ryan roopnarine
08-24-2005, 03:12 PM
or so im told this is what happens when you use dino oil. the engine in question is my 92 525i, m50 non vanos unit. i don't divulge mileage numbers, but it is driven hard and far every week. i would estimate that throughout its lifetime its been fed 50% dino and 50% synthetic ( i feed it that, but i estimate the PO did so in the same proportion). during the summer i usually use something that will handle the heat down here (mobil 1 15w50), 15w40 diesel (rotella or delo) or 20w50 dino, i usually get fancier with oil (like ger. castrol or m1 0w40) as it gets colder. the dino is used primarily on cleaning cycles for me, i don't feel bad about throwing dino out at 2500 miles if the oil gets black at that mileage during that interval. i took the lid off this weekend to replace a valve cover, and was suprised to see the honeycomb hideout...
http://plaza.ufl.edu/rroopnar/P3310062.JPG
i thought to myself....is this sludge? (and no, the camera takes dark pictures...just because it looks dark doesn't mean its trashed as you'll see in the next pic). i scrapes my's fingernails about, no residue comes off. i took a piece of paper towel and wetted it with some contact cleaner and tried in an inconspicuous place, nothing came off. dipped a piece of clean paper towel into an oil pool, held it up to the light...was good and relatively clear...
began thinking to myself...hmmm, wonder if the old wive's tale about dino oil leaving honey colored stains is true.
here's a picture of my camshaft. looking at it closely put my fears to rest, as i could find no sludge up top, just a harmless looking "gold" color on the non contact surfaces of the shaft
http://plaza.ufl.edu/rroopnar/P3310063.JPG
i asked someone standing around the place i was working on my car to take a look at my cams and such...he says "it looks pristine", and that my cylinder head must just naturally be that color.
as i said before, i'm not worried anymore (as the cam looks REEEAAALLL nice). its just that i've heard a couple of people say that no matter what you do, if you use dino oil, you'll get a honey colored residue up top. can anyone speak to the truth or false-ness of this? thanks.
http://plaza.ufl.edu/rroopnar/P3310062.JPG
i thought to myself....is this sludge? (and no, the camera takes dark pictures...just because it looks dark doesn't mean its trashed as you'll see in the next pic). i scrapes my's fingernails about, no residue comes off. i took a piece of paper towel and wetted it with some contact cleaner and tried in an inconspicuous place, nothing came off. dipped a piece of clean paper towel into an oil pool, held it up to the light...was good and relatively clear...
began thinking to myself...hmmm, wonder if the old wive's tale about dino oil leaving honey colored stains is true.
here's a picture of my camshaft. looking at it closely put my fears to rest, as i could find no sludge up top, just a harmless looking "gold" color on the non contact surfaces of the shaft
http://plaza.ufl.edu/rroopnar/P3310063.JPG
i asked someone standing around the place i was working on my car to take a look at my cams and such...he says "it looks pristine", and that my cylinder head must just naturally be that color.
as i said before, i'm not worried anymore (as the cam looks REEEAAALLL nice). its just that i've heard a couple of people say that no matter what you do, if you use dino oil, you'll get a honey colored residue up top. can anyone speak to the truth or false-ness of this? thanks.