Is there any more black....?

[Mad Maxine]

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The answer is no, there is none more black.

I changed the oil in Maxine, and boy was it black. After a filter change and refill, I checked the dipstick, and my new oil was instantly black. I know diesels are sooty, so I'm guessing that's more or less normal. Is it?

When I had the valve covers off last week, the top of the heads and valvetrain looked clean (as in, no tarry sludge) but everything was black. Black-black-blackety-black.

Engine is original with 250k miles, so I'm guessing that's the best we can hope for.

 

[snicklas]

Yep, Diesels darken the oil quickly. Also you have to take in account not all the oil is changed. There is still oil in the oil cooler, and some "stuck" to the inside surfaces of the block.

My 03 6.0 will do the same thing. I can change the oil, fire it up and take it around the block, and the oil is dark already. I know it isn't a "property" of the oil itself, as I run the exact same oil in my IH Cub Cadet Garden Tractors. These are air cooled, but get hotter, and have more blowby than a normal gas engine, this is why I use diesel oil. I can mow several times, (tractor is running at WOT (3600 RPM) for at least an hour, with a 50 inch deck running the entire time) and it just starts to discolor. The Jetta is the same way as the truck..... the oil is just as black looking right after an oil change as what I took out......

 

[FarmerFrank]

I have heard of the rare and elusive "clean oil" in trucks and I have a 3208 CAT in a large White tractor that stays clean but in my IDI's, even on one with fresh rings, the oil
Is black.

A little black goes a long way and even though you changed your oil there is still a little bit of black oil in your journals, around your bearings, in your lifters, in the oil cooler, around your rocker arms and hanging around everywhere in your engine.

The only way to clean it is to repeatedly change your oil (like every 100 miles) and that is a waste of money and oil.

 

[icanfixall]

Soot changed the color of our oil. We have a very high compression number. Also the oil is a very high detergent based oil so it collects and holds this soot and dirt because that's what the detergent does. Its just as already posted. Its a cross we idi owners have to bare.

 

[Mad Maxine]

That's what I figured. It doesn't bother me, I was just making sure.
Thanks!

 

[Waystro]

Yep every diesel I've been around has always had the black oil
Even the 2010 Duramax had it. I use marvel mystery oil in every thing we have it smooths out the engine

 

[The Warden]

For what it's worth, my '01 Jetta TDI turns the oil black immediately after I first run the engine after an oil change, and that's on an engine that's used synthetic oil since new and has been well maintained.

Needless to say, my IDI's exactly the same way...and, for that matter, every diesel I've ever seen behaves exactly like this.

Perfectly normal

 

[madpogue]

These go to eleven....

 

[ISELLTRUX]

I just spin on a new oil filter once a month and top it off with oil. If the filter is filtering the oil is good.

 

[1995voyagerES]

You never do a oil change?

 

[C_Luft]

On my replacement engine, my oil wasn't really black until a couple hundred miles after changing it, and it still isn't pitch black. I do run a Motorcraft powerstroke oil filter, (I don't think it makes a difference in the color of the oil).

If your really concerned about the color of your oil, you can install a fs2500 oil bypass filter, from the video on you tube it looks like it filters out a lot of engine gunk and maybe soot.

 

[Mad Maxine]

I'm not concerned about it now that I've been "schooled".
It certainly gets dirtier than gassers, and this being my first diesel, I was just curious.
As icanfixall stated, that's part of the oil's job is to carry and suspend contaminants, and there's a lot of that.
I guess I was just concerned that it might be an indication of excessive blow-by.

 

[ISELLTRUX]

You never do a oil change?

I change the oil and oil filter once in the summer and once in the winter along with the tranny fluid, but change the oil filter only at least once a month.

 

[1995voyagerES]

I change the oil and oil filter once in the summer and once in the winter along with the tranny fluid, but change the oil filter only at least once a month.

Thanks for clearing that.

I thought "this guy must be ... he never changes his oil"

 

[Kevin 007]

I can still see the dipstick through my oil after 500 miles. then it starts to get black. I run a PS filter and the oil has never stayed in longer then 6000 miles. I have run AutoRX through it once which may or may not have helped.