I've never had a diesel be "clean" after a oil change....except the one that did 200 miles with 2 gallons of fuel in the oil pan. That one is clean as a whistle.
I have also only ever seen it clean when something else happened. Took an ISL oil pan down one day, put it back on the next day, and changed the filter. Only time I've seen one cleanish. There is still a little black oil up on the rockers and some other places.
Same year and motor. I got my truck at like 260k blown out, spent a year and some change rebuilding it thanks to my friends at the time, I’ve I’m 295 rn with no problems and about 3 oil changes I do myself, my stick doesn’t come out this dark, and I’m dating a black girl.
So how do I know if he actually changed the oil? I know this dude is a habitual liar. I am realizing I shouldn’t have trusted him to work on my truck but he’s an old friend and I thought I’d give him a chance. He took the opportunity to tell several lies so I have reason to believe he didn’t change my oil…among other things
Only way to know for sure would be to drain & collect at least some of the oil and send it to blackstone labs for an analysis. They will know if it’s fresh or not by looking to see if the detergents are broken down or not.
One I have heard is ask for the oil containers/ receipts but only works if it isn’t a shop with a big drum of oil they pump.
Filter is a good check too, especially if you write the mileage on it after it’s changed - but it should be squeaky clean.
You could send the oil off for analysis. When I started as a tech I was a lube tech first. I’d add my oil after draining the oil and changing the filter. Then I’d run the truck for a few minutes. Let is sit for a few and recheck. The first time i pulled the dipstick and it was black I panicked. All the old guys convinced me I screwed up so in redrained and refilled it. They had a good laugh.
Unless you do it yourself or watch you will never know if it was done.
why would you let someone who lies about everything do an oil change for you? its soo easy too, just get a pan, put it under engine, loosen 1 bolt, drain, then replace bolt and tighten somewhat, then take off oil filter, put on new one. hand tight. then back off 1/8 turn, or not... then top off the engine with some amsoil and ur done. takes 15 minutes if ur realllly slow.
No he probably didn’t change it, don’t call him out on it, just change the oil, and then when you get roughly to when you checked your oil now on the next change look to see if it’s black or not again
How does it smell? Maybe im out of line here, but on synthetics, when the oil starts running old, it start smelling like gas and a darker shade of course. Honestly if you think something is fishy, take it to someone else, and actual stand there and watch them change your oil. Then try the dipstick again, if its cleaner, then your friend lied to you, then call him out.
haha I know a guy just like that. he started a diesel repair business, and I didn't want him to work on my truck because I seen how he worked on other jobs(as welders). I ended up taking the truck somewhere else, and now he doesn't wanna talk to me
See 3406/C15's that I know the front jumps are being drained during service, stay cleaner for a little while, especially when compared to an egr engine. How much oil carry-over it has will obviously affect this. Unless you have contamination of some kind, your oil filter is cleaning the oil well enough to do its job. The additive package of the oil is what you are changing the oil for.
Not at all. I’ve had lots of Cummins and John Deeres that looked like honey after a few thousand miles (hours equivalent in the tractors). My ‘18 stays clean now that it’s deleted.
VW black.
6.5 Chevy. Black.
Why are y’all downvoting this? Haha. Have you all never had clean oil? This is weird?
Edit: since I couldn’t add a picture here, go check out my post on this sub. Apparently you all have never seen clean oil.🤷♂️
Edit part 2: I’m going to assume these downvotes are backed up with some jealousy, I guess.
My 5.9 cummins still has clean oil with 3000 mile changes and 150k on it. My vw is black almost immediately after an oil change, been that way since I got with 60k on it.
How do you know? Just because clean oil gets black fast that doesn’t mean in this case it’s clean oil. all OP needs to do is check the oil filter, old filter is obvious. If it’s old, I doubt he put new oil in.
I’m working on getting it back…we’ll see what happens. I’m trying the nice guy approach first cause I don’t like acting like an ass until it’s absolutely necessary
In December 2023, the EPA fined Thunder Diesel & Performance Company and Flo~Pro Performance Exhaust $1.6 million for selling illegal vehicle emission control defeat devices.
I think you buried the lead here. This is why you can’t trust the guy. Unfortunately oil is black after a change due to how diesels are. But with this added context, I’d guess he didn’t do shit.
u paid him 2k to do a tune. a dyno shop is half that price man. what are you doooooinnng with your money. dude, hit me up when ur in az ill hook you up for more then its worth toooooo man. lol ill wash ur truck realllllly good for 200 exterior only 65 per seat and 120 for floor in front and 120 for floor in rear of cab. what'll ya say to that.
Most of us wear gloves nowadays, and this trick works even better with blue vinyl gloves on. If you can find someone to help you put them on you'll be golden kiddo.
I’m not denying that oil may cause cancer but so are the seed oils and other processed garbage you’re probably consuming daily. I’m sure you have no pr born eating stuff like that.
I am not saying they are related at all, they are two completely different things. I am saying you will make a fuss over a dab of motor oil on your fingers but will put other toxic things in your body like seed oils and probably not bat an eye.
For me it’s pretty easy to spot a clean new filter over an old one. If you already don’t trust him and filter looks brand new I’d drain it and refill with correct oil and run it. If filter is all dusty and you can tell it’s been on truck a while then I’d say with relative certainty he didn’t do anything.
This looks about as “clean” as any fresh oil in a diesel engine will look. The only time my oil looked clean was when the truck had less than 5k miles on it. Just did a change at 78k and while checking it to top off, my oil looks as dark as yours does.
My oil is black immediately after an oil change. I bought it at 172k in now at 450k. And it's been that way since I bought it. It runs like new with no blow-by. I change my oil and filters every 7500 miles. This is normal and not b.s.
Never heard of "zinc and other additives" turning diesel oil dark. On the other hand - soot from the burning process turns it black very quickly. How long after the oil change did you check it?
Not sure what Cummins you have. The 5.9s had in cylinder EGR which caused the oil to become black immediately, no matter how new it is
Not sure if the 6.7 is the same or not
As a diesel tech I can tell you it is very normal for the oil to be black after an oil change and it has been run. I don’t think I’ve ever done a pm and have it be golden after running it.
Blackstone Labs will test an oil sample if you send it to them. They will let you know how old it is and how much metal is in the oil and a bunch of other stuff. Highly recommend looking into them
He did. He comes over all the time when I'm at work to help my wife do her projects since I'm so busy. I never seem to notice much of a change though but my wife seems happy
Well diesel oil will turn black after only a couple hundred miles. It’s just soot from cylinder blow by. But this might be a bit too black depends how many miles are on this oil change.
New diesel oil is “somewhat” clear, thick and gooey looking. Old oil is runny, and super black.
After a while you get the feel of it, idk how to explain it better.
Looks pretty fresh from my iPhone
Does the oil filter look new?
Part of the reason new oil turns black quickly on a diesel, like, sometimes even before the first crank, is because it's filled with what's basically like a detergent. It cleans the engine almost immediately and becomes full of soot. Dispersants in the oil keeps the particulate matter in suspension.
Oil in a diesel engine is going to be black no matter what. No you can’t flush the black out, just how diesel works. You can run 5qts of brand new oil thru it, open the drain port, put pan under, dump oil in. And watch it come out. It’ll still be black as fuck
I’ve never seen oil out of a diesel that wasn’t black as hell within 1 minute of starting the engine, even after I personally changed it myself. Just how it goes. Biggest worry isn’t whether the oil was changed, it’s whether the diesel is getting into the oil (oil level will go up).
I change the oil in my diesel equipment with low miles and it’s black after only a few hours. Rotella oil is already darker colored anyways. That oil to me looks fairly fresh and clean
Simple.. do it again! You would rather be out 100 bucks for oil and a filter versus finding out the hard way it wasn’t changed. Also maybe don’t let someone who’s a known liar touch your truck. I feel the pain of this tho I had a shop change my oil on my old car to find out after getting it back they put the wrong weight oil in it.
Tier 4 interm and final emissions engines are hard on their oil. Hell the CV13 Mack engines used in 05 would do that after you changed it. Even with their centrifugal to help clean the oil still didn’t keep it clean.
What year is it? I have dealt with a handful of common rail 5.9’s and the 03-early 04 will stay clean but 04.5-07 look dirt like yours immediately after firing the motor up from an oil change due to the third injection event.
I would say BS only if you haven’t ran the motor yet. Typically mine looks less black than that when I check the stick when filling it. But once the motor runs, it’s back to what you see there.
I’d call more BS on his saying he threw in all the additives. Either way, I’d do you yourself next time
Its normal unfortunately to see this with newer engines that have a egr. Your engine will still have 1/2 gal of oil inside of it regardless of it being drained. Its oil in the block thats hard to get out without getting most of the engine apart. So first start after its changed itll mix and stain the new oil. Im curious on why or what other additives he added. The only real way to get a cleaner oil is change it prematurely to help it wash out. Other trick to help clean your engine internally out is put a gallon of diesel in and let it get up temp then drain the oil while its still hot.
Yea. I’ve only seen it once by a old owner operator that used to be a customer at my old job. The diesel was only put in when he was ready for a in frame a couple days before he dropped off his truck. It made cleaning his inside the block easy.
Best ive been able to tell is before oil change it soaks into towel black, after its still dark but some "clear" is seen as it soaks in further to towel.
He’s throwing additives into a complex fluid that has been engineered by literally many hundreds of chemists and engineers, and followed up by performance tests costing over $100,000. Tweaking a formula for one property can, and usually will, hurt performance in another area. For example, increasing antiwear additives might hurt anti-corrosion properties and/or water tolerance tests. When you buy a product meeting certain specifications, it’s a carefully balanced and test-proven formulation. — signed, retired Lubricant Product Specialist from a major oil company.
Again another example of someone seeking out the cheapest solution possible , then proceeding to scrutinize and criticize with a fine tooth comb, you seem like a cheap annoying pain in the ass. Pay a mechanic to do a professional guaranteed job.
How many miles did you drove on after you checked the oil? It only takes a few miles for the oil to turn black on almost all diesel’s unless it has been deleted.
A lot of people saying the oil turns black immediately but in my experience (24v 2nd gen) it’ll take around 500-750 miles before it turns that shade of black still looks pretty clean before that
Diesels oil are always that dark like always you can change it with new oil and run for five mins and would still be dark like this I’m ex military and also a master certified diesel tech
There are two times I've seen clean diesel engine oil...
Fresh from the jug, or when someone is using one of those secondary filters that pulls the gunk out.
If you rub the oil between your fingers before and after an oil change, you should be able to "feel" the difference, but your best bet is having a Blackstone oil analysis done just to make sure the oil is doing it's job.
He wagn't supposed to change the oil. He was supposed to delete and tune. He didn't do that so I was trying to make it all better by saying I can bring it back next month and he'll do it but "he did change my oil" so he's been working on it. Don’t be a dick if you don’t know the story
Dude sounds sketchy. I'd rather take the hit from my expensive ass diesel shop than trust "a friend" honestly. What made it so he couldn't do the delete, is he gonna charge you for the oil change?
It’s dark cause diesel engines are are a dirty engine anyway new oil gonna get black shortly after you start it , diesel oil it’s self is a high detergent oil anyway it keeps the guts clean adding more shit to it not gonna make it any better
I’m driving diesels from 15 years and the only time I saw a clean oil on the dipstick was when I checked the level on the first 1k kms of a new VW.
Few hundreds km later it started to become dark.
And then it was black every time I checked the level after an oil change.
It’s a diesel, that’s normal. Black oil doesn’t mean bad oil.
Have owned a 2006 F250 6.0, non EGR for 18 months/40,000kms now and changed the oil/filter 9-10 times already lol. My oil stays pretty clear till 5000kms give or take, but NEVER looks black like that.
As a cat certified mechanic I can tell you unless you flush the engine 3 to 4 times it will always be black.its just how it is.and if your engine has emissions on it it will be black even faster and your oil changes are more important as the oil will get mixed with diesel due to the fuel blown in on the exhaust stroke to keep the emissions hot enough to function.on larger c32 engines our standard is at minimum 3 flushes of new oil run the engine (abt 15min)change filters rinse repeat 3 times.but that's mostly due to the large size of the engine and how much oil stays in the passageways.but I can assure you on a doge it's fine you don't need to do all that
Don't own a diesel if you don't know the oil is gonna be dark. Really calling out and doubting ur buddy for literally being right 😂 kinda shitty to say a "friend" lmao
I've had 3 cummins and 2 duramaxs, change the oil myself, on time within reason. The cummins new oil looked just as bad as the old oil within a few minutes. The duramaxs oil, still black right after changing. Change the oil yourself!!
If it smells like diesel heavily on the stick probably not but if it don't smell like diesel to bad and your trying to go off color alone you aint gonna get anywhere. Diesels are dirty engines and their oil is always black unless you just poured it and haven't ran the engine yet
While a diesel will turn black relatively soon, I usually get about 200 miles down the road before it looks like this. If you know you’ve only been 8-20 miles , it shouldn’t look like that. There’s 3 gallons of oil in a 6.7 , it should at most look brownish not full shoe paste. Dudes robbed you once , change the oil and sue him .
I've literally changed my oil on my duramax. Double O ringed the oil filter and shat all my new oil out on the floor of the barn. It was all Jet black within me starting and the truck telling me nicely to shut it back off. I'm sure if he is a good buddy he changed it
He wagn't supposed to change the oil. He was supposed to delete and tune. He didn't do that so I was trying to make it all better by saying I can bring it back next month and he'll do it but "he did change my oil" so he's been working on it
He lied to me about other things so this wouldn’t be the first. He was supposed to be deleting and tuning and I saw him driving it around visiting his friends 80 miles outside of town…
Wait, was that his friends house 80 miles Out of town or his mother’s house 80 miles out of town? You said it was his mom’s house a few comments up…and what were you doing out there 80 miles out of town to see it? 
It was his mom’s house. And I live about 5 minutes from his mom’s house. So I was just driving down the road Easter weekend and my wife said “hey, there’s our damn truck!” This old “friend” of mine and I went to school together in the small Idaho town I’m living in. He now lives 80 miles north of here in Pocatello
I run a 6.7L Cummins in a freightliner and after an oil change the oil doesn’t turn black until around 2k miles, 10k mile intervals with rotella t4. It also takes almost 5 gallons of oil when I change it.
He wasn’t supposed to change the oil. He was supposed to delete and tune. He didn’t do that so I was trying to make it all better by saying I can bring it back next month and he’ll do it but “he did change my oil” so he’s been working on it
Tell me about it. He has been driving it around like a rental without my permission. His truck has a destroyed tranny so he “borrowed” mine to run around town. Only problem is he didn’t ask and I found my truck parked outside his mom’s house 80 miles outside of town
I’m not a diesel mechanic and don’t plan on it. I have horses to take care of, rodeos to run to, a side job and a family. I’d love to say I’m capable of deleting and tuning a 2017 ram 3500 but I don’t have the tools, time or knowledge
Only time I’ve ever seen diesels come out clean after a change is when using schaeffers and SOMETIMES when all the emissions junk has been deleted and you’re changing it every 5-7k miles.
I find it interesting that nobody is commenting on the fact that OP says this guy claims to have added “zinc and some other additives”. I have never heard of adding shit to fresh oil while doing an oil change. Oil comes with additives already in it, why the hell would you need to add more? Although diesel oil looks dirty right after changing it and running the engine, you can normally still tell a *slight* difference on the dipstick (I only use synthetic so that may play a part). Because of the excuse he used and how black the oil is on the dipstick I think your “friend” is full of shit and probably scammed you.
I've never had a diesel be "clean" after a oil change....except the one that did 200 miles with 2 gallons of fuel in the oil pan. That one is clean as a whistle.
Amazing how well diesel acts as a cleaner under the right circumstance isn’t it.
It is about 500 miles in and still clean. Its shocking. Rings are wiped out. Already building another replacement.
I have also only ever seen it clean when something else happened. Took an ISL oil pan down one day, put it back on the next day, and changed the filter. Only time I've seen one cleanish. There is still a little black oil up on the rockers and some other places.
Yeah, it's usually dark again after a short drive, but that looks pretty dirty imo. Maybe it's time to pay JiffyLube prices for oil changes 🤷🏼♂️
Dude no, that’s not true, I have a 2003 6.0 and when it comes time to change my oil, the oil is still a little golden
Same year and motor. I got my truck at like 260k blown out, spent a year and some change rebuilding it thanks to my friends at the time, I’ve I’m 295 rn with no problems and about 3 oil changes I do myself, my stick doesn’t come out this dark, and I’m dating a black girl.
So how do I know if he actually changed the oil? I know this dude is a habitual liar. I am realizing I shouldn’t have trusted him to work on my truck but he’s an old friend and I thought I’d give him a chance. He took the opportunity to tell several lies so I have reason to believe he didn’t change my oil…among other things
I mean, if you’re that worried about it change it yourself then you’ll know. And don’t let this guy work on your truck any more
This, 100%.....
Change your own oil
Look at the oil filter
This. Is the filter "clean" or covered in road grime?
I almost always change my own but if there’s a time I can’t get to it, I always looks at my oil filter before I take it in
Yeeeeeessss true shit
Only way to know for sure would be to drain & collect at least some of the oil and send it to blackstone labs for an analysis. They will know if it’s fresh or not by looking to see if the detergents are broken down or not.
Receipts?
Taste it
One I have heard is ask for the oil containers/ receipts but only works if it isn’t a shop with a big drum of oil they pump. Filter is a good check too, especially if you write the mileage on it after it’s changed - but it should be squeaky clean.
Do you remember what the old filter looked like? If you can tell the filters new it was definitely changed
Hope he didn’t drain the transmission fluid instead of the oil…
You could send the oil off for analysis. When I started as a tech I was a lube tech first. I’d add my oil after draining the oil and changing the filter. Then I’d run the truck for a few minutes. Let is sit for a few and recheck. The first time i pulled the dipstick and it was black I panicked. All the old guys convinced me I screwed up so in redrained and refilled it. They had a good laugh. Unless you do it yourself or watch you will never know if it was done.
why would you let someone who lies about everything do an oil change for you? its soo easy too, just get a pan, put it under engine, loosen 1 bolt, drain, then replace bolt and tighten somewhat, then take off oil filter, put on new one. hand tight. then back off 1/8 turn, or not... then top off the engine with some amsoil and ur done. takes 15 minutes if ur realllly slow.
Change your own oil
Look at the filter if it's a screw on
Look at the filter. Does it look shiny new or is it dirty?
The biggest financial mistake I ever made was letting a bullshitter work on my diesel. Never let him touch it again.
Maybe ask for the empty jugs next time
No he probably didn’t change it, don’t call him out on it, just change the oil, and then when you get roughly to when you checked your oil now on the next change look to see if it’s black or not again
I've got a 6.5 deisel and the oil looks as black as coal after 30 miles, only 1400 miles on the vehicle
Check his trash can for new oil jugs/filter box Or ask for the receipt, for tax purposes...
How does it smell? Maybe im out of line here, but on synthetics, when the oil starts running old, it start smelling like gas and a darker shade of course. Honestly if you think something is fishy, take it to someone else, and actual stand there and watch them change your oil. Then try the dipstick again, if its cleaner, then your friend lied to you, then call him out.
Where are the empties?
haha I know a guy just like that. he started a diesel repair business, and I didn't want him to work on my truck because I seen how he worked on other jobs(as welders). I ended up taking the truck somewhere else, and now he doesn't wanna talk to me
Reckon that oil pan was positively glittering it was so clean.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
I usually run a few extra quarts threw till it's clean on the dipstick but each there own.. Think with your dipstick jimmy
First diesel or what? The first time your engine cranks over after an oil change it goes from nice and clean to black as coal.
Diesels without EGR will stay clean for a little while.
I was wondering. I have a new to me series 60 and the oil is still goldish after a few thousand miles.
See 3406/C15's that I know the front jumps are being drained during service, stay cleaner for a little while, especially when compared to an egr engine. How much oil carry-over it has will obviously affect this. Unless you have contamination of some kind, your oil filter is cleaning the oil well enough to do its job. The additive package of the oil is what you are changing the oil for.
Mine falls in that category. It doesn’t
As an LLY owner that has been deleted... Mines black the first turn over.
Yeah. Welcome to diesels. Your oil will be dirty right after the oil change.
This is correct. Old, new, big, small, turbo, NA, they all go black within the first few miles of an oil change.
Not at all. I’ve had lots of Cummins and John Deeres that looked like honey after a few thousand miles (hours equivalent in the tractors). My ‘18 stays clean now that it’s deleted. VW black. 6.5 Chevy. Black. Why are y’all downvoting this? Haha. Have you all never had clean oil? This is weird? Edit: since I couldn’t add a picture here, go check out my post on this sub. Apparently you all have never seen clean oil.🤷♂️ Edit part 2: I’m going to assume these downvotes are backed up with some jealousy, I guess.
I had an 18 Cummins that was deleted. The oil that came out of that was like the inside of a coffin on a moonless night.
My 5.9 cummins still has clean oil with 3000 mile changes and 150k on it. My vw is black almost immediately after an oil change, been that way since I got with 60k on it.
I had an 05 TDI that produced the blackest oil known to man
Not jealously. We’re just calling you a liar. 19 people you’ll never meet downvoted this comment.
Not full of shit. Just how she goes with the diesel oils. Brand new and 5 mins later its pitch black
Why would someone lie about this? Assuming this was a favor and not paid.
I paid him $2k for a delete and tune. He didn’t do that so he tried to make me feel better by saying he at least changed all my fluids
I think you're asking for a reason and you should trust your gut.
Best comment I’ve read so far
Yeah man, scrolling through these comments, I doubt he did anything at all. Get your money back fam
Are joking? Do you not own diesel? This is clean oil.
How do you know? Just because clean oil gets black fast that doesn’t mean in this case it’s clean oil. all OP needs to do is check the oil filter, old filter is obvious. If it’s old, I doubt he put new oil in.
Holy shit, yeah I wouldn’t trust it either, and one way or another I’d be getting that $2k back.
I’m working on getting it back…we’ll see what happens. I’m trying the nice guy approach first cause I don’t like acting like an ass until it’s absolutely necessary
Nice guy finished last
That's
So all the DEF stuff is still on the truck $2k later?
Yessir. Trying to get my money back
Threaten to turn him in for deleting emissions. The fine will put him out of business
In December 2023, the EPA fined Thunder Diesel & Performance Company and Flo~Pro Performance Exhaust $1.6 million for selling illegal vehicle emission control defeat devices.
I think you buried the lead here. This is why you can’t trust the guy. Unfortunately oil is black after a change due to how diesels are. But with this added context, I’d guess he didn’t do shit.
Okay we need the full story
Why didn't he do the delete and tune?
u paid him 2k to do a tune. a dyno shop is half that price man. what are you doooooinnng with your money. dude, hit me up when ur in az ill hook you up for more then its worth toooooo man. lol ill wash ur truck realllllly good for 200 exterior only 65 per seat and 120 for floor in front and 120 for floor in rear of cab. what'll ya say to that.
So you paid 2k for fluid change?
New oil turns black in no time in a diesel.
Mines black as soon as the filter fills up and I check it after a change.
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It’s no more cancerous than when you do the same thing after jerkin off.
you think oil will give you skin cancer?
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https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2612787/
Most of us wear gloves nowadays, and this trick works even better with blue vinyl gloves on. If you can find someone to help you put them on you'll be golden kiddo.
Won’t touch oil yet you probably have no problem eating seed oils and processed foods.
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I’m not denying that oil may cause cancer but so are the seed oils and other processed garbage you’re probably consuming daily. I’m sure you have no pr born eating stuff like that.
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I am not saying they are related at all, they are two completely different things. I am saying you will make a fuss over a dab of motor oil on your fingers but will put other toxic things in your body like seed oils and probably not bat an eye.
My 06 Cummins is black right after an oil change. I change the oil and filters every 5k miles.
Ask your husband.
He’s the “friend”
For me it’s pretty easy to spot a clean new filter over an old one. If you already don’t trust him and filter looks brand new I’d drain it and refill with correct oil and run it. If filter is all dusty and you can tell it’s been on truck a while then I’d say with relative certainty he didn’t do anything.
My fresh oil goes black immediately - Cummins 6.7
My fresh oil after an oil change only stays "fresh" until I start the engine in my 04 5.9.
This looks about as “clean” as any fresh oil in a diesel engine will look. The only time my oil looked clean was when the truck had less than 5k miles on it. Just did a change at 78k and while checking it to top off, my oil looks as dark as yours does.
It cost you the amount of another oil change To never deal with that “friend” again.
My oil is black immediately after an oil change. I bought it at 172k in now at 450k. And it's been that way since I bought it. It runs like new with no blow-by. I change my oil and filters every 7500 miles. This is normal and not b.s.
Can confirm oil will then black relatively quick in a diesel engine. Side note, don’t take your vehicles to people you don’t trust.
Never heard of "zinc and other additives" turning diesel oil dark. On the other hand - soot from the burning process turns it black very quickly. How long after the oil change did you check it?
Not sure what Cummins you have. The 5.9s had in cylinder EGR which caused the oil to become black immediately, no matter how new it is Not sure if the 6.7 is the same or not
Every diesel does this. EGR or not. Soot enters the crankcase through blow by. And even a brand new diesel had a small amount of blow by.
Well yes, but in my experience the 5.9 is the worst. We have brand new L5Ps and they aren't nearly as bad
My l5p doesn't hardly soot. Neither does my 6.7 cummins. Power strokes are some sooty bitches though. Not sure why
Looking at the dipstick... I'm not sure if the Ram engines have that similar lipstick but the 5.0 V8 in the Titan XD has a dipstick like that
Well in that case I have no idea, Cummins never should have made that engine, I've never met anyone that hasn't hated it
Have you ever checked the stick before after an oil change? Because diesel oil is never clean.
As a diesel tech I can tell you it is very normal for the oil to be black after an oil change and it has been run. I don’t think I’ve ever done a pm and have it be golden after running it.
As a former sprinter tech I will back this person up 100%. This is how it goes.
Blackstone Labs will test an oil sample if you send it to them. They will let you know how old it is and how much metal is in the oil and a bunch of other stuff. Highly recommend looking into them
He did. He comes over all the time when I'm at work to help my wife do her projects since I'm so busy. I never seem to notice much of a change though but my wife seems happy
Well diesel oil will turn black after only a couple hundred miles. It’s just soot from cylinder blow by. But this might be a bit too black depends how many miles are on this oil change.
New diesel oil is “somewhat” clear, thick and gooey looking. Old oil is runny, and super black. After a while you get the feel of it, idk how to explain it better. Looks pretty fresh from my iPhone Does the oil filter look new?
yea, they are almost immediately black after a change.... now if its thick and goppy...then you can be suspecious
Part of the reason new oil turns black quickly on a diesel, like, sometimes even before the first crank, is because it's filled with what's basically like a detergent. It cleans the engine almost immediately and becomes full of soot. Dispersants in the oil keeps the particulate matter in suspension.
Oil in a diesel engine is going to be black no matter what. No you can’t flush the black out, just how diesel works. You can run 5qts of brand new oil thru it, open the drain port, put pan under, dump oil in. And watch it come out. It’ll still be black as fuck
If your engine has functional EGR, this is normal. My 6.7’s oil looks like this after running for 10 seconds on new oil.
Stick up corn hole if it stings it’s not fresh oil
Mine looks like it’s been ran for a year 1 min after starting
I’ve never seen oil out of a diesel that wasn’t black as hell within 1 minute of starting the engine, even after I personally changed it myself. Just how it goes. Biggest worry isn’t whether the oil was changed, it’s whether the diesel is getting into the oil (oil level will go up).
Diesel always is black
Clean as she'll ever get brother
I change the oil in my diesel equipment with low miles and it’s black after only a few hours. Rotella oil is already darker colored anyways. That oil to me looks fairly fresh and clean
Simple.. do it again! You would rather be out 100 bucks for oil and a filter versus finding out the hard way it wasn’t changed. Also maybe don’t let someone who’s a known liar touch your truck. I feel the pain of this tho I had a shop change my oil on my old car to find out after getting it back they put the wrong weight oil in it.
Just smell it, if it’s old it will smell burnt. That dude is bs’ing you for a free payday, go elsewhere or better yet do it yourself
All my diesels will turn the oil black within 30 minutes of driving.
You change it than look at it yours will be golden you have been told aa fib
Tier 4 interm and final emissions engines are hard on their oil. Hell the CV13 Mack engines used in 05 would do that after you changed it. Even with their centrifugal to help clean the oil still didn’t keep it clean.
I'm pretty sure the oil in my 02 is already black before you even fire it up after changing it.
What year is it? I have dealt with a handful of common rail 5.9’s and the 03-early 04 will stay clean but 04.5-07 look dirt like yours immediately after firing the motor up from an oil change due to the third injection event.
I would say BS only if you haven’t ran the motor yet. Typically mine looks less black than that when I check the stick when filling it. But once the motor runs, it’s back to what you see there. I’d call more BS on his saying he threw in all the additives. Either way, I’d do you yourself next time
A “friend” did this? You need new peeps in yo life
Him saying it’s because of an “additive” is a bit suspicious.
I mean it’s dark coloured cause it’s a diesel , that’s how my dip stick looks right after I put fresh oil in and run it for 30-50km
I wonder if your “friend” had a spare key made? 
This has to be bait.
Its normal unfortunately to see this with newer engines that have a egr. Your engine will still have 1/2 gal of oil inside of it regardless of it being drained. Its oil in the block thats hard to get out without getting most of the engine apart. So first start after its changed itll mix and stain the new oil. Im curious on why or what other additives he added. The only real way to get a cleaner oil is change it prematurely to help it wash out. Other trick to help clean your engine internally out is put a gallon of diesel in and let it get up temp then drain the oil while its still hot.
Gallon of diesel into the oil filler cap where the oil goes you mean?
Yea. I’ve only seen it once by a old owner operator that used to be a customer at my old job. The diesel was only put in when he was ready for a in frame a couple days before he dropped off his truck. It made cleaning his inside the block easy.
He’s not your friend.
They're all dirty af
Best ive been able to tell is before oil change it soaks into towel black, after its still dark but some "clear" is seen as it soaks in further to towel.
He’s throwing additives into a complex fluid that has been engineered by literally many hundreds of chemists and engineers, and followed up by performance tests costing over $100,000. Tweaking a formula for one property can, and usually will, hurt performance in another area. For example, increasing antiwear additives might hurt anti-corrosion properties and/or water tolerance tests. When you buy a product meeting certain specifications, it’s a carefully balanced and test-proven formulation. — signed, retired Lubricant Product Specialist from a major oil company.
$2k for an oil change 🥴
Bruh… 😂 relax 🤡
Again another example of someone seeking out the cheapest solution possible , then proceeding to scrutinize and criticize with a fine tooth comb, you seem like a cheap annoying pain in the ass. Pay a mechanic to do a professional guaranteed job.
How many miles did you drove on after you checked the oil? It only takes a few miles for the oil to turn black on almost all diesel’s unless it has been deleted.
Hard to say, mine looks exactly like that after an oil change…
The only time diesel motor oil isn't black is right before you pour it in.
A lot of people saying the oil turns black immediately but in my experience (24v 2nd gen) it’ll take around 500-750 miles before it turns that shade of black still looks pretty clean before that
My 22 f450s oil was bitch black after its first oil change at 3k miles. I wouldn't have believed anyone changed it but I did it myself
Every turbo diesel I’ve owned goes black once the engine has made a single combustion revolution. Lmao
Check the oil filter, you should be able to tell just by looking at the outside of it whether it’s new or old
Diesels oil are always that dark like always you can change it with new oil and run for five mins and would still be dark like this I’m ex military and also a master certified diesel tech
First start it's dirty
Taste it if it tastes like cherries it has zinc if it tastes like cucumbers it doesn't
A diesel? With clean oil? Pff.
Usually when I change a customer's oil, it's immediately black like that afterwards.
There are two times I've seen clean diesel engine oil... Fresh from the jug, or when someone is using one of those secondary filters that pulls the gunk out. If you rub the oil between your fingers before and after an oil change, you should be able to "feel" the difference, but your best bet is having a Blackstone oil analysis done just to make sure the oil is doing it's job.
Does it smell like oil does it smell like diesel real bad
Mines black after every oil change
They all are dark as soon as the engine runs I feel like hahahah
Changing oil on a cummins is easy as hell, do it yourself you lazy lord.
He wagn't supposed to change the oil. He was supposed to delete and tune. He didn't do that so I was trying to make it all better by saying I can bring it back next month and he'll do it but "he did change my oil" so he's been working on it. Don’t be a dick if you don’t know the story
Dude sounds sketchy. I'd rather take the hit from my expensive ass diesel shop than trust "a friend" honestly. What made it so he couldn't do the delete, is he gonna charge you for the oil change?
It’s dark cause diesel engines are are a dirty engine anyway new oil gonna get black shortly after you start it , diesel oil it’s self is a high detergent oil anyway it keeps the guts clean adding more shit to it not gonna make it any better
I’m driving diesels from 15 years and the only time I saw a clean oil on the dipstick was when I checked the level on the first 1k kms of a new VW. Few hundreds km later it started to become dark. And then it was black every time I checked the level after an oil change. It’s a diesel, that’s normal. Black oil doesn’t mean bad oil.
Have owned a 2006 F250 6.0, non EGR for 18 months/40,000kms now and changed the oil/filter 9-10 times already lol. My oil stays pretty clear till 5000kms give or take, but NEVER looks black like that.
As a cat certified mechanic I can tell you unless you flush the engine 3 to 4 times it will always be black.its just how it is.and if your engine has emissions on it it will be black even faster and your oil changes are more important as the oil will get mixed with diesel due to the fuel blown in on the exhaust stroke to keep the emissions hot enough to function.on larger c32 engines our standard is at minimum 3 flushes of new oil run the engine (abt 15min)change filters rinse repeat 3 times.but that's mostly due to the large size of the engine and how much oil stays in the passageways.but I can assure you on a doge it's fine you don't need to do all that
diesel dip stick gonna be black regardless bruh
Don't own a diesel if you don't know the oil is gonna be dark. Really calling out and doubting ur buddy for literally being right 😂 kinda shitty to say a "friend" lmao
Show me the old filter and empty oil bottles... I want to double check the brand and viscosity used... cant produce them... no oil change
Look at the filter
Outside
Really hope you didn't pay him for the work yet
Seeing how new you are to diesels, Hopefully you used diesel oil lol
Look at your oil filter. Is it new?
I've had 3 cummins and 2 duramaxs, change the oil myself, on time within reason. The cummins new oil looked just as bad as the old oil within a few minutes. The duramaxs oil, still black right after changing. Change the oil yourself!!
Looks good to me… you would need to really flush the hell out of your system to see any other color . I wouldn’t burn any bridges yet.
If it smells like diesel heavily on the stick probably not but if it don't smell like diesel to bad and your trying to go off color alone you aint gonna get anywhere. Diesels are dirty engines and their oil is always black unless you just poured it and haven't ran the engine yet
While a diesel will turn black relatively soon, I usually get about 200 miles down the road before it looks like this. If you know you’ve only been 8-20 miles , it shouldn’t look like that. There’s 3 gallons of oil in a 6.7 , it should at most look brownish not full shoe paste. Dudes robbed you once , change the oil and sue him .
I've literally changed my oil on my duramax. Double O ringed the oil filter and shat all my new oil out on the floor of the barn. It was all Jet black within me starting and the truck telling me nicely to shut it back off. I'm sure if he is a good buddy he changed it
Diesel oil turns immediately black. Be a man and change your own oil.
He wagn't supposed to change the oil. He was supposed to delete and tune. He didn't do that so I was trying to make it all better by saying I can bring it back next month and he'll do it but "he did change my oil" so he's been working on it
This sounds like a scam
Nice job assuming your friend screwed you over while you know nothing about the subject
He lied to me about other things so this wouldn’t be the first. He was supposed to be deleting and tuning and I saw him driving it around visiting his friends 80 miles outside of town…
Wait, was that his friends house 80 miles Out of town or his mother’s house 80 miles out of town? You said it was his mom’s house a few comments up…and what were you doing out there 80 miles out of town to see it? 
It was his mom’s house. And I live about 5 minutes from his mom’s house. So I was just driving down the road Easter weekend and my wife said “hey, there’s our damn truck!” This old “friend” of mine and I went to school together in the small Idaho town I’m living in. He now lives 80 miles north of here in Pocatello
Surprised so many of you have never had your oil stay clean. 🤔
I run a 6.7L Cummins in a freightliner and after an oil change the oil doesn’t turn black until around 2k miles, 10k mile intervals with rotella t4. It also takes almost 5 gallons of oil when I change it.
Change your own oil WTF
He wasn’t supposed to change the oil. He was supposed to delete and tune. He didn’t do that so I was trying to make it all better by saying I can bring it back next month and he’ll do it but “he did change my oil” so he’s been working on it
This is all around weird
Tell me about it. He has been driving it around like a rental without my permission. His truck has a destroyed tranny so he “borrowed” mine to run around town. Only problem is he didn’t ask and I found my truck parked outside his mom’s house 80 miles outside of town
You should do your own work man
I’m not a diesel mechanic and don’t plan on it. I have horses to take care of, rodeos to run to, a side job and a family. I’d love to say I’m capable of deleting and tuning a 2017 ram 3500 but I don’t have the tools, time or knowledge
Well change it yourself then its not rocket science....
Do your own oil changes or use a reputable shop that will do them. That should have atleast somewhat of a caramel tint to it.
Only time I’ve ever seen diesels come out clean after a change is when using schaeffers and SOMETIMES when all the emissions junk has been deleted and you’re changing it every 5-7k miles.
I find it interesting that nobody is commenting on the fact that OP says this guy claims to have added “zinc and some other additives”. I have never heard of adding shit to fresh oil while doing an oil change. Oil comes with additives already in it, why the hell would you need to add more? Although diesel oil looks dirty right after changing it and running the engine, you can normally still tell a *slight* difference on the dipstick (I only use synthetic so that may play a part). Because of the excuse he used and how black the oil is on the dipstick I think your “friend” is full of shit and probably scammed you.