The oil in my diesel turns black almost immediately after a change. This engine is a Westerbeke in a sailboat 4 cyl. My friend has a new Kuboto Diesel in his sailboat. Oil always looks clean even after 100 hours. Any ideas on the difference. Mine has some age on it and maybe 2300 hours. Maybe inprovements in the fueling systems over the years but just curious why this difference.
Oil turns Black immediately
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Why not do an Auto-Rx clean and then see what happens?
Diesel oil should turn black almost immediately. Oil in diesel motors turns black because it's suspending soot. When you oil is black you know it's doing it's job.
BTW - what oil are you using and what oil is your friend using? Maybe your friend isn't using a diesel oil. Gasser oils aren't designed to suspend soot. So it won't turn black very quickly, if at all.
[ July 24, 2003, 09:21 PM: Message edited by: TexasTDI ]
BTW - what oil are you using and what oil is your friend using? Maybe your friend isn't using a diesel oil. Gasser oils aren't designed to suspend soot. So it won't turn black very quickly, if at all.
[ July 24, 2003, 09:21 PM: Message edited by: TexasTDI ]
TR3,
As said, turning black very soon is not unusual. Is the water temperature of your engine normal...160°F or what ever is specified? Too cool is not good. Do you run the engine long enough to get fully warm? Is your exhaust clear?...black smoke is not good, and you might have one or more bad injectors.
An Auto-Rx or Neutra cleaning treatment would be interesting. It would remove the residual soot from the engine.
Ken
As said, turning black very soon is not unusual. Is the water temperature of your engine normal...160°F or what ever is specified? Too cool is not good. Do you run the engine long enough to get fully warm? Is your exhaust clear?...black smoke is not good, and you might have one or more bad injectors.
An Auto-Rx or Neutra cleaning treatment would be interesting. It would remove the residual soot from the engine.
Ken
As others have said it's normal for Diesel engine oil to turn black as it holds soot in suspension. That's why it's important to use a good CH-4 or CI-4 rated Diesel Oil. The CH/I-4 oils have the highest soot holding capacity.
Also regarding your friends newer Kuboto Diesel running cleaner, it may have one of the new high pressure injection systems. The oil in my 85 VW diesel and 98 Chevy 6.5L diesel would always turn black within a few hundred miles after an oil change. These engines had conventional (approx 2000 psi) injection systems. However, the oil in my 2003 Chevy Duramax still looks clean after 4500 miles. The Duramax has the Bosch common rail injection system (20,000 psi) which is very efficient and produces a much cleaner injection/combustion event (resulting in less soot).
I bet your Oilguard oil by-pass filtering system removing more of the soot out of your oil than the standard oil filter has a lot to do with your oil staying "cleaner" longer as well.
Thanks for the replies. I believe it may be the oil he is using is not diesel rated so I will check into that. Some of it may be the newer injection system vs the older type. Mine has always turned black after the first few hours but I was suprized to see his look so clean after many hours. No black smoke from mine and it runs great. Maybe he has a bypass oil filter system also. I will ask.
non diesel rated oil will turn just as black, just as quick. i have first hand expierence in this with a vw td, and a 6.9L ford.
if his oil isnt turning black very soon, then it is for another reason. weither or not hes using diesel or gas oil isnt applicable to the colour of the oil from soot. perhaps his engine is just cleaner burning?
if his oil isnt turning black very soon, then it is for another reason. weither or not hes using diesel or gas oil isnt applicable to the colour of the oil from soot. perhaps his engine is just cleaner burning?
His 'new' Kubota probably does not have the equivalent of 2300 hrs X 40 mph = 92,000 miles of use!
You may have some carbon and soot build up in the ring grooves allowing more 'blowby' to occur. You may also have a dirty sump that when you drain the oil (probably with a siphon pump) there is always some particulates (soot) in the bottom of the oil sump that is contaminating the fresh oil.
Cleanliness of the injectors will also contribute to the overall soot loading of the oil as well as how his versus your gen set is loaded. Running a diesel at idle, unloaded is not a good thing for extended periods of time.
Best thing you can do for your older gen set is to run it hard (put a load on it) to work it whenever possible.
You may have some carbon and soot build up in the ring grooves allowing more 'blowby' to occur. You may also have a dirty sump that when you drain the oil (probably with a siphon pump) there is always some particulates (soot) in the bottom of the oil sump that is contaminating the fresh oil.
Cleanliness of the injectors will also contribute to the overall soot loading of the oil as well as how his versus your gen set is loaded. Running a diesel at idle, unloaded is not a good thing for extended periods of time.
Best thing you can do for your older gen set is to run it hard (put a load on it) to work it whenever possible.
Yes and it would be preferred if the diesel engine oil also had an "S" API rating as well as a "C" API rating.
Here is a link to the API website that gives a description of the API ratings.
http://api-ep.api.org/filelibrary/Guidechart2002.pdf
Most multiweight diesel engine oils will have an SL or SJ rating as well as the CH-4 or newer CI-4.
Here is a link to the API website that gives a description of the API ratings.
http://api-ep.api.org/filelibrary/Guidechart2002.pdf
Most multiweight diesel engine oils will have an SL or SJ rating as well as the CH-4 or newer CI-4.
F.Y.I....On my sailboat I've got a 4KW Kohler genset with a 2 cyl, 6.7 HP Yanmar (4200 hrs.) holding 2.1 qts w/filter. With this one, the oil turns black within 4 hours. The main engine is an 85 HP Perkins 4-236 (4400 hrs.) holding 9 qts w/filter, and the oil is amazingly clean looking after 100 hrs. Using Schaeffer's diesel rated oils in both. Both engines produce excellent analysis numbers. ONLY testing will tell.
The oil in my Volkswagon TDI would turn black after about 500 miles. I started using Schaeffer's Soyshield and the oil looked a little grey instead of black. Not as clean as in the picture of Bill's dipstick, but still very clean for a diesel.
Bill Plock,
Do you use any fuel additives?
Bill Plock,
Do you use any fuel additives?
Yes, what sprintman said, you should try running Auto-Rx to see what happens then to keep your engine running clean you should get some lube control. That is what we did for my friends diesel when it was turning the oil black in just a few days. Now with the Auto-Rx clean and lube control in it his engine we can run it to about 2,500 with out showing any big chang to the oil.
I've got 3000kms on my new 6.0 PSD and the oil is still clear on the dipstick..
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