black oil

[talker]

Hello, I recently bought a 1990 Ford F-350 7.3 diesel to haul hay with in the winter time.
It has 162,000 miles on it. We gave it an oil change, and put rotella T oil with a Fram oil filter in it ( I know, not the best oil filter)

We drove it for about 1 hour, and the next day, checked it, and it was black again ( Not as black as the oil we changed from it, but not the "new oil" color)

I have never owned a diesel (truck) before, and I was wondering if it is usual for diesels to do that.

Keep in mind that the engine looks great(really dont matter how it looks) and more importantly runs great. ( for a 20 year old diesel, it cold starts GREAT)

Thanks for replies in advance.

 

[Vilan]

Diesels turn the oil black as you pour it out of the bottle. Don't sweat it.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Nice truck , nice engine. The nex oil change will be a bit cleaner - but not much. No big worries.

 

[onion]

That's normal, especially for an older engine. As a rule of thumb, if a diesel engine starts easy in cold weather, then it's in pretty good condition. Means you have good compression and the injector spray pattern and pop-off pressure are good.

 

[talker]

thanks all, ya'll made me feel MUCH better.

 

[ChiTDI]

Good choice on the oil as well.

 

[mechtech2]

I'm surprised it took that long to get the oil black again!

 

[Dualie]

In my IDI's if i turn the truck over and let it run before i check the oil level. by the time i circulates enough oil to make oil pressure the oil is black as coal

 

[FiremarshalRob]

There's no telling how many miles you can put on those 1st generation 7.3L diesels.
Great truck!!!

I believe that model didn't have the turbo, correct?

 

[Dualie]

well cavitation usually strikes them down before anything else. but the up side is their dead simple and cheep.

Having owned several and still owning 2 the powerstoke is a more reliable engine but the IDI's definitely have their place.

 

[talker]

Originally Posted By: FiremarshalRob
There's no telling how many miles you can put on those 1st generation 7.3L diesels.
Great truck!!!

I believe that model didn't have the turbo, correct?


Correct

 

[Dualie]

IF you dont know it would be a wise investment to buy two pints of VCA-8 from your local ford dealer and dump them into your coolant tank.