The day I bought my truck it had black oil in the crankcase. There was a sticker from the mechanic shop stating the oil had been changed and that it was due for another oil change in 3 months or 3000 miles. Well I had to take it back to them beacause the inspection sticker expired and I spoke to the mechanic and he stateed he did change the oil. I didn't beleive him so I changed it. I checked the level when I was filling it and the new oil was instantly black. I have had the truck for 20 months now and ever oil change the new oil is as black as the old oil. The truck is a '94 F350 IDI Factory Turbo CC Dually w/4.10's and with only 90,000 miles on it now. I am the 4th owner. The previous owners barely used it because I bought it with only 77,000 on it. The truck was well maintained possibly garaged. It's very clean and no rust anywhere. I haven't noticed any power loss since I owned it but I don't know if I bought it after it lost any power. It pulls hard when asked to and does blow a bit of black some at times. I have noticed some oil getting past the CDR. I haven't fixed that yet. It also was all original, meaning it still had the grey painted fuel return hoses. The injectors were leaking on the top of the block and you could tell they were never touched with a wrench, there weren't any scars on them. So I far I have changed them, the lines and glow plugs, BUT this black oil has me concerned. Is this typical or do I have a problem?

 

Its a diesel thing. the soot maybe. When you change the oil the instant you start it up the oil turns black as coal. I have had a 93 idi non turbo a 94 idi turbo 00 powersstroke 97 cummins 95 che. jvy 6.5 turbo there all the same. Just use a good diesel rated oil and name brand oil filter and youll be fine. Id go 5k on the oil change interval too. Those idi are good engines I had 250k on the non turbo all i had to do to it was put new heads on at 238k the turbo is still around 190k on it never been touched

 

Situation normal Rocketattack......... welcome to diesel life. Things are just not going to be the same anymore for you..... a whole new education re diesel operation, repair and maintenance will be bestowed upon you from here on in............

Welcome to FTE...........

 

my former ace mechanic(regrettably deceased at a young age of 42) told me that if oil is dirty looking, that means it's doing its job and moving stuff away from and off the cylinder walls. with a diesel, you've got sooooooo much more contaminants, so to speak, than gasoline because it's not refined as much. welcome to the world of black oil, black smoke and wonderful diesel smell!!!

speedrdr

 

...black skin if you do your own wrench work on it. The stuff almost satins like ink it is so black...

 

My '91.5 Cummins does the same thing and it has been taken care of immaculately, I concur with everyone else. I figure the more people that tell you it's OK the better for your peace of mind!

 

Ever see the oil out of an engine that runs LP gas? Looks clean as the day it was put in. Stands to reason, I guess it's the most clean and refined of the fuels.

 

i agree with everyone else, with gasolines the oil simply lubricates, in a diesel the oil not only lubricates it also soaks up the carbon/soot, so your truck is working the way it should, perfectly normal,

by the way, it sounds like you have quite a nice truck, lol

 

I've dealt with diesel, gas and propane. These folks are bang on with what they are saying. Propane stays clean almost indefinately, and is still very clean come time to change it. Gasoline really depends a lot on the condition of the engine, but you will expect to see it go dark after a while.

Now with a diesel, it gets so black that even the remaining oil on the walls of the engine is enough to color the fresh oil when you put it in. I have a fresh rebuild on my diesel and its staying clean for now, but thats with a block clean enough to eat off of. I have no doubts that it will turn black as death after a couple thousand miles.

BTW, propane stays clean because of the low carbon content compared to gasoline and diesel.

 

I have read on this forum that adding some Transmission Fluid to the crackcase will clean up some of this soot. How much should one add and how many miles should you run it before changing the oil?

 

The problem has nothing to do with the refining. It's all about combustion. Diesel fuel is a larger molecule than gasoline and propane is smaller than gasoline. Liquids do not burn. Gases do. To get diesel fuel to burn, you have to atomize it first, that's why the injectors are so important. Bad atomization = Lousy burn. After the fuel has vaporized and started to burn. As it approaches a surface in the combustion chamber the boundary layer tends to get quenched by the cooler metal and ceases to burn or partially burn. Diesel creates soot in this way. Like everyone is saying it's a fact of life with a diesel. Propane injection can help this situation by promoting a quicker burn os the gases that approach a cool surface have already oxidized therefore no soot will be formed and the oil will stay clean. Propane being gaseous does not have to vaporize before it burns. That's why it burns so clean. Realize that everything that does not burn is wasted. Out the tail pipe or into the oil, it doesn't matter. It's still wasted.

 

Rocketattack,
Welcome to Oil Burners. I love the smell of diesel exhaust in the morning, or noon. Yep, it's black. It's black in the engine, it's black at the tail pipe, or in my case, at the STACKS.

I just got a bran new set of Stanadyne injectors from Pensacol Deisel for $189, I had a rebuilt pump from NAPA $400, and 8 ZD-9 glow plugs from Ebay $40. My ole "94" ran great before all that, but I figure I am getting ready for the coming storm.