Changed it yesterday and today its already grayish black! Man, I was hoping for some super clean looking oil for at least a short period of time. I changed it when the car was nice and warm, well, warm being HOT! I couldnt pick up my container I used to collect the oil for quite a while after doing the job because it was so hot. I let it drain out till it was dripping quite infrequently. Just kinda wondering, since this was my first time doing this, is this normal? Looking down into the valve cover, it doesnt look gunked up or anything. Maybe next change I should do a flush? Ya know, any info is always great.

oh, and I used delvac 1300 15w40.

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1981 300CD 260k w 60k on new motor
1983 240D 4spd Manual

Good for you! you are taking the first steps into really getting to know your car.

When you change your oil you are still leaving some in the oil cooler. black oil is OK in a diesel. Did you change the oil filter as well? If you did not, then you left an additional quart + of the old oil in the car. Either way, it will not hurt anything. I usually change the filter once a month and then do an oil/filter change every two months.

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"I have no convictions ... I blow with the wind, and the prevailing wind happens to be from Vichy"

Current
Monika '74 450 SL
BrownHilda '79 280SL
FoxyCleopatra '99 Chevy Suburban
Scarlett 2014 Jeep Cherokee
Krystal 2004 Volvo S60
Gone
'74 Jeep CJ5
'97 Jeep ZJ Laredo
Rudolf ‘86 300SDL
Bruno '81 300SD
Fritzi '84 BMW
'92 Subaru
'96 Impala SS
'71 Buick GS conv
'67 GTO conv
'63 Corvair conv
'57 Nomad

Normal on most older diesels. Just change oil and filter every three thousand miles and wear protective gloves as the old oil almost stains the skin. In fact if it was not totally black after a short run your engine is probably fairly clean inside.
Look at the upside as well. You can usually identify the oil level with only one wipedown of the oil dipstick. Some of our gas cars I have to do it a few times and still not positive if it's accurate. I really find it harder with off white plastic dipsticks on some of them and clean oil.

Thanks for the quick replies guys. This info is reassuring. I did change the filter. I have changed the oil in my and my mother's cars for years, but they were always gassers and, as stated, the oil remained essentially clear for at least a few hundred miles. It was just concerning when it got dark so quickly. Thanks again!

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1981 300CD 260k w 60k on new motor
1983 240D 4spd Manual

It sounds like you did it just right, don't worry about it.

Its a well know fact that a diesel engine can soot up oil before it even leaves the bottle.

The last time I changed the oil in my '96 606, I sucked it out of the dipstick tube. I also raised the rear of the car a few inches to help the process.

The oil was hard to see on the dipstick 100 miles later. After about 150 miles, it was just starting to get a bit of color.

Previously, I had used the drain on the pan, and the oil was rather dark immediately upon starting the engine.

In older mercedes diesels, just running them for 1 minute turns the oil Jet black. You done good kid.

In the newer aluminum engines, it takes much longer as I am learning. I am quite amazed at the 606...

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1977 Mercedes 300D

my bet is you didn't regularly change the oil before the DT method. that motor is REALLY clean compared to the old 617's either method would have resulted in the same distance of clear oil.

good point about raising the rear of the car to drain the oil. I hate that the drain plug is on the front of the pan, so if you raise the front, you are leaving over a quart in the bottom of the pan. these cars are obviously designed for factory service on a lift!

only thing I can offer to aid in getting the most out of the pan, is do the filter FIRST! and don't put the new filter in until you have the pan bolt back in.

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

You lose that bet in spades.

And yes, I do remove the filter while the oil is draining. I don't put the new filter back until the oil is back in the engine. The filter housing is an ideal place to add the oil.

Not sure about that theory that "ALL" diesels have black oil after a hundred miles or so (my newly rebuilt 616's oil got dirty fast) due to the soot being suspended yada, yada
I was amazed to see the oil in my Dodge/Cummens stay honey colored for 3k, I mean almost what it looked like when I poured it in.

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

I always buy the pre sooted oil, that way I don`t feel so bad when
it changes color.
any body ever add too much oil, like 16 qts? don`t ask

how about loosing a drain plug?
charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

Yeah, all's normal. Charmalu, I must be using the pre sooted stuff too!

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83 SD

84 CD

The direct injection engines function a lot cleaner in general. Actually no comparison on some of them. Thanks for the tip of tilting the 617 and maybe the 616 a little down at the nose to get more old oil out. Never occured to me.

On older MB diesels the oil will turn jet black as soon as you start it. This is perfectly normal.

My 603 however keeps it pretty clear for the first 100 miles.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Yes, last time I changed oil, I had the car on ramps & jacked up & leveled, too, so I could top up the tranny (front seal slow leak) and check the rear end. Usually I do the oil first with the front end on the ramps, then level the car to change or check the tranny & rear end -- this time I did the leveling first --- and the car gave up .5 qt more oil, judging by the dipstick level when I got finished pouring in my usual 7 qts. I was amazed.

This is not a new chore for me -- done it 16 times, at least, all in the same driveway.

I've never poured in 16 qts, but I have poured in 4 - maybe 6 - with the plug still out of the pan. That mess took a long time to clean up, and some special, expensive stuff to clean the black stain off the driveway.