Diesel oil color after change?

BlueThunder34 · 09-01-2016, 04:57 PM

My first diesel and oil change done at the dealership. Question I have is after driving home about 10 miles I checked the oil level on the dipstick and the oil looks black and not golden like I am used to on my previous gas burners after a change. Is this normal for a diesel or did they not change it??

the sodfather · 09-01-2016, 05:20 PM

It turns black very soon after start up. It's a diesel thing.

bsmith0404 · 09-01-2016, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueThunder34

My first diesel and oil change done at the dealership. Question I have is after driving home about 10 miles I checked the oil level on the dipstick and the oil looks black and not golden like I am used to on my previous gas burners after a change. Is this normal for a diesel or did they not change it??

100% normal. The old oil will mix with it, plus the soot and sulfur left behind from the old oil will get cleaned very quickly with the high detergent levels of the new oil which turns the oil black within a few miles.

BlueThunder34 · 09-01-2016, 05:27 PM

Ok, good thanks for the quick responses!

**chuckster57** · 09-01-2016, 05:59 PM

I installed a bypass oil filter on a customers '97 PSD, and about 100 miles later he said it looked as golden as it is out of the bottle.

It wasn't cheap.. would I do it? Probably not.

bsmith0404 · 09-01-2016, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chuckster57

I installed a bypass oil filter on a customers '97 PSD, and about 100 miles later he said it looked as golden as it is out of the bottle.

It wasn't cheap.. would I do it? Probably not.

Bypass filters are nice, but it takes a lot of oil changes to pay for them. They say a quality synthetic oil that doesn't break down like a dino oil does will last forever..."in theory". IMO, the problem with a bypass filter system is it can give false impressions of oil quality. It filters down to a smaller micron level and will remove a lot of the soot that makes the oil black. In reality, the soot is so small, it doesn't do any damage to the engine anyway. It's not the color that determines if the oil is still good, it is the additives and the ability to clean and control acid build up caused by the combustion process. The main characteristic to be concerned with is the TBN (total base number). As the TBN numbers break down, the oils ability to neutralize corrosive and damaging acids is reduced. An oil can "look" clean, but the TBN number can be at dangerously low levels.

As for synthetic vs dino, synthetic has the advantage mainly in the area of consistent viscosity throughout the life of the oil, whereas a dino based oil will begin to change viscosity characteristics almost immediately. Due to burn off, the oil you drain out after 5-10k miles is much different in viscosity than the oil you put in.

Wow, that really got a lot longer than I intended, sorry.

**hankpage** · 09-01-2016, 07:13 PM

Diesel oils are designed to hold soot in suspension, thus the the quick black color. The only time I have seen oil run clean is with a "Luber-finer" filter system on an old Detroit Diesel that held 64 quarts. The filter was the size of a small trash can and was very expensive to change. We did oil analysis every 10k usually went 50k before changes. For 10-13 quart engines it would not be cost effective. JM2¢, Hank

bsmith0404 · 09-01-2016, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hankpage

Diesel oils are designed to hold soot in suspension, thus the the quick black color. The only time I have seen oil run clean is with a "Luber-finer" filter system on an old Detroit Diesel that held 64 quarts. The filter was the size of a small trash can and was very expensive to change. We did oil analysis every 10k usually went 50k before changes. For 10-13 quart engines it would not be cost effective. JM2¢, Hank

I've done oil analysis a few times just to see how well my oil was holding up and how the engine was wearing. Very interesting info. You are 100% right when you say doing an analysis on a small capacity, 10-12 qt, system to extend oil change intervals is not cost effective, since the analysis costs almost as much as an oil change. It is interesting every now and them to check the wear qualities and see if there are any contaminates to be concerned about, such as antifreeze.

xcntrk · 09-02-2016, 03:36 AM

Hopefully you switched to heavy duty 5W40 full-synthetic if you're towing. The factory Motorcraft 10W30 is a syn-blend and intended for "standard" duty. I've observed my engine oil temps extend into the 230F range when pulling big grades. The full-syn will help prevent oil breakdown at these high temps..

Desert185 · 09-02-2016, 08:54 AM

An oil thread! My favorite!

(Popcorn)

gkainz · 09-02-2016, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Desert185

An oil thread! My favorite!

(Popcorn)

What kind of oil do you use for your popcorn?

**hankpage** · 09-02-2016, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gkainz

What kind of oil do you use for your popcorn?

Same kind I use on my toilet seal.

PerryB · 09-02-2016, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gkainz

What kind of oil do you use for your popcorn?

Aeroshell W100 most likely.

Desert185 · 09-02-2016, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gkainz

What kind of oil do you use for your popcorn?

The IO-520 gets Phillips 20W-50 and a bottle of CamGuard. Improved oil analysis confirms the choice over Aeroshell. Sorry, Gearhead.

Still good compression after 1300 hours with TCM cylinders run lean of peak with GAMI's the last 1100 hours.

gkainz · 09-02-2016, 05:01 PM

Phillips XC-20/50 for us

PerryB · 09-02-2016, 07:03 PM

I've read/heard good things about the XC-20/50, maybe I'll try it. We have a Shell distributor in town so I've always used W100plus. I can just pick it up directly.

OK, sorry for the thread drift folks.

gkainz · 09-02-2016, 07:41 PM

We run it in our Bonanza, Saratoga and Dakota and our maintenance officer swears by it.

PerryB · 09-02-2016, 07:46 PM

Yeah, but does he put it on his popcorn? That was the question.

BlueThunder34 · 09-03-2016, 07:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PerryB

Yeah, but does he put it on his popcorn? That was the question.

If so, his insides are well lubed

rhagfo · 09-03-2016, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hankpage

Diesel oils are designed to hold soot in suspension, thus the the quick black color. The only time I have seen oil run clean is with a "Luber-finer" filter system on an old Detroit Diesel that held 64 quarts. The filter was the size of a small trash can and was very expensive to change. We did oil analysis every 10k usually went 50k before changes. For 10-13 quart engines it would not be cost effective. JM2¢, Hank

Maybe not cost effective, but great for peace of mind at near 300,000 miles.

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