I realize compression iginition engines soot up quickly, does 500 miles sound about right? My engine runs great, burns 0 oil, starts great when cold, i am ass-u-ming compression is good on all cylinders.

Andy

Your luck its 500 miles. Mine was sooted up in 50 miles.

Greg

You did not specify brand, but I've found Delo turns black almost instantly - man, did that hurt my feelings the first time I changed oil.
I know I'm a much better wrench than that -but I put up with it for several years, after hearing that was 'normal'.

I then switched to Rotella at my 18-wheeler owner\driver bro's insistence.

I now know for sure when it is time for an oil change - the oil remains blackly translucent for several thousand miles.

When the oil turns black, where I cannot read the data on the dipstick - it is time to change, no matter what the mileage may be.

Seems to occur sooner during winter months,.

I am running Rotella, I am willing to bet I could not read the dip stick after 500 miles.

Mine turns black if I do a change and run the engine for 5 minutes. I am running 5W synthetic. That's just part of it. 200+K and running better than showroom. I just wish it looked that nice:o: .

I've been told before that oil getting darker is doing part of it's job, it is removing dirt and deposits.

the blacker the better!!!

Ok thanks, it seems normal, thanks for the input.

mine seems to turn black almost as soon as it hits the pan, got a lot of miles on her though.

I had a customer tell me that he takes an air line to the filter threads and blows out the system. He showed me his oil which was 1000km (600miles) old and it was still as clear as a gas engine. Has anyone ever heard of this and is it advisable. BTW, his truck has 440000km on it.

My practice with gassers has always been dump the oil, put plug in, refill some oil, start and run engine for a minute to push out old oil and rinse out, pull plug and filter, and start afresh. I've got about 4500 miles on my Camry's oil change (nothin' but snyth!) and still like dark honey - not bad for 114,000 on the clock. No comparison to diesel's, but that's my practice, and I'm stickin' to it.

hum sounds like a good deal for you. I just change my oil and filter every 3000 miles, or should I say my local kwik kar does for me.

When I was single, washed & waxed ever weekend changed with 50 miles of 3000 mark.
Now, four kids, house, no time, cold winter, no garage - - - can you see why I like snythetic?:)

LOL, I know what you mean....well, 1 son and no house, but no garage and plenty of cold weather. I was under the impression that my truck wasn't using much oil, apparently I was wrong, I checked today and it wasn't even on the Dipstick!

Hey thats what use to happen to my 6.2, just before #2 rod cap left #2 rod and crank. That was after bout 350,000 miles though.

Hey KNKEB I understand I have 6 kids and 4 engines to keep up with plus 19 goats amoung what ever else comes up, thats why I have a friendly Kwik Kar around the corner that does mine for me even if I ain't home, which happens alot when I'm gone with my "other" job (USAF reserves).

Well I just hope I'm not up for that soon...only 181k miles so far...

NAw just keep oil in her. My wife started to check the burban's oil before she left in it that day ( hadn't been drove for a while) but she didn't and made it 3 miles down the road. I have to be careful so she does think I blaming her for the motor locking up.

according to my wife, checking the oil is MY Job along with anything else she tells me to do):h As for color of oil, a lot of oil is left in the oil cooler lines after an oil change. A small screw driver into the bypass valve (above the oil filter) will let you drain out a bit more black stuff. It is the job of these current oils to keep the soot in suspension, but a little dirty oil in the engine makes the clean stuff look dirty also. Worse yet is put in the wrong kind of oil, like gas engine rated 10-40 and your oil will look clear for a long time, but what a mess when you tear her down:eek: . On high mileage engines, I like to pull the pan and inspect the bearings, many times I have seen copper showing through and only had to spend a few bucks and an afternoon to roll in a set of inserts, and avoid that bad sound of a rod coming undone.:exactly:

I had a customer tell me that he takes an air line to the filter threads and blows out the system. He showed me his oil which was 1000km (600miles) old and it was still as clear as a gas engine. Has anyone ever heard of this and is it advisable. BTW, his truck has 440000km on it.
I don't know about doing that. but I had a truck in here the other day, 96 PSD.
with 240K on it, and the original owner.
he changed oil in it every 3500miles, since it was new.
used rotella 15-40.
and I could read the writing on the stick thru the oil.
It was as clear as when it came out of the jug. he had about 2k on the oil change when it was here.
first and only time I seen that, and that truck had plenty of miles on it.
i took a sample of it to be sure there was no fuel in it, looked almost like it had diesel in it keeping it flushed clean.
When I pulled the valve covers, i could touch everything under there and my hands di not get black. I put a set of reman injectors in for him, just out of PM type work he wanted.

Ok, mines clear for the first ten mnutes of running after an oil change using rotellaT and the engine is full of the black sooty residue you'd expect in a diesel anywhere the oil's touching. I'm wondering if an oil flush would be worth it just to see how long it will run clean.

You did not specify brand, but I've found Delo turns black almost instantly - man, did that hurt my feelings the first time I changed oil.
I know I'm a much better wrench than that -but I put up with it for several years, after hearing that was 'normal'.

I then switched to Rotella at my 18-wheeler owner\driver bro's insistence.

I now know for sure when it is time for an oil change - the oil remains blackly translucent for several thousand miles.

When the oil turns black, where I cannot read the data on the dipstick - it is time to change, no matter what the mileage may be.

Seems to occur sooner during winter months,.When the Delo turns black instantly that tells you that it is doing its job. It is picking up the soot and keeping it in suspension. If the Rotella is not turning black, that is not good. Willing to bet if you ran Rotella long enough you will find the front cover full of soot build.