Oil & Fuel Dirty oil

[dodge man]

I'm not a big fan of trying to flush out an engine. The only way I'd do that if it was so bad you were looking at having to pull the engine and rebuild it becasue it was so gunked up.

[Gale Hawkins]

We had the same thing with our Ford big block engine in the gas 429 engine. It took like three days for the crud in the old filter to drain out it was so bad. Before draining the old oil I did run a can of Sea Foam for about 20 minutes at idle after it was hot but one could skip that step.

We also went to Rotella Synthetic 5W-40 motor oil so being diesel rated it started removing the black deposits and the new oil was totally black after 50 miles. We used a high end Fram filter from WM 50 miles after the initial oil change and it cleared back up for a couple hundred miles and then repeated the process. Now a couple years later it is still clear with about a total of 500 miles on the new Rotella and third filter.

Try a couple filter only and top off cycles and let us know if it clears up.

I did not know a new filter would clean up black oil before this experience.

[Ace3]

Every Diesel engine I have had in boats, trucks, excavator, and tractors has had black oil in it. There is nothing wrong with the oil. It's just what happens to the oil in a Diesel engine.

[Gale Hawkins]

With unknown previous maintenance, if this was my tractor, I'd change at least the oil filter at 50 hours. Who am I kidding, I'd change the oil too, or I wouldn't sleep properly (just my OCD , and ).

Rgds, D.

Short changing is a good idea with any engine without service records. I have had some luck clearing up black oil by change filter only. As noted black oil may not be a big deal. If you change oil a a few hours later it is black then you have an engine containing crud not coming out with the oil.

Can I use Sea Foam in my diesel engine crankcase too? | Sea Foam Sales Company

Sea Foam is something that I like to use in both gas and diesel crank cases per instructed on the container.

[art]

Kubota engines have been some of the cleanest we have worked with and normally they go twenty to thirty without turning with normal maint. and good oils. Most tractor companies of that vintage if you were to be using after-market oil should be the equivelent to Shell's Rimula oil. Rotella is a lower spec oil that was not designed for ag or tractor use but trucks and cars.

[cadale]

I started this thread several weeks ago. A couple weeks ago I contacted our local Cat Dealer as I had heard that they did oil sampling, and for a little over $30 was given two sample bottles and some clear tubing to fil them with. It turns out that using the tubing to extract a sample is not easy. I tried sticking the tubing into the crankcase, closing off the top with a finger and pulling the tubing with oil back out, then blowing the oil into a cup. Very slow. Tried sucking it out, also slow. I could not get a sample from the hydraulic oil at all, so I pulled the drain plug and gathered a sample into a container (very clean can). That was quicker.

The results came back in 24 hours. Amazing. Very cheap and detailed and fast. The lab measured various metals in the oil, such as copper, chromium, nickel, tin, etc. that are apparently indicative of engine wear such as piston rings , bearings, etc. Other items measured were fuel content, antifreeze content, nitration, oxidation, soot, acidity, viscosity, more. One of the few values that were 0 was soot. I was told that both engine and hyd fluid were normal and that continued sampling and testing would be helpful in monitoring wear as I now have a baseline.

I intend to change the hydraulic oil filter but reuse the oil. Unfortunately it appears that in order to change the filter (original one) I have to drain the fluid, all 11 gallons of it or so. Rats.

Thanx again for all the comments.

[Deano]

I intend to change the hydraulic oil filter but reuse the oil. Unfortunately it appears that in order to change the filter (original one) I have to drain the fluid, all 11 gallons of it or so. Rats.

Thanx again for all the comments.

Use a vacuum and have an assistant hold nozzle on the fill point and change the filter...You will lose VERY little!

[dlay]

Kubota engines have been some of the cleanest we have worked with and normally they go twenty to thirty without turning with normal maint. and good oils. Most tractor companies of that vintage if you were to be using after-market oil should be the equivelent to Shell's Rimula oil. Rotella is a lower spec oil that was not designed for ag or tractor use but trucks and cars.

I put rotella in my m7040, dealer said was fine, when I sold JD construction equipment, I asked a tech at the factory what oils were ok. He said that any good oil for diesel engines that met spec was good. He mentioned rotella as a good one to use, but said to be sure and use jd hydraulic oil as it was speced for their clutches and seals. Oil in a diesel engine turns black very quick and is ok..

[3930dave]

I started this thread several weeks ago. A couple weeks ago I contacted our local Cat Dealer as I had heard that they did oil sampling, and for a little over $30 was given two sample bottles and some clear tubing to fil them with. It turns out that using the tubing to extract a sample is not easy. I tried sticking the tubing into the crankcase, closing off the top with a finger and pulling the tubing with oil back out, then blowing the oil into a cup. Very slow. Tried sucking it out, also slow. I could not get a sample from the hydraulic oil at all, so I pulled the drain plug and gathered a sample into a container (very clean can). That was quicker.

The results came back in 24 hours. Amazing. Very cheap and detailed and fast. The lab measured various metals in the oil, such as copper, chromium, nickel, tin, etc. that are apparently indicative of engine wear such as piston rings , bearings, etc. Other items measured were fuel content, antifreeze content, nitration, oxidation, soot, acidity, viscosity, more. One of the few values that were 0 was soot. I was told that both engine and hyd fluid were normal and that continued sampling and testing would be helpful in monitoring wear as I now have a baseline.

I intend to change the hydraulic oil filter but reuse the oil. Unfortunately it appears that in order to change the filter (original one) I have to drain the fluid, all 11 gallons of it or so. Rats.

Thanx again for all the comments.

How many total hours are on your tractor Cadale ?

If your hydraulic fluid is original, you might want to check what the factory change interval states.

Used Oil Analysis can be a good way to test for contamination, and depending how the tests are done, may tell you some general things about how the fluid is aging (ex. Acid buildup, viscosity breakdown). I'm no expert, but IMO, I don't think that most Used Oil testing is going to tell you how all the additives in the hydraulic fluid are standing up - esp. if you do not have an extensive analysis of that particular UNused hydraulic fluid to compare to.

Used Oil Analysis can be a useful tool, but if it was a machine that I was planning on having for a while, I'd make sure to observe the factory change interval for the hydraulic fluid, even if the analysis was coming back with no alarm bells attached.

Just my . Enjoy the new tractor !

Rgds, D.

[cadale]

Thanx Deano, I would never have thought of that.