I just watched a video by Scotty Kilmer on youtube. He talked about how GDI injectors can shoot gasoline straight into the oil pan bypassing piston rings. I noticed when I pull the dipstick on the 2003 lincoln town car, the oil looks darker than when I first changed it. Could this darker color be a result of gasoline getting into the oil?

No. Your car does not have GDI.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

then why does the oil look dark/dirty on the dip stick?

That is the deposits and whatever other kinds of stuff is created inside a combustion engine while it is in operation.

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Jim

Soot/carbon for the most part -- Bigger stuff gets filtered out. Stick to regular 5k/1y change intervals for oil and filter and you'll be fine.

On our old diesels, the soot will turn oil black within a couple hundred miles, totally normal. Your TC and other gas vehicles won't be that bad with it, but will still eventually turn dark. Its normal.

__________________
TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

Also regarding GDI -- gas in oil is pretty unusual, and Kilmer is very widely panned for his sensational BS. In some engines it does happen, if a poor injector pattern washes oil away from the cylinder walls and introduces scoring. You'd also see poor compression.

A much more common failure in early DI systems is the high pressure fuel pump failure. Many times the HPFP is driven off a camshaft and when a seal goes it'll introduce fuel to the crankcase. Happened on my Saturn, easy 20min fix with a new pump.

At any rate, a Town car has port injection, so all of this does not apply to the OP.

__________________
TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

thank you both for sharing; that helps clear up the issue in my mind. I will continue to change the oil and oil filter at 5,000 mile intervals.

I suggest smelling your oil on the dip stick. Does it have any odor of gas? That is a sign of running rich, which I understand is a different issue than what you posted about. Also, gas not combusting in the conbustion chamber suggests to me running rich. I had a few cars over the years which ran rich, and you could smell it in the oil.