2007 Dodge 3500---BLACK OIL!

[Ndacigl]

This question may have been beaten to death, but I need some info please.
I just had my oil changed on the Cummins turbo diesel 6.7 litre. I used the Valvoline premium blue that Cummins recommends, to my surprise after the tech installed the oil and having me start the engine and shut it down, he check the dip stick and the oil on the dip stick way already BLACK !! without driving 1 mile on the truck. The tech was even surprised the oil on the dip stick was black, he checked it like 3 times and each time it was black on the dip stick, is this normal ?? Thanks

 

[Deleted member 80]

Yes, normal.

 

[elephantrider]

yes, absolutely normal.

 

[Lary0071]

I would be worried that a dealership "tech" did not completely expect that.... he is not much of a tech I would suspect. That is a typical trait of a diesel. If you want to have clean appearing diesel oil, change the oil every 2 days for a week. Then you should have clean appearing oil for at least a few days.

The truth of the black is that the soot in the engine that is not filtered out is below the micron filtration level of the filter media and it has no effect on the engine wear surfaces. Diesels just do this, you can buy and install a bypass filtration system that can reduce the color to a dark brown and allow for significantly reduced oil change intervals using a premium synthetic like Amsoil and performing partial oil drain/refills while sending periodic samples to a lab like Blackstone.... People have went 50,000+ miles using this method. But I see that almost as a project/hobby in and of itself. Just follow your oil life monitor system and change the oil and filter before it gets to 0% life remaining and you'll be just fine.

 

[flan]

Probably not a tech, more likely a greaser. And a new one at that!

 

[Deleted member 80]

Longer answer: Prior to '04, with the addition of the DOC and the third injection event, oil in a 5.9 would stay sorta honey colored for a while. The after injection put more soot in the oil. With the early 6.7s, in their zeal to brag about meeting the '10 emissions standards in '07, and foolishly trying to avoid DEF, Cummins went with a heavy EGR strategy that turned out to be a mistake. They really soot up the oil, and had a real problem with high fuel dilution in the crankcase, AKA "making oil". Not one of Cummins' better ideas. Those early 6.7s are what made the price of 5.9s go through the roof. Beaucoup reflashes later, they seem to have them working better, but I would not recommend a long oil change interval with the non-DEF 6.7.

 

[valentine]

Longer answer: Prior to '04, with the addition of the DOC and the third injection event, oil in a 5.9 would stay sorta honey colored for a while. The after injection put more soot in the oil. With the early 6.7s, in their zeal to brag about meeting the '10 emissions standards in '07, and foolishly trying to avoid DEF, Cummins went with a heavy EGR strategy that turned out to be a mistake. They really soot up the oil, and had a real problem with high fuel dilution in the crankcase, AKA "making oil". Not one of Cummins' better ideas. Those early 6.7s are what made the price of 5.9s go through the roof. Beaucoup reflashes later, they seem to have them working better, but I would not recommend a long oil change interval with the non-DEF 6.7.

Hello....I'm Valentine, new guy to the forum.
I have a 2008, 6.7L, 3500 mega-cab, 4x4 and I'm using Chevron 15-40 100% synthetic, changing engine oil about 5,000 mi. Do you think that is too long of a interval (non-DEF)?

 

[flan]

Hello....I'm Valentine, new guy to the forum.
I have a 2008, 6.7L, 3500 mega-cab, 4x4 and I'm using Chevron 15-40 100% synthetic, changing engine oil about 5,000 mi. Do you think that is too long of an interval (non-DEF)?

you won’t get a respond from him, he seems to be removed from the forums. 5k on synthetic in a 6.7 is not too far by any stretch. Probably too soon to be honest. What’s your driving habits?