the day ..,can't believe a Porsche dealer wouldn't take responsibility for this

 

Could be that the filter they gave you came from another car.

 

This all sounds shady, from a porsche dealer nonetheless. We need one of those undercover news investigations on this.

 

They may have only changed the filter the 2nd time as the housing looked like it was cleaned or at least wiped off.

 

It had been about 9,000 miles since the last oil change. The service writer said something like "with an engine with 47,000 miles on it, you can't expect the oil to look fully clean after a change"

I sent a sample to Blackstone about 3 months ago and they said the oil was OK for another 3K miles. The oil looked very dirty in that sample, so when the coupon came I had the oil changed. The sample after the change (pictured above) isn't as dirty as the one taken 3 months ago, so I think the dealer did do something, but it still doesn't seem right.

 

Oil can darken pretty quickly after a change, especially if they didn't warm the engine/oil thoroughly before draining and/or let it sit for a while after removing the drain plug to drain out as much of the old oil as possible. Neither step is a tech highly incentivized for as he (she?) needs to churn and burn cars through his rack to make any money.

That said, I also have had plenty of service writers and mechanics blatantly bs me about work they forget to do or did incorrectly. Porsche dealers are better than most, but the oil change guy is also usually the low man on the totem pole.

 

^agreed.

I had to drain 1 qt (long story) from my Audi (non turbo) one after less than 100mi. It was dark, enough so that it looked ready for a change based on color alone.

Keep in mind when they drain it, there's still a good amount sitting in the engine, which gets mixed in with the new instantly. And if the old oil was 9000+mi, it was surely pretty dark

 

It can take a few hours for the oil to completely drain out of a 996 engine. If there were no marks on the oil filters housing after the first oil change, they didn't change the filter and all the dirty oil just mixed in with the clean.

You would have been better off using the coupon for toilet paper.
Amazon.com has a great price on Motul 8100 E-cess 5w-40 in 5 liter jugs. Just saying.

 

Well not exactly, the amount of oil in the filter housing isn't much when compared to the rest. Therefore, not touching the filter will hardly make a difference. Also, the colour of the oil is meaningless too.

 

How does the oil look when you drip some on a paper towel?