Black motor oil.

dougfollett · Oct 4, 2002

Sorry, it's me again. I meant to add this to the previous post but I think I'm getting old timers. While I was checking the tranny oil I decided to also check the motor oil. The previous owner said that he was religious (don't know what denomonation) about changing it. When I checked it tonight it was black as midnight (the oil). Not being a diesel person I'm not sure if it is supposed to look like this. Is it? Kind of scary.

blackd · Oct 4, 2002

Probably not something to worry about. I rememeber another post on the old forum which said diesels had more microscopic carbon by products that stayed suspended in the oil.

My FX24 turns black aftrer an hour or so of running after an oil and filter change. I was thinking of flushing with diesel or cheap new oil next time just to see if it lasted longer before turning black

lens12 · Oct 4, 2002

Black oil is normal. A diesel produces more carbon soot(obvious from looking at the exhaust). The difference between diesel oil & gas engine oil is that the diesel oil is a high detergent oil, so it can clean the carbon off of the cylinder walls after combustion & keep in suspention. If it didn't stay in suspension, it would be deposited through out the engine.

Turfman · Oct 5, 2002

If you have any doubts about the oil change he did, just get a new filter and a couple of gallons of Rotella and do a change. Will give you confidence that the oil is fresh and will protect you engine, lets you get to know you tractor a bit better, only costs about $20.00 for the filter and oil and only takes an hour or so. You'll know for sure when it was changed and know that it is doing its job of protecting the engine.

Anonymous Poster · Oct 5, 2002

Re: For the 9,999th time

Black motor oil is a normal function of ash detergent oil.
Once heated, motor oil that uses ash type detergent turns black.
Put some new oil, fresh from the can, into a frying pan and heat it to 400 degrees, when it cools it will be black.
That's just the way it is.

Egon · Oct 5, 2002

flushing with diesel

I'd advise against doing this unless you wish to rebuild the motor

Egon

Thomas · Oct 5, 2002

Its darn hard to have every drop old oil drain out even if the engine oil been warm,for little old oil mix w/ the new oil will darkend quickly.

Just follow the manual..if it says to change the oil every 50 hours than do so,but to be a tad safer plus feel more comfortable,change 40 to 45 hours..kinda like a safety zone.

I agree w/ Egon..I wouldn't use diesel fuel to flush the motor,not unless your doing a complete tear down and rebuild.

wrinkled · Oct 5, 2002

To put things into perspective as far as my experience... Last weekend I changed the oil in the Honda Civic and just after I started the motor to do a leak test I realized I put in the wrong weight. 5w-30 instead of 5w-20. I don't believe the engine was running even 30 seconds when I shut her down and drained the oil. Even after a measly 30 seconds of running the new oil was as dark and black as what I pull out after 3K miles of running...

Hope this helps...

normde2001 · Oct 5, 2002

On the other hand......when I first bought my YM2000B with 520 hrs the oil was ink black. I changed it with Shell Rotella 15w-40, and now at 555 hrs it is just turning black, and I check it every day I use it.

hosejockey2002 · Oct 5, 2002

<font color=blue>Even after a measly 30 seconds of running the new oil was as dark and black as what I pull out after 3K miles of running...</font color=blue>

WOW!! When I change the oil in my old Ford Exploder it takes 300-400 miles for the oil to look dirty. You're not running diesel in your Honda, are you?/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif