Oil change

[lavericklavericklaverick]

Hello there!
Just had my oil changed as part of a service. I checked the dip stick before and after and can see no real change in the colour. Please see photo, I'll let you try and guess which is the first rag
   
I should mention that the oil wasn't changed last mot as I do so few miles.
Do you think I'm being being shafted?

Car is multi space 1.6 diesel 2011reg 125kmiles.
Would love to hear your opinions.
Many thanks,

[ae3]

https://youtu.be/YsUAbnqzsfo?si=xrXIqTWcH0sjcIic

this video springs to mind.

[shtu]

No, I very much doubt shaftage. Diesel oil always looks filthy.

[lavericklavericklaverick]

haha jeez, glad i posted on here before going and j'accusing my mechanic :/ that could have been embarrassing. thanks for the replies! much appreciated

[notsofast]

I did the last 2 oil changes on my diesel K9, and both times the new oil looked black after driving the vehicle just a few yards.

However the last time I changed the oil on my diesel M49, the oil stayed clear for several hundred miles, which even made me wonder if it wasn't circulating properly!  My theories for it staying clear are:
a) it had only driven about 900 miles since the previous change
b) it had recently (about 100 miles ago) had a new air filter and at the same time I emptied the air intake resonator box (it had contained quite a lot of black oil)

A better way of checking if the oil has been changed is to look at the oil filter or its housing before and after, and see if anything changes. This is easy on a visible filter - you might even be able to read code numbers etc. - but even on a housing you can look for changes in tightening etc.

[Multispacer]

As others have stated, oil on diesels goes black almost instantly after a change. I have always done my own servicing and have owned Citroen diesel vehicles since the 1990s [starting with the ZX 1.9TD] and it's always been the same, even on the ZX where the oil change interval was 6,000 miles.

On the subject of oil changes, I'll relay a story told to me probably 25 years ago now by a work colleague. His brother worked in the laboratories for a major oil company here in the UK. While he was working there they undertook a major study one year that involved getting hold of as many different engine oils they could from all different manufacturers and subjected them to a vast amount of different tests over the course of a year long project. Of course there were differences in results for the various tests but there was one common theme across ALL of the oils they tested at the time. They all showed a noticeable degrade in the performance of the oil after being subjected to the equivalent of 6,000 miles worth of use.... 

Now it may just be that the older PSA diesels were more robust, or the fact that the oil change intervals were only 6,000 miles but when I parted company with my ZX 1.9TD it had 250,000 on the clock and was still going strong. On my later vehicles, I've kept the oil changes at 6,000 and 'touch-wood' have not really had any engine problems with my later Citroens. Yes, it can be a bit of a pain doing oil changes that often. I didn't appreciate lying on the ground in winter on the driveway draining oil as I've got older, so I just invested in one of those oil sucker pumps to suck the oil up the dipstick [which is what you will find most garages do nowadays anyway]

[shtu]

I just invested in one of those oil sucker pumps to suck the oil up the dipstick.

I've had one for years - total gamechanger.

As for those who whine about not getting all the oil out - you never do, unless you whip the sump off and wash everything down, flush out the galleries, etc. Just change it a little more often. Which is now an easy 15 minutes with the extractor.