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Old 5th Jul 2009, 02:11
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SNS3Guppy
 
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No, oil color really won't. The color of the oil may be due to a number of factors, but one can't tell the condition of the engine by the color of the oil.

This is one myth that most mechanics understand, but it's tough sometimes to convince the lay person. Engine oil color means nothing. If anything, it indicates that the oil is properly suspending material (ashless dispersant)...but even that's far too simplistic. If you want to know about the oil, looking at the color won't tell you anything useful. A spectrometric oil analysis done on a regular basis and compared against a baseline for trend analysis, will.

Quaker State Home

Motor Oil Myths and Facts

Oil Color Lubrication Ability and Contamination Level

Color of Engine Oil

Oil Myths and Facts

Whitfield Oil Company: Motor Oil Myths & Facts

The notion of staggering piston ring gaps has never had any substantiation, and most understand it to be an old wives tale. Never the less, the myth lives on. There is no difference in a compression test if the ring gaps are aligned, or staggered. Think about it.

When a leakage occurs in a cylinder, it doesn't happen necessarily around an "aligned" portion of the engine. It's a gas...it doesn't need to leak in a straight line, or because of alignment. There's nothing about lining up the gaps in piston rings that will make leakage occur at any greater rate than if they're staggered. Further, leakage around ring end gap is a non-issue, and is irrelevant to the performance of compression tests.

http://www.triplesdownunder.com/Inte...ing%20gaps.doc
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