Is anyone's oil NOT black immediately after an oil change?

[Oliver Closehauf]

Last year after I changed my oil, my first Cummins oil change, the oil was totally black immediately. I'm used to clean fresh oil staying clean for at least a little while. Once I started it and let it run and then turned it off to check the level, it looked as black as the stuff that came out when I changed it.

I know the oil is supposed to end up black because it has to keep a certain amount of ash in suspension, but shouldn't I expect to have cleanish oil at least for a few days? If the ash is in suspension, and I just drained it, I wouldn't expect what's clinging to be enough to make 3 gallons of fresh oil turn black in 5 minutes.

 

[scout2000]

mine isn't.

I had a 2003 VW TDI diesel that was like that though.

My 1993 D350 with (currently 119K miles) is a head scratcher. I'm not suggesting its clean or completely clear like when pouring it from the jug, but using Rotella 15w-40, my oil looks pretty darn good at oil change time.

I change my oil every 5000 miles, and my Dodge lives a very pampered life. I got it to tow stuff, but I don't do a lot of that, and it is probably about as light as a D350 can be, it came to me with no bed, so I've put a C&M aluminum flat bed on it. I use Fleetguard oil filters that I purchase from Geno's Garage.

Its been a head scratcher for me as to why the oil stays so clean looking, but for lack of anything else, I attribute it to a very pampered life and a very light (weight) load.

 

[Randy Grant]

mine isn't.

I had a 2003 VW TDI diesel that was like that though.

My 1993 D350 with (currently 119K miles) is a head scratcher. I'm not suggesting its clean or completely clear like when pouring it from the jug, but using Rotella 15w-40, my oil looks pretty darn good at oil change time.

I change my oil every 5000 miles, and my Dodge lives a very pampered life. I got it to tow stuff, but I don't do a lot of that, and it is probably about as light as a D350 can be, it came to me with no bed, so I've put a C&M aluminum flat bed on it. I use Fleetguard oil filters that I purchase from Geno's Garage.

Its been a head scratcher for me as to why the oil stays so clean looking, but for lack of anything else, I attribute it to a very pampered life and a very light (weight) load.

It is all about blow-by. You happen to have a very tight engine.

 

[British Bulldog]

I used to work on Ford diesel cars in 80s and frequently customers complained we hadn’t changed their oil after a service. They were particularly prone to it I remember.

 

[scout2000]

It is all about blow-by. You happen to have a very tight engine.

Thanks for the reply and comment.

I had not considered that aspect.

I'm the 2nd owner (since 2017), and the original owner provided, what I'm told, some unique usage characteristics from when he had purchased it new.

 

[Oliver Closehauf]

Well, I don't have any blow by, at least not via the oil filler cap test. And while I haven't researched it, I thought the 5.9 ran some system through the crank case that deposited a lot of ash in the oil. So I expect it to turn black fast, just didn't expect it to be that fast.

Just want to make sure I'm not missing some trick and leaving a lot of oil in the crank case. Maybe I didn't get the oil hot enough last year.

 

[mtnrider]

Completely normal for a Ram diesel..

 

[Fuel35 67]

My oil is blacker than some individual’s buttholes! Seriously, it’s really black.

 

[06 Dodge]

Last year after I changed my oil, my first Cummins oil change, the oil was totally black immediately. I'm used to clean fresh oil staying clean for at least a little while. Once I started it and let it run and then turned it off to check the level, it looked as black as the stuff that came out when I changed it.

I know the oil is supposed to end up black because it has to keep a certain amount of ash in suspension, but shouldn't I expect to have cleanish oil at least for a few days? If the ash is in suspension, and I just drained it, I wouldn't expect what's clinging to be enough to make 3 gallons of fresh oil turn black in 5 minutes.

My 2006 CTD would turn oil black just like yours from day one of ownership, I bought it NEW with 20 miles on the truck. I recall the first oil change at 1000 miles how black it was and how the new oil looked very dark with just 100 miles on Mobil Delvac 1300 Super for first oil change, its the nature of the beast do to soot. Oh I was also using Fleetguard 20 micron oil filters before I switched over to Donaldson EFL/DBL 15 micron oil filters...

 

[Oliver Closehauf]

So I read that the soot comes from an injection pulse that happens on the exhaust stroke meant to heat up exhaust to burn off the soot.

I don't know if that is accurate or not for my engine/year, but if it is that just may also be the source of the noise I was complaining about in another thread. If there is some kind of random injection of fuel that occurs while the exhaust valve is open, that explosion would definitely fit the description of what I'm hearing. It's a pink,p,p,p,pink,pink sound.
If that's what it turns out to be I hope that is something I can disable. I have a turbo back exhaust and don't think that would do anything for me.

 

[Dennis Shellito]

The 5.9 Cummins run black oil. I read on the cummins forum that there is a fix for this, and if my 70 Y.O. memory serves me correctly, they posted that a different camshaft corrected this. The black oil after a fresh change won't hurt the engine. My cousin has an older Dodge with the 5.9 in it and it has over 750,000 miles on it, and he never minded the black oil. He had to retire it a few years ago. the engine was still strong but the rest of the truck was falling apart. OTOH, my 2011 w/6.7 CTD keeps the oil as clean as a gasser, but it had a lot of junk that fell off early on in it's life.

 

[06 Dodge]

So I read that the soot comes from an injection pulse that happens on the exhaust stroke meant to heat up exhaust to burn off the soot.

I don't know if that is accurate or not for my engine/year, but if it is that just may also be the source of the noise I was complaining about in another thread. If there is some kind of random injection of fuel that occurs while the exhaust valve is open, that explosion would definitely fit the description of what I'm hearing. It's a pink,p,p,p,pink,pink sound.
If that's what it turns out to be I hope that is something I can disable. I have a turbo back exhaust and don't think that would do anything for me.

Just get use to seeing black oil, I have heard that the only way to get it to stay clean is to change Cam, btw your 05 does not have what you called a injection pulse, it does not have DPF that uses diesel fuel to burn soot out of DPF....

 

[Zoe Saldana]

Last year after I changed my oil, my first Cummins oil change, the oil was totally black immediately. I'm used to clean fresh oil staying clean for at least a little while. Once I started it and let it run and then turned it off to check the level, it looked as black as the stuff that came out when I changed it.

I know the oil is supposed to end up black because it has to keep a certain amount of ash in suspension, but shouldn't I expect to have cleanish oil at least for a few days? If the ash is in suspension, and I just drained it, I wouldn't expect what's clinging to be enough to make 3 gallons of fresh oil turn black in 5 minutes.

There is:
Translucent Black
Solid Black
Gritty Black

 

[zogg]

I change the oil and filter in my CTD, run it for two minutes to check for leaks, shut it off and check oil level…it’s black as can be!! Every time. It the nature of the beast.

 

[BWL]

Pretty common on a lot of diesels. Not sure the why exactly that some are insta black and others stay clean looking right up to oil change time. My 5.9 Cummins was insta black. Also, the 5.9 doesn't have a DPF so no regen/burning off soot or run DEF so that's not it. the guys that changed cams and got cleaner oil I'd like to know if it was a stock replacement from wear or a more aggressive/less aggressive profile to clean it up.

 

[Aircommuter]

I believe it is normal in a lot of Diesels, many 5.9 engines are very clean until the days of egr. So it isn’t alway blow by. The ones that don’t appear to have egr actually do, it is a slight valve overlap instead of external control valves.

 

[Octane]

Our diesel big truck engines are black real quick after a change.And I've watched them pump out the old oil.

 

[WarrenOut]

Just my thoughts/ experience - If you are not running a bypass filter system I would highly recommend it. Amsoil makes a nice one that I have installed in several brands of trucks. Also a good quality oil is good, but a great oil will impress you. I fully recommend checking out Amsoil. I have had no disappointments. Bypass filter is a good choice for the gas engine also.
Yes I am a Amsoil dealer- but you can buy through whomever you wish.

 

[HEMIMANN]

I've never seen a diesel that didn't turn oil black quickly. It made me happy because I knew I was using a good quality oil with good detergent / dispersant additives that kept the soot suspended in the oil instead of plating out on engine parts.

I worked with all size Cummins engines. Son has a Navistar HEUI. I have a Yanmar diesel in my tractor.

 

[PowerOnly]

Oil engineers at Royal Purple have told me that high detergent Diesel engine oil turns black from heat.
Non-detergent oil turns brown from heat.

I run Gulf Coast Filters 1 micron bypass oil filters on my 2020 Ram Cummins, 2001 Ford Powerstroke and a Series 60 Detroit in a Freightliner.

Oil always is black but chemically clean according to oil analysis from Horizon Labs.

Instead of just speculating, try having your engine oil run by a reputable lab.

By the way, the Ford has 360,000 miles and the Freightliner has 1,368,000 miles with no oil changes or oil related problems.