Diesel oil (not really an oil thread)
 

Lately I've noticed two things about my wife's 2000 F350 Powerstroke. For one, I think it runs better now than it did new. For another, the oil turns much blacker between oil changes. Those two things both seemed to happen at about 120,000 miles. Does it mean that the motor is finally broken in?

We drive it gently, but probably 90% of its 127,000 miles are either pulling a heavy trailer or making a short trip to town, tough duty in either case. It gets an oil change with Rotella and a good filter every 3,000 miles. It will use some oil, especially when pulling a trailer on a long trip during the summer. I might need to add 1/2 to 3/4 of a quart between oil changes.

The oil never gets as black as in my friend's Dodge Cummins (about 80,000 miles) and definitely not as black as the oil in my 1985 300D, but it gets darker than it used to. Any cause for concern?

Mine does but I have done a few things to it.

Before I do anything else, I would get Blackstone to check the oil sample

Good idea. This December will mark 12 years with this truck. My plan is to get another 12 out of it. It's a nice truck.

It should be ok since the 2000 units did NOT have PMRs. Also I believe the weak point is the trans. The 4R100 isn't that durable. 2001 might have the diodes but 2000 is fine.

From what I've been told, we got lucky when we bought a 2000. That seems to be the sweet spot for Powerstroke trucks. Her transmission sometimes acts funny going up long hills with a heavy load on hot days. I have not been able to recreate the symptoms, but the way she describes it is that the transmission is hunting for a gear. The dealer checked it out, but found nothing wrong. No trouble codes were stored in the computer, for what that's worth. I expect that one to get expensive at some point, but nothing like the cost of a new truck.

Give Brian Thompson a call. He is EXCELLENT. 870-422-FORD.

I will do that.

If it's running better AND the oil is blackening has your fuel mileage fallen off?

In a diesel if you don't want the oil turning black, get it to operating temperature before your oil change and let it drain overnight. This will get a lot of the contaminants out that if drained cold will remain stuck to the surfaces inside the crankcase.

Also make SURE that you are using one of the oils especially formulated for diesels. These have much more detergent additive to deal with diesel soot dispersal.

Dunno. I never checked it before to get a baseline. Maybe I will start doing that. When I say it seems to run better, I mean smoother. I don't have anything objective to really say how it's running.I'm good about draining it hot, but I have not let it drain overnight. I will try to do that the next few times and see what happens.I've been using Rotella since the very first oil change. If I had it to do again, I might have gone with Delo, but then I promised that this was not an oil thread.

GOOD! Rotella or Delo either one will serve you well. I just wanted to make sure you weren't using a non diesel type oil.

Unless you drive it mainly on the highway and/or change it real often, the black is probably just soot build up. My concern was that if it's running better, black oil AND the fuel mileage is falling off then you might have something causing it to be fed too much fuel. In a common rail this is not really likely though.

Good luck with it.

My understanding is that the transmissions on these trucks (I have a 2000 Excursion PSD) last about 140k before they blow. Mine made it to about 134k. Had it rebuilt and now it has 198k. We'll see how long the rebuild lasts. Mine (in KY) has California emissions on it (go figure). Means I have the blasted expensive glow plug controller. Only other problem was theunder valve cover harness coming partially unplugged on the right side. Pain to get to in there.

Do an oil analysis and they will tell you how much life the oil has left and whether you can extend your OCI.

Some do, some don't. Mine lasted 55K before the diode locked up and toasted the trans. Very hard to say. After my trans broke, I replaced the cooler with one from a 6.0L truck. A VERY good upgrade. Of course I have a chip and I do abuse my truck which is why I went with Brian's Truck Shop since he has a reputation of fixing the trans for free even AFTER the warranty and no limits. He has rebuilt a guy whose truck was racing for free.

Excursions have the Republik of Kalifornia emissions stuff. Instead of a glow plug relay you have a control module and the ECM will get more dependent on the sensors. Take out the ambient air temp sensor for instance and most trucks don't care. The CA emissions trucks will trip the CEL light.

I believe there is a thing for that or what they call the 50 cent mod.

I plan to do that at the next transmission flush. Maybe I shouldn't wait. I just had that thing flushed earlier this year.

FWIW, I'm at a shade over 10,000 miles on the Rotella T that's in my '02 PSD.

I sample every 2500 or so and send it to Blackstone. This engine does use a little oil, maybe 1/2qt between samples. Mostly driven light on the highway...sometimes has a livestock trailer with 3000-4000 lbs of cows in it.

Bride's TC did 13,700 on Mobile 1 before I had to change it because the sorry Fram air filter someone stuck in there failed. The silicon skyrocketed on one sample and sho' nuf' the filter had a big 'ol rip in it.

Sometimes I wonder if the lube oil manufacturers really want extended OCIs. Face it, a 3500mi oil change definitely puts some cash in their pocket that they wouldn't have if we all knew we could routinely go 10,000+ on an oil change.