Changed Oil, Now it's Burning...
 

I recently did my first valve adjust and then changed my slightly overdue oil and filter. The car has never burned oil before and has nearly no blowby. After driving about 1000 on the new oil I pop the cap off while it's running and I see smoke! :eek: At first I freaked and thought it might be coolant, but I've given it a good wiff and it's definitely burning oil.

Did I mess up the vavle adjust some way that would cause this?

I had previously used Mobil 1 5w-40 but refilled it this time with Rotella T 30 to save some $$ for the summer. Would my car burn Rotella and not M-1? My car has been running a bit hot, but nothing over 100c.

I haven't had to add any oil yet. I realize this may not be a big deal, but I'd like to know why my car suddenly got an appetite for oil and if there's anyway I can curb it's hunger now before it gets worse.

That is blowby. If you were going to stop using M1, you should have used Rotella 15w-40. Staight weight oils are not a good idea. Change it back to M1 or to the 15w-40. I would have stayed with the M1 personally. I am using Rotella "synthetic" now, and have noticed a decrease in oil loss through blow by and the leaks are actually decreasing, as by the size of the drops from over night.

What you are seeing is vapor, not smoke. Diesel engines use oil injectors to direct oil for cooling and it's pretty typical to see oil vapor. Every diesel I've seen has some vapor when the cap is removed shortly after shut down, especially if the temps are getting warm.

Relax, if you aren't using more than 1L/3K or seeing a blue plume from the tail pipe, then there isn't much to do or worry about.

"Rotella" means you're a WalMart shopper!

M1 is better oil.

I bough mine on sale at Autozone;$11/gallon.

There was one Diesel Generator Engine at work the if I used 30wt in it would burn more oil than if I used 15-40wt.
I went back to using the 15-40wt.
I am thinking the worn Engines Oil Rings were not able to wipe off the 30wt Oil from the Cylinders as easily and more Oil stayed in the Cylinders to be burned.

Wal Mart used to carry M1 diesel. No longer. At least I change the oil and filter regularly. No pay raise again this year, I have to buy what I can afford.

No arguments that M1 is better.

Whew. Good to hear it's not serious. I'm still convinced it has something to do with the Rotella, because I swear I had the cap off right before the change (which was way overdue) and saw nothing.

I searched and searched for Mobil 1 but could not find it anywhere except for one place at $6/quart! I ended up with the Rotella single weight because it was $9.99/gallon NOT at Walmart but at Advanced AP.

I think I'll change a bit early this time and go back to the M-1. :cool:

Big difference in the addative package,

Rotella 30 wt is only CF or CF4. Any 15w40 is CJ or CJ2 nowadays.

I haven't been to Walfart for years! :P

I get my Rotella at Napa for our school buses, all I run in them . . . go to any truck stop, you will see lots of it there too!

Seems like you must have seen it while you were there . . .

Measure oil consumption on the dipstick not by observing vapor at the filler-hole. I've had cars which consumed copious amounts of oil and still ran great. I don't consider a car to be an oil burner until it burns something like a quart every 500 miles. Heck, I had a 240D which burned a quart every 100-200 miles and still started in the coldest weather.

Hmmm...........Since you are familiar with what Wally World carries, I'm wondering who's the "WalMart shopper".

Personally, I haven't spent a nickel in any of their stores for 15 years, due to an incident where they cost me over $5,000 to repair the damage. So bite your tongue.

advance keeps the M1 5W40 in a different place than the rest of the M1 oil. look for their diesel oil shelf, it should be there. as a bonus, the 5W40 is only 4.89 there!

Anyone use Amsoil?

I have used amsoil, great experience but too expensive
 

I have used 15w-40 amsoil in my 300d turbo diesel the car ran great and the fuel mileage increased but make sure you change the oil filter every 5000 miles especially after the first application of oil in your car. Great Stuff but now I run 20w-50 Castrol and my car still runs great.