Engine Oil black after change

[Riverboy]

Hi all, Last time i changed the oil I noticed right after I did the "run and check" test my oil dipstick looked like I had never changed the oil. Totally black instead of honey like on my Father-in-laws O3. Anybody know why this is? I have read about having a edge or smarty might do this. I normally run it on setting 2 (tow) and a few times on setting 3 (drive) but I don't beat her at all. Also I have 103k on it and hear all this stuff about syn. oils. Do you really get better mpg's using that stuff? Anyhow my question was why is the oil still black right after a change.



Thanks in advance. Oh and I have been using Dello 400 from Costco.

 

[ETavernier]

Riverboy,

I change my oil and filter every 7,500 miles and always use synthetic. I now have 122,440 miles without any oil loss.

5 minutes after changing the oil it is ALWAYS as BLACK as the oil that was just changed.

Don't worry! You're OK!

Eddie

 

[Slow Six]

I found the same thing with my truck when I had it chipped. After removing the BD Xpower the oil stays clean looking for quite a while.

 

[rscurtis]

The 305 engine in your FIL's '03 is much cleaner running than the 325 and later engines. The black oil in the later engines is normal.

 

[Mikey-KE7LBB]

Hi all, Last time i changed the oil I noticed right after I did the "run and check" test my oil dipstick looked like I had never changed the oil. Totally black instead of honey like on my Father-in-laws O3. Anybody know why this is? I have read about having a edge or smarty might do this. I normally run it on setting 2 (tow) and a few times on setting 3 (drive) but I don't beat her at all. Also I have 103k on it and hear all this stuff about syn. oils. Do you really get better mpg's using that stuff? Anyhow my question was why is the oil still black right after a change.



Thanks in advance. Oh and I have been using Dello 400 from Costco.

You will ALWAYS see black oil in 04. 5 and newer engines due to "in cylinder EGR" (only fix is to replace cam) and the 3rd injection event. This is a direct result of soot being introduced into the oil due to regulations set by the EPA and the idiots that still think that "global warming" is real!!!

 

[MChrist]

On my '06, I changed my oil once, added 12 quarts, idled for about 30 seconds and dumped it again. It was still black as paint. I believe it's just sludgy muck from all the nooks and crannies in the block and leftover oil. Even when my oil looks nasty, my oil analysis comes back fine, so I wouldn't worry.

 

[mwilson]

It's normal, black as a boot after you run it for 5 minutes.



My local Dodge dealer had a customer complain that the dealership had charged him for an oil change on a Cummins powered '06 and never did it as the oil was black when the customer checked it the next day.

The dealer principal asked if I would call that irate customer (which I did) to verify that it would turn black immediately.



I guess that satisfied him.

 

[AH64ID]

You will ALWAYS see black oil in 04. 5 and newer engines due to "in cylinder EGR" (only fix is to replace cam) and the 3rd injection event. This is a direct result of soot being introduced into the oil due to regulations set by the EPA and the idiots that still think that "global warming" is real!!!

Not even a cam will fix the black oil issue. The cam is a large culprit, but so is the 3rd event and mostly the piston design. I run a cam and a bypass and my oil is black 3 seconds after changing it. My oil is not as deep black as pre-cam, but still instant black.

 

[Mikey-KE7LBB]

OOPS Replied to wrong thread... Sorry to all who read my case of "foot in mouth syndrome"!!

 

[Mikey-KE7LBB]

I am sorry to all of you that may have read or received the last few posts that I made on the wrong thread before I deleted them. (too many open tabs)



I guess one doesn't think too rationally after being awake for 20+ hours... I can now see why police pull over drowsy drivers thinking that they are DUI!!!



I guess I was drowsy while typing! :-laf



Please forgive me for my bad mistake

 

[Mikey-KE7LBB]

Not even a cam will fix the black oil issue. The cam is a large culprit, but so is the 3rd event and mostly the piston design. I run a cam and a bypass and my oil is black 3 seconds after changing it. My oil is not as deep black as pre-cam, but still instant black.

I, like you, am still plagued with the 3rd event with my 6. 7 (no 4th one thanks to the Smarty!!).



However... I still see honey colored oil after several thousand miles after deleting the EGR and DPF.



After reading on here a while I consider myself to be very lucky to have an external EGR that can be disabled by a $5 freeze plug, un-plugging, or completely blocking it off with a plate.



I run a Frantz bypass filter and am very impressed with how clean it looks when I change it at 5k!!!

 

[Riverboy]

Ok you all sound about the same, that I should be fine with it. I have had the truck a year and changed the oil several times and had heard some talk about the cam rumor and having a tuner. But didn't think about it much again until I saw the FIL's 03. Thanks for all the replies.



I am still learning alot... not much of a tuner head. Truck came with a ton on goodies like the Edge, glad I didn't fork over the 900 bucks on that, really haven't a big difference. Yes I got some more power but have yet to see any real differences on mpg's. But its a 1 ton 4wd that will tow anything and if I wanted great mpg's I would have bought a Honda:-laf



Thanks, RB

 

[AllianceDiesel]

Just to clear everything up, you can't tell the quality of the oil by the color, so it could be black as coal and be perfectly fine.

 

[CKelley1]

as ah64id said the piston design has a lot to do with it. get rid of the edge and read the following old post

Your truck uses in- cylinder egr for smog reduction. They also extend fueling duration and retard the timing to keep peak heat and pressure down. Since the third injection pulse is so late in the cycle the egt is very hot compared to a 03 but the peak temp where the no is formed is actually lower. i will try to keep it simple, the cam overlaps the valves to leave burnt exhaust gas in for the next cycle. change the cam to a pdr or colt. the hamilton is ground more for kids who are after power, we just want low end torque and mpg. change or hone the nozzles to ddp 35 to 50 hp. ddp does not list the 35 but they do supply them. the 50 are stock. the reason the 35 is a little better is because as the nozzle wears it wears to more hp, that is why the truck gets better mileage as the truck nears 75,000 miles. after 50 hp the truck drops to stock mpg at about 80hp. get a smarty jr leave the torque set on default set timing to 4 and on tow or sw2 as it is called. get a fbd turbo back straight pipe kit 5". get a m090072 resonator and a m090535 muffler and 4 clamps from ryder truck parts. for the first one i did it took me 5 hours. after about the 10th one i can do it in about 3 hours. it takes longer to remove the old one than you think. i install them by my self and you do not need any special tools. i have my own shop and change the cams and nozzles here. you will probably have to pay labor. do the nozzle change at the same time as cam to save labor. send me your email and i will send pix. use the left over pipe to extend the exhaust out further to keep the fenders cleaner. ah64id i have photobucket loaded with 17 pix now tell me how to do a link to show the ones i want i want them to view pm me with instructions

 

[steved]

ah64id i have photobucket loaded with 17 pix now tell me how to do a link to show the ones i want i want them to view pm me with instructions

Log into your photobucket account, look in your album for the picture you want, then simply hover over that picture and a dialog box will pop up... select "image link", and it should say "copied". Then simply paste it in as a reply to your thread... it will show as a link to you until you submit... it will show as an inbedded picture afterwards.



The only thing to remember is that if you delete the picture from your album, it will disappear from any thread you pasted the link to...

 

[AllianceDiesel]

actually valve overlap is used to help draw in clean air because it causes a neg pressure in the cylinder, also helps push some clean air into the exhaust to help it.

 

[AH64ID]

actually valve overlap is used to help draw in clean air because it causes a neg pressure in the cylinder, also helps push some clean air into the exhaust to help it.

Not the way the OEM cam is on the 03-07 5. 9's. It's reffered to and in-cylinder EGR for a reason. The exh valve closes early on the 03-07 cam, leaving gas in there for emissions reasons. The OEM cam has the least exh duration of any 5. 9 cam, and has more intake duration, more boost, and more hp. The short exh duration and close lobe sep really keeps the exhaust in the cylinder. Overlap may not be the best way to describe what its doing, but whats its doing isn't good. Really it lacks overlap. I noticed right away that my colt has more overlap as now with my EB on the IAT goes up, where it didn't with the OM cam.



Aftermarket cam's have overlap and opearte the way you are describing, but the OEM cam was ground for emissions, not maximum flow.

 

[AllianceDiesel]

Ya I work on 10,000+ cubic inch locomotive diesel engines and that is what valve lap is used for on there. Actually I have never heard of in cylinder egr until this thread, gonna have to pull out the service manual and see if I can find it on here.

 

[AH64ID]

Actually I have never heard of in cylinder egr until this thread, gonna have to pull out the service manual and see if I can find it on here.

You probably won't find it in the service maual. I think it was part of the changes listed in 04. 5 as to how they met emissions without an EGR. Then over time cam builders got ahold of them and measured, etc. And eventually it was discovered they were the same in 03-04, but the piston design in 03-04 didn't complete the in-cylinder effect.