Dodge Diesel oil changed - color of new oil

Diesels will always discolor the oil in only a few miles. Totally normal!

I'm assuming this is not your first oil change? If not, does the oil look darker than the previous oil changes? If you suspect the oil filter wasn't changed I would take a close look at it to see if it's a new one or not.

Like reported the oil will turn darker pretty quick after a oil change.

The oil drain plug on these engines are indented so not all of the oil will drain out of the pan and this is what is discoloring the new oil. With 13 quarts is will not affect the new oil.

Don

All Diesels as part of the emissions process put soot into the oil. This is normal and should not alarm you.

This will make your oil look darker after a few miles, depending on how much soot your engine produces.

The oil is fine.

The oil turns black from all the soot introduced into the oil from the 3rd injection event which is a in cylinder egr. Happens to all CTD with the 3 injection events. I don't recall offhand which years all had this but I know for a fact 2005 is one because that's what I have. Oil turns black immediately.

My 2001 Cummins turns the oil dark very quickly after an oil change. Just seems to be the nature of the beast.

Thanks guys - it's all good. BB

srt20 wrote:
The oil turns black from all the soot introduced into the oil from the 3rd injection event which is a in cylinder egr. Happens to all CTD with the 3 injection events. I don't recall offhand which years all had this but I know for a fact 2005 is one because that's what I have. Oil turns black immediately.

All Diesels turn the oil black quickly not just Ram/Cummins....

My 2001 VW Jetta diesel turns the oil black as coal about 30 seconds after you start the engine, probably due to the residual oil you can never get out. My Jeep Libby diesel took a little longer, probably because it held about twice the oil. As others have said, black oil is perfectly normal for diesels.

In fact, if your diesel engine doesn't turn the oil black very soon after an oil change, this is a sign of very bad juju happening, as the soot the oil is supposed to capture and suspend is not getting suspended, which means it is accumulating somewhere, and turning into deposits that will soon cost you a lot of money.

I started putting food coloring in mine so it looks better !