Diesel engine oil dirty too soon?
From : croll
Q: i have a 2006 2500 with the cummins diesel. i have a friend with basically the same truck a 2003 model. my truck has 4500 miles on it. i changed the oil at 3000 miles because it was very black. i checked the new oil with 1500 miles on it and it is black again. my friend has 43000 miles on his and it is never dirty at 5000 mile change intervals. i am new to diesels and have heard that fuel in the oil will cause this. im having it looked at by a dealer who tells me thats just how diesels are. should i believe him any and all advice appreciated. the truck runs great and is getting 17+ mpg mixed city and highway driving. i have also had trouble starting it intermittently. ive noticed the glow pulg light on the dash doesnt always come on when the temperature out side is in the 50s i think the grid or whatever is supposed to come on somewhere below 60 deg. i cant say ive noticed it relating to the hard start problem. thanks! .
Replies:
From : geekboy
i have a 2006 2500 with the cummins diesel. i have a friend with basically the same truck a 2003 model. my truck has 4500 miles on it. i changed the oil at 3000 miles because it was very black. i checked the new oil with 1500 miles on it and it is black again. my friend has 43000 miles on his and it is never dirty at 5000 mile change intervals. only 4500 it still needs to break in and the rings need to seat i would think. mine has 95k miles and the oil is not black i am new to diesels and have heard that fuel in the oil will cause this. im having it looked at by a dealer who tells me thats just how diesels are. should i believe him any and all advice appreciated. the truck runs great and is getting 17+ mpg mixed city and highway driving. i have also had trouble starting it intermittently. ive noticed the glow pulg light on the dash doesnt always come on when the temperature out side is in the 50s i think the grid or whatever is supposed to come on somewhere below 60 deg. i cant say ive noticed it relating to the hard start problem. thanks! .
From : Annonymous
your friend has one of those magical diesels. the rest of us have the regular diesels you included. next time you change your oil check it after only 100 miles. if its not black then id be amazed. dont worry...its normal...just soot. use a good oil like delvac or penzoil. forget all the hype youve read about rotella...its pretty close to the bottom of the list as for quality oil. randolf .
From : Annonymous
i use the synthetic stuff that cummins and valvoline partnered on ... premium blue 5w-40. i go 10000 miles between changes. when i change it it is darker than when new but still transparent. craig c. .
From : steve lusardi
the reason for black oil is fuel soot being deposited on the clyinder wall and then being scraped by the rings into the lube oil. if in use the engine creates black smoke in the exhaust it is also creating soot deposit on the cylinder walls. this occurs when more fuel is injected than there is oxygen to burn it completely. typical cause is a clogged air cleaner faulty turbo or any air restriction as well as a fuel curve that is too rich. however in your case it could be your fuel management computers firmware. you should make sure you have the correct firmware loaded. check for any pertinent bulletins. please also note that since the 2004.5 model year the ctds have been using a triple injection event per cycle solution pre main & post as opposed to the double event solution pre main per cycle which was used in the earlier 3rd generation engines. the change was to decrease oxides of nitrogen at the cost of fuel economy. now the ctds also require a cat to eliminate the increased particulate soot in the exhaust. isnt progress great! steve i have a 2006 2500 with the cummins diesel. i have a friend with basically the same truck a 2003 model. my truck has 4500 miles on it. i changed the oil at 3000 miles because it was very black. i checked the new oil with 1500 miles on it and it is black again. my friend has 43000 miles on his and it is never dirty at 5000 mile change intervals. i am new to diesels and have heard that fuel in the oil will cause this. im having it looked at by a dealer who tells me thats just how diesels are. should i believe him any and all advice appreciated. the truck runs great and is getting 17+ mpg mixed city and highway driving. i have also had trouble starting it intermittently. ive noticed the glow pulg light on the dash doesnt always come on when the temperature out side is in the 50s i think the grid or whatever is supposed to come on somewhere below 60 deg. i cant say ive noticed it relating to the hard start problem. thanks! .
From : mike simmons
your friend has one of those magical diesels. the rest of us have the regular diesels you included. next time you change your oil check it after only 100 miles. if its not black then id be amazed. dont worry...its normal...just soot. use a good oil like delvac or penzoil. forget all the hype youve read about rotella...its pretty close to the bottom of the list as for quality oil. randolf just curious what do you base your condemnation of rotella on facts or scuttlebutt if facts please cite the source of this info. mike .
From : geekboy
is everyone basing their claims of clear oil by what they see on the dipstick or through a gallon container i have never owned any vehicle including my 99 honda accord that i bought new that didnt have very dark oil after 500 miles if viewed through a large container. on the dipstick however they would appear only slightly darkened. hell i recently rebuilt a 455 pontiac that had fairly dark oil after just 90 miles when i gave it its first change. maybe because the piston rings needed more time to seal hd p.s. i change oil in all my vehicles every 3000 miles and have a honda nearing 180k and sold a ford f250 that i had put 135k on the motor i rebuilt for it. i have heard that vehicles burining natural gas will have fairly clean oil when changed however. i use the synthetic stuff that cummins and valvoline partnered on ... premium blue 5w-40. i go 10000 miles between changes. when i change it it is darker than when new but still transparent. craig c. .
From : hodad
is everyone basing their claims of clear oil by what they see on the dipstick or through a gallon container i have never owned any vehicle including my 99 honda accord that i bought new that didnt have very dark oil after 500 miles if viewed through a large container. on the dipstick however they would appear only slightly darkened. hell i recently rebuilt a 455 pontiac that had fairly dark oil after just 90 miles when i gave it its first change. hd p.s. i change oil in all my vehicles every 3000 miles and have a honda nearing 180k and sold a ford f250 that i had put 135k on the motor i rebuilt for it. i have heard that vehicles burining natural gas will have fairly clean oil when changed however. i use the synthetic stuff that cummins and valvoline partnered on ... premium blue 5w-40. i go 10000 miles between changes. when i change it it is darker than when new but still transparent. craig c. .
From : Annonymous
look at the numbers...do a search. rotella is just average at best. premium blue valvoline delvac and penzoil are much better oils. randolf .
From : nosey
mike simmons wrote your friend has one of those magical diesels. the rest of us have the regular diesels you included. next time you change your oil check it after only 100 miles. if its not black then id be amazed. dont worry...its normal...just soot. use a good oil like delvac or penzoil. forget all the hype youve read about rotella...its pretty close to the bottom of the list as for quality oil. randolf just curious what do you base your condemnation of rotella on facts or scuttlebutt if facts please cite the source of this info. hehe he said scuttlebutt. -- ken .
From : mike simmons
mike simmons wrote your friend has one of those magical diesels. the rest of us have the regular diesels you included. next time you change your oil check it after only 100 miles. if its not black then id be amazed. dont worry...its normal...just soot. use a good oil like delvac or penzoil. forget all the hype youve read about rotella...its pretty close to the bottom of the list as for quality oil. randolf just curious what do you base your condemnation of rotella on facts or scuttlebutt if facts please cite the source of this info. hehe he said scuttlebutt. -- ken a common term amongst navy and marines for idle gossip .... but it could apply here as well. ;^ mike .
From : hodad
is everyone basing their claims of clear oil by what they see on the dipstick or through a gallon container i have never owned any vehicle including my 99 honda accord that i bought new that didnt have very dark oil after 500 miles if viewed through a large container. on the dipstick however they would appear only slightly darkened. hell i recently rebuilt a 455 pontiac that had fairly dark oil after just 90 miles when i gave it its first change. maybe because the piston rings needed more time to seal while the rings may not have been fully seated the cylinders were just honed not bored my concern was getting any assembly contaminents out of the engine. im sure it will be dark when i change it at 500 miles and then every time after that. my point was the oil on the dipstick looked pretty clean but through a gallon jug it was fairly dark. my question was just how are people judging how dirty their oil looks i have never in my life seen oil come out of an engine at 3000 miles that looked only a bit darker when changed than it did when it was added as viewed through a large container. normally it is very dark brown nearly black. hd .
From : mike simmons
a common term amongst navy and marines for idle gossip .... but it could apply here as well. i thought more often than not scuttlebutt turned out to be true. i think a more appropriate term here is horsepuckey you may be right tom in fact in regards to the comments about rotella you are indeed right. the scuttlebutt aboard a ship is actually the drinking fountain however the idle gossip that occurs around it aquired the name of the scuttlebutt itself. as we all know there is informed gossip and uninformed gossip. the comments about rotella tend more towards the latter. mike .
From : nosey
hehe he said scuttlebutt. -- ken a common term amongst navy and marines for idle gossip .... but it could apply here as well. i did 20 years in the navy. i just thought it was funny to see it here. -- ken .
From : mike simmons
hehe he said scuttlebutt. -- ken a common term amongst navy and marines for idle gossip .... but it could apply here as well. i did 20 years in the navy. i just thought it was funny to see it here. -- ken oh... well that splains it. i was/am a jarhead so we speak the same language. mike .
From : nosey
john carrington wrote nosey... you must be a b & b fan. gotta love those fools! john when my kids were teenagers they watched it all the time so ive seen my fair share of episodes. king of the hill is more my type of mike judge humor. -- ken .
From : mike simmons
look at the numbers...do a search. rotella is just average at best. premium blue valvoline delvac and penzoil are much better oils. randolf i know the numbers do you if so post em show me how and why they are better oils. show me some voas or test data that demostrates your contention otherwise your post is scuttlebutt or mere opinion. mike .
From : tom lawrence
a common term amongst navy and marines for idle gossip .... but it could apply here as well. i thought more often than not scuttlebutt turned out to be true. i think a more appropriate term here is horsepuckey .
From : john carrington
nosey... you must be a b & b fan. gotta love those fools! john mike simmons wrote your friend has one of those magical diesels. the rest of us have the regular diesels you included. next time you change your oil check it after only 100 miles. if its not black then id be amazed. dont worry...its normal...just soot. use a good oil like delvac or penzoil. forget all the hype youve read about rotella...its pretty close to the bottom of the list as for quality oil. randolf just curious what do you base your condemnation of rotella on facts or scuttlebutt if facts please cite the source of this info. hehe he said scuttlebutt. -- ken .