what color is synthetic oil new?

[bigbird]

ok i think im retarded, but i have had an oil leak developing since i changed my oil and was fretting about it. last night i looked at some and it was almost clear and didnt smell like regular oil(what i though i put in). it just occured to me that since i buy that stuff on auto pilot, i may have bought synthetic oil instead of regular, hense why its leaking so much. i havnt purposfuly bought synthetic in about 5 years so im unfimiliar with it. what color is it? it doesnt smell like regular oil does it?

[MemphisR]

usually its yellowish just like normal oil? i mean unless you accidentally got royal purple or something crazy. . . at least all the oil ive gotten has been
as far as smell i dunno haha it doesnt smell much different from oil what kind of smell did the leaked fluid have?

[bigbird]

it smelled slightly oily but not like regular oil. im gonna try to find any bottles i left lying around and see if i did make the mistake.

[kamrhee]

bigbird,

I think majority of the oils regardless whether its syn. or dino are light golden color except for a few. If you're unsure, just do a drain and fill again. Wouldn't want to have that leak and find out later that you're low on oil. Its more work but you know you're doing the right thing. Just my 0.02.

kamrhee

[Tommy]

the only other oily substance in your car would be power steering fluid or ATF. (same thing) and its red and has a sweeter oder to it.

did you not realize when you bought the oil that you were paying 2x as much for it?

[bigbird]

good point, but when i say auto pilot, i mean it. ive been buying oil from the same place, same spot on the shelf for 3 years and i guess i just made a mistake, at least i think i did. its leaking from alot of different places so thats what leaves me to believe it may be synthetic. stupid mistake on my part . thanks for the help guys.

off toppic, but hey tommy, ever think about swapping in a vr6 in that gti? my roommate did and it was fairly easy and the thing huals ass. hes about to turbo it too.

[MemphisR]

hey tommys got a great point check your brake fluid and your steering fluid it could be either of those
honestly i dont really know what either of them smell like

[marc780]

I'd wash the engine with simple green or what have you, then let it leak again. Depending on where its leaking from, usually not too hard to tell oil from any other fluid. The consistency and smell of it besides the appearance. Like i said, id stop guessing, wash the engine and find out.
If you cant do that right now, just keep an eye on the dipstick instead, and that will tell you enough to keep the engine from running out of any precious fluids.

[jhbhatia]

oil on the floor just after an oil change can occur as some may have leaked out (when removing filter). But if you can see it leaking, then you got a problem w. seals (i'm presuming). GOOD LUCK!

[Eye8Pussies]

check your brake fluid as wwell

[bigbird]

its PS fluid for sure, thanks for the help guys.