Dying steam cylinder oil is a serious issue that has come about because the current steam cylinder oil from Mobil and other suppliers is much to light to be seen in the winker. This creates an issue because you can't tell if the oil pump is working when you traveling down the road. Without steam cylinder oil being injected in the steam line there is no lubrication going to the engine which will cause valve scoring and other rather extensive damage.
I have been working with a commercial dye company on producing a dye that will efficiently color the oil jet black well not upsetting the other properties of the oil. After some testing I feel that I've come up with a liquid dye that does the job quite nicely. I blended the dye with a test batch of Mobil Super 600W cylinder oil and ran it in my car this past weekend. The difference was amazing. I went from not being able to see the oil at all, to having a very nice clear blink for every stroke of the pump. I should have done this a year ago!
Dyed steam cylinder oil, the original on the left and the dyed on the right.