3k old Gearbox Oil - What colour is it meant to be?

[fizzy_drink]

I lost the 'box oil on my VTS whilst changing the springs because a drive shaft popped out.... that was 3 months ago.

I replaced it with 2L of what I had at the time - 1L 75/80 ELF fully synth... and 1L 75/80 of Halfords (which meets OEM spec).

Anyways... draining yesterday... I noticed it was quite dark in colour (grayish). Is it meant to be like that after only 3k?

Just wondering...

 

[Ollie82.]

Gearbox oil goes quite dark after not very long. Its like the oil in a diesel engine which goes black after about ten miles!

 

[fizzy_drink]

^^

I thought diesels did that becasue they're dirty.


Cheers - I feel better now knowing that it's meant to look like that.

 

[Henry]

it should retain its colour for alot longer than engine oil as there's no carbon involved

chances are you couldn't get all of the old oil out when you changed it, and its just discoloured the new stuff