Oil change at 3000 miles Oil crappy from factory

[KennethS]

The oil In my 2004 Dodge diesel at 3000 was blacl and dirty to no end. The Mopar oil filter Is crap to no end. Just plain junk and will never be used In any one of my engins again I read the TDR report and the oil filter does not do the job as you can see. I change the oil twice at 1000 miles to get the engine clean up. Now the oil stays clean. I was a little upset about this. Somebody not doing there job as I can see. I keep a close wathc on my oil and I don't need stuff like that. I do change my oil every 3000 miles If It gets dirty. If I am on a long run I go for 5000 miles but keep a close watch on It. I respect my engine and try to take care of It.

 

[24V-DSL]

If you do a search you'll find that oil quickly turning black is common. Mine is black within 700 miles after change. Fleetguard makes the Mopar filters.



If you still feel uncomfortable, have a sample analyized.



I use Fleetguard Stratapore and Delo 400 every 5K.

 

[nickleinonen]

2004 or 2004. 5 truck??? the 600 engines get the lube oil black pretty quickly, but even if it is black, it doesn't mean the oil is not doing it's job well still... diesels are not like gas engines. a gas engine will keep pretty clean oil for the life of the oil. in a diesel, the oil will get dirty much quicker. on these new diesels, they stay clean looking longer, but older diesels, the oil gets black real quick. my old 6. 5td would get black after about 100km, but the oil was still good past 7,000km... the quality of the lube oil can not be judged by color, and nor can the quality of the filter be judged by what color the oil is. the mopar filters for the cummins application are fleetguard celulouse media filters, just painted blue. a filter will not strip color out of the oil. the soot particles in the oil making it black are sub micron in size. the lube oil filter is rated in the 10 micron range i believe... if you wanted a filter to filter out the sub micron particles, there would be no oil flow through that filter...

 

[KennethS]

I have a 95,99,2004 diesel and I do my own service work and never ran Into anything like what was In my 2004. What wan In the oil Is different then any thing I have ever seen before. We will sww what the oil looks like on the next oil change since I got the engine clean up now. There was something different about the oil In my 2004 from the factory. If you would have seen the oil then you would know what I am talking about.

 

[ilovetrains]

Just curious, but you have an 04 that is just now getting it's first 3K oil change???

 

[EEdmondson]

You only drove 3,000 miles in 2 years??? No wonder your oil is bad.

 

[KennethS]

It was a leftover and I got It In 05. It does just sit In the garage a good bit. I drive my 95 a good bit I put 10,000 on It this summer. Just can't wear It out?I still have a 1955 Chevy that only has 17,000 on It since new and still looks new.

 

[gilliland]

I am sorry, but I just have a problem with this whole thread. Dodge recommends normal change levels in my 05 of 15,000 miles, 7,500 under severe duty use. From what I can tell you changed your oil at 1000 miles once or twice then again at 3,000. I think this is ludicrous. IMHO

Every diesel I have owned, including 86, 6. 9 Ford, 96 7. 3 Powerstroke, and now my 05 Cummins has turned the oil black within 1000 miles. I only have 23,000 on my Cummins and haven't done an oil analysis yet, but on my 96 Powerstroke I did 3 of them at 100,000, 130,000 and 160,000 miles with 5,000 mile change intervals on Rotella T with the standard Motorcraft filter and there were no wear problems at all nor did it use any oil between changes. I would probably recommend you consider oil analysis rather than simple observation of your oil if you are going to exceed Dodge's recommendations by a factor of 2-5. Like some of my friends have asked me, "Are you smarter than all of Dodge and Cummins' engineers?"

 

[KennethS]

I never sat down and talk to them. I never had oil that was like that In any of my diesel engine. There was a lot og grit In this oil? That why I did what I did. I m going to Alaska next summer In the dually. It on a trip to Wyoming pulling a two car trailer now. When My brother get back we will check the oil to see what condition It Is IN. One thing I did wrong was getting a sample to be tested. I use to do that In my Airplane after every Inspection once a year. I take care of my trucks and never had oil like that before. I know now I should of had It tested to see what what.

 

[nickleinonen]

well, if indeed it is a 04, and you just got it, the 04's have been around since augest 03, and the last 04's were dec 03. so at best, your engine oil was sitting in the sump for a year and a half, and it was not run often my guess, and you could have all kinda of condensation in the sump from it sitting. change the oil, change the filter, and drive it...



the oil in the 555's stays pretty clean [much cleaner compared to a 600]

 

[jwilliams3]

Good luck finding a better oil filter (only one better in my book and its a Fleetguard w/stratopore media)

The OEM is a Fleetguard.

 

[jwduke]

Maybe the only improvement wout be a system that used 2 Fleetguard Stratapore filters... .....

 

[steved]

There is no filter (well, one that will fit under the hood) that will remove soot and not cause a restiction... MY 600 turns oil black within a few hundred miles... always has since new.



I run Rotella, just bought a case of Mopar Filters, and change it every 5k (even though it says 15k).



steved

 

[KennethS]

When My brother get back from out west we will see If the oil Is like the other diesel engine I have. I will also check the built date on the truck I got It the last Of Nov. of 2004. In the TDR Issue49 on page 96 It talks about the problem that I have on the oil turning black with soot much faster then the precious trucks. They can't explane this problem. Some trucks do this and others don't. You see I am not alone about this.

 

[Speedo]

Your oil does more than just lubricate, if it isn't turning black it is not doing one of its jobs. Because of newer emissions there is more soot produced and the newer oils are designed to hold the soot in suspension. You can't tell anything by looking at your oil, if you don't feel comfortable with it get it analyzed.



Gus

 

[klenger]

You could change the oil every week in an attempt to keep it clean, but it would be more usefull to just pour it in the fuel tank.