Black Oil

[jstange2]

Black, black, black. Even with the bypass it is black, but the bypass catches the soot when it 'congeals' (comes together) from what I understand. Am I correct Chuck? I believe the soot is less than one micron pre congeal or whatever. Please correct me if I am incorrect.

Josh

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2006 Dodge Ram 2500 CTD SLT, Auto, Mega Steps, stainless bed caps, extreme bed liner, chrome door & tailgate handles, no muff or cat, Smarty, triple pillar pod, isspro boost, EGT, tranny temp, no silencer ring, debadged, S&B CAI

[Duluth Diesel]

There are a lot of particles floating around your engine that are 35 micron and smaller. Most cellulose (paper) oil filters miss most of these finer particles. Over time these particles wear on your engine, causing it to essentially age faster. The oil, at least a good oil like a Group IV synthetic, keeps contaminants in suspension rather than leaving deposits. This allows the oil to bring the contaminants to the filter, where they are properly trapped. So the idea is to couple better oil with better filtration. There is where running a better filter, especially a bypass filter, really helps out. There are a few bypass systems on the market, and I will speak about the AMSOIL one because I know it best. By having your oil bring the contaminants to the filter, and running a filter that filters at 2.0 micron at 98.7% efficiency, you really keep the oil much cleaner that it would be otherwise. There is always an efficiency rating at a certain micron. The AMSOIL system is 2.0 at 98.7%, meaning that it captures 98.7% of particles that are 2.0 micron. If this system was tested at 1 micron, it would probably be 50%, meaning it catches 1/2 of all 1 micron particles passing by. This is far better than a standard paper filter (such as the Mopar one) that captures 98.7% of 35 micron particles. A human hair is about 70 to 75 microns in diameter. So we're talking some tiny particles here. The particles that really get in between bearings and can cause accelerated wear are in the 7 to 12 micron range, which most full flow filters miss the vast majority of. Granted, some soot particles are submicron (<1 micron), but when you're getting that small they really aren't contributing to engine wear any significant amount.

When you take your engine from stock to modified, your soot loading rate goes way up. Modified engines can really benefit from a bypass system by keeping a lot of those contaminants out of suspension in the oil. Bypass filtration is not a new science, and our Cummins engines often come factory with a bypass system in more industrial applications. But in our trucks, Dodge didn't feel that their customers needed or wanted to deal with good oil filtration, which again gets me back to how Dodge dealership sell you a paper 35 micron filter!

Your oil won't remain honey clear for ever with any bypass system. But you can't analyze your oil with the naked eye. If we were talking about 50 micron and larger particles, you probably could. So even though the engine oil darkens and becomes opaque even with a bypass filter on, you will know that the particles that matter most and finally being filtered out properly.


-Chuck

__________________
AMSOIL ONLINE STORE - DISCOUNT PRICING AVAILABLE
CLICK HERE FOR A FREE AMSOIL CATALOG

TWIN PORT SALES - AMSOIL SHIPPED DIRECT

CHANGE YOUR THINKING, NOT YOUR OIL.

INJEN Nanofiber Intake Systems

[Duluth Diesel]

Originally Posted by jstange2

Black, black, black. Even with the bypass it is black, but the bypass catches the soot when it 'congeals' (comes together) from what I understand. Am I correct Chuck? I believe the soot is less than one micron pre congeal or whatever. Please correct me if I am incorrect.

Josh

You're pretty much right, Josh! The particles don't really congeal, they just get captured when they flow to the filter. Soot particles are both submicron >1 micron. There are also other contaminants that get in your oil that are good to remove (silicon). But you are right, the bypass filter catches soot and finer particles rather than allow them to keep recirculating around and around your engine for thousands of miles. The submicron particles don't really increase wear on your engine, they just remain in suspension and make your oil darken. Dark oil isn't bad oil as long as it is clean and properly filtered.

2 things really age oil in these trucks. Contamination load becoming too great and the oil needing to be dumped, and the acidifying affects of soot loading breaking down the oil's basestocks. Higher grade oils hold up to the acidifying affects, meaning that you can safely run the oil longer. I run the AMSOIL 30k miles in my '02 CTD with oil analysis to verify it. But I can do this because I have proper filtration with a bypass filter. If you run a good oil and run a bypass filter, you will increase the life of your oil and engine. You can bypass filter any oil, conventional or synthetic. There are many guys who I've sold bypass kits to who want to keep running their Rotella conventional (usually because they work at a shop and get it out of the drum for free). All oil, and all diesels, can benefit from better filtration. And with oil prices being insane, who doesn't want to get more distance out of that liquid gold?

-Chuck

__________________
AMSOIL ONLINE STORE - DISCOUNT PRICING AVAILABLE
CLICK HERE FOR A FREE AMSOIL CATALOG

TWIN PORT SALES - AMSOIL SHIPPED DIRECT

CHANGE YOUR THINKING, NOT YOUR OIL.

INJEN Nanofiber Intake Systems

[ykdave]

Kind of funny how the new engines would be worse.

The p-pumped motors are bad for this because the pump holds quite a bit of oil in it and the second its fired up it 'contaminates' the new oil!

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97 Ram 2500 / 5.9ctd / 5spd / nv4500 / 4x4 / np241
Starwheel cranked, no plate, autometer pyro and boost gauges, Single 4" stack, 33x10.5 Mud terrains, tons more to come

[Quake]

Well I can say I have learned so much from this site. You folks are very helpful. I have been able to find an answer for all of my questions. Thanks !

[Big Nate]

I know of a two 12V Dodge diesels that the oil is still a bit honey colored after 2500 miles, my 06 Gen III would turn the oil black as what just came out with 30 seconds of run time on the new oil! This concerned me so I had the oil analyzed; the report said all was normal. I am going to an Amsoil rep tomorrow to get more info. I have had the truck since new and it has almost 35,000 miles on it.

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06 MC 1 Ton Dually

[95 SLT]

My 12V stays honey colored.
I don't know why but you can still see through the oil on the dip stick!

It may also be due to high temps.!
Differential and hydraulic oils hardly ever go to Black.
They don't get as hot like engine cylinder walls do.

Thats partly the theory I've heard before. Boil the oil and it darkens.

__________________
'95 12V, super cab 4x4, BHAF, 400,000 +mi. pac brake, KDP retainer done, #10 fuel plate, boost elbow, DDS stabalizer, 215 Bosch injectors.
Now I have a Truck.

[DiscountPowerParts1]

Any diesel I have seen (Never played with 12V dodges) had black oil even after an oil change. For a new diesel owner it is confusing, but once you get over it, you realize its totally normal and expected. Any Ford 7.3 or 6.0 will be blacker than the night. My 05 Common Rail is black as death. My International T466 (Medium Duty 28' Box Truck) is always black as death.

I run the Amsoil EA fiters. Much better than a Wal-Mart filter, and cheaper than the bypass system while being very easy for the average Joe to use. It gets the average guy great filtration and extended service intervals with minimal installation pain or financial burden.

__________________
www.DiscountPowerParts.com
866-547-3517
www.HiPerformanceDiesel.com

[jstange2]

My buddy just traded his 02 ford for an 06 ford 6.0 a week ago and when he pulled up to show it to me, he had 300 miles on the oil change and it looked brand new. The dealership must have done an engine flush. After we updated his BDTD and took it for a test spin, you could see the oil had a small amount of soot in it.

Chuck, thanks for the clarification. You are a knowledgeable oil man.

Josh

__________________
2006 Dodge Ram 2500 CTD SLT, Auto, Mega Steps, stainless bed caps, extreme bed liner, chrome door & tailgate handles, no muff or cat, Smarty, triple pillar pod, isspro boost, EGT, tranny temp, no silencer ring, debadged, S&B CAI

[Duluth Diesel]

Originally Posted by jstange2

My buddy just traded his 02 ford for an 06 ford 6.0 a week ago and when he pulled up to show it to me, he had 300 miles on the oil change and it looked brand new. The dealership must have done an engine flush. After we updated his BDTD and took it for a test spin, you could see the oil had a small amount of soot in it.

Chuck, thanks for the clarification. You are a knowledgeable oil man.

Josh

Thanks, Josh! I guess that's why I have a ton of people after me for oil and info every day from all over the US and Canada. It is fun though!

-Chuck

__________________
AMSOIL ONLINE STORE - DISCOUNT PRICING AVAILABLE
CLICK HERE FOR A FREE AMSOIL CATALOG

TWIN PORT SALES - AMSOIL SHIPPED DIRECT

CHANGE YOUR THINKING, NOT YOUR OIL.

INJEN Nanofiber Intake Systems

[Palmtree]

My oil is the blackist black I have ever seen and it's just as black right after the oil change. I thought something was wrong too

__________________
2005 Dodge diesel

[CTDFan5.9]

I agree with DD, I have installed a bypass filter on my 98 12V and it seems to keep the oil cleaner. I have not gotten to the point where I am going to do Oil Analysis, but that should tell me how it is working in about 3600 more miles.