NewSlang

Hello! I have a 1998 Lexus ES300 with 54900 on the ODO and at 54119 I changed the oil with Amsoil Signature Series 5w30 and now after about 1000 miles I decided to check the oil and the level is right at the second notch, but the oil itself looks more brown then it does yellow... How can this be after only 1000 miles with the engine oil?

LeX2K

Happens to all my cars to varying degrees, if you don't burn oil then nothing to worry about. You could check the PCV valve but at that mileage it's probably fine.

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

How long has it been since the oil change and do you have photos? Also, who did the oil change and the previous change? Was the filter changed?

NewSlang

I did the oil change on 6/6/21 ( last month) at 54119. My car is slightly above 54900. I did the previous change on 8/22/20 with 49807 on the odometer... I always change my oil and oil filter at the same time. I've been using Amsoil's oil filter which is compatible with my car.Could it be because I've been driving the car too much and in excessive heat?

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

I wouldn't necessarily worry about it at this point. As long as you're not seeing any coolant contamination, it's supposed to suspend any varnish inside the engine hence for the change in color. I could take a picture of my oil and we could compare, I'm currently at about 1700 miles since 4/20/21 and I used AmazonBasics 5W30 High Mileage Synthetic with a Toyota filter. I know my engine has some crud built up inside from the first few owners, so it would be an interesting comparison.

NewSlang

A month or so ago I did replace my battery as a preventative measure as I didn't know how old the battery that I had was (it didn't have a date on it). I've heard that changing the battery can reset some of the electronics and specifically the idle pattern that the computer learns. Could this cause a problem with how the engine runs and result in unnecessary strain on the engine due to incorrect calculations from sensors?

LeX2K

Not at all. Only way to know exactly what is going on in the engine is send away an oil sample for analysis.

Oro

Honestly, that's precisely what I would WANT to see with a higher quality synthetic. It proves it is what it says it is.

Amsoil is majority PAO synthetic and not majority/wholly ester-synthetic like Redline or Valvoline Restore. However, the ester content of it is going to preferentially remove deposits conventional oil, and "conventional" synthetics, will not. The chemistry is not terribly complicated, but ester synthetics are electrically polar molecules whereas all other conventional or synthetics are not. It is why it is particularly adept at cleaning.

Run it the recommended OCI and don't worry as it darkens.

djr48312

Not a "milkshake" brown look? take a pic so we can clarify. I recently had a mobil 1 oil change on 239k miles and it's golden after 3000 miles.

FromFL

Hot oil will look cleaner than dirty oil because it's thin on the stick and conversely cold oil will look dirty as it's thicker. Sounds crazy, but do make sure it was checked the same way.