I have an 05 ctd. I have changed the oil twice, and right after the oil change the oil is dark. I have 7500 miles. I ran the engine for a few minutes after I changed it and it was dark, I check it after 30 miles it was dark. Is this normal or part of break in? My brother has a 01 ctd and changed his oil the same day, and after driving 50 miles it looked as clean as when it went in. He has 185000 miles. Both of us are using mopar oil and filters. I was wandering about other peoples experiences.

 

That is normal --won't hurt it at all --your paying to much for oil try delo 400 from costco or walmart--much cheaper and better oil --all the big rig guys use it----ive had at least one diesel since 82 and all i ever used was delo 400 --thats what most dodges come with from the factory i'm told??--Glenn

 

glen is right, the oil is gunna get dark from the soot of the combustion cycle. nothing to worry about.

now, if you want to save some cash on filters check out genos garage a fleetguard stratapore filter (which fleetguard is a division of cummins) which is BY FAR better than the mopar filter will cost less.

I generaly go about 8-10K between oil drains. that about when the filter is clogged with soot for me. however I am about to change over to synthetics soon so I can go longer between oil changes if not stop drains all together.

 

I was just wandering why on my truck the oil is instantly dark, and my brothers 01 ctd looks clean for a while. I plan on using synthetics also, but cummins said to wait til 20000 miles.

 

you can change to synthetics at any time without any issues.

infact, off the lot the engine is the old part that runs dino and you can drain it when you pull off the lot.

just make sure you use an oil that is cummins approved

 

The cummins will also hold 2qts or so of oil in the fuel pump which can take 20 minutes or more to drain. It is not out of the ordinary for a diesel to have dirty oil shortly after a change.

 

I was planning to use amsoil. I guy from cummins said synthetics were fine, but did not say I had to use a certain one. If I don`t have to wait til 20,000 miles to use synthetics like they said, why would I use the oil they tell me to. They use valvoline blue for regular oil, and I forget which one for synthetics. I just figured on using amsoil 15w-40 for diesels, and the fleetguard lf16035 stratopore filter.

 

I buy my filters from Napa Get the gold line ones --by tha case isn't a bad deal 1/3 cheaper that any other approved ones i have found_-Glenn

 

napa filters ar emade by wix and are exellent quality.

 

the only thing you have to watch out for with oil filters and the Cummins engine is the high oil pressures and oil volume that is present.

if you get a cheap oil filter the 24 valve engines will literaly blow the thing apart.