Should stay Synthetic or change back to Dino?

Black1987Stang · Dec 1, 2005

Im changing my lifters this weekend so ill be changing the oil to get rid of any coolant in the oil. I broke in the motor with Dino (regular oil) for about 1500 miles and I switched to Mobil 1 synthetic. For some reason the oil always gets dark very early, im thinking blowby? If i run synthetic I dont want to change it for like 5,000 miles but since it gets dark so soon I dont want to be running the motor with such dark oil for so long. So should I switch to Dino oil so I can change it at 3,000 miles or keep using Mobil 1 and change it at say 5,000 miles? Ive only been running Mobil 1 for 800 miles tops so would it be safe to switch to regular oil? The motor has all new seals, gaskets etc. and any reason why my oil is getting dark so early? The motor was hot tanked, steam cleaned etc. Btw should I soak the new lifters in oil too?

DMAN302 · Dec 1, 2005

Soak the lifters for sure, and as for the switch..can't hurt, see what happens with the dyno since it can't hurt. The best oil in my opinion is clean oil..I don't worry much about the type, most important to me is the quality of the filter. I've been told many times oil color doesn't always indicate life left in the oil.

Modular2v · Dec 1, 2005

best oil is clean oil................color doesnt mean a thing (synthetics are naturally darker anyway) An oil can be dark and still be operating properly due to the detergents in the oil

Black1987Stang · Dec 1, 2005

I get at what ur saying but it did this with both types of oil and right after I change the oil it will be nice and clear looking then say after a week or two it will start getting darker and darker.

Modular2v · Dec 1, 2005

87stangdiddle said:
I get at what ur saying but it did this with both types of oil and right after I change the oil it will be nice and clear looking then say after a week or two it will start getting darker and darker.

thats because u have deposits in your engine....an engine flush will cure this....keep in mind that oil is a detergent and if there are sludge deposits in the motor then it will immediately get to work on trying to clean those up hence the darker oil in the short amount of time

352Ford2 · Dec 1, 2005

If your really worried about it take a clean container and get a sample of your "dark" oil

take it to a diesel repair shop, most have the cabiblity to test your oil.

I can't remeber what exactly they test for (I would assume ph, particulets, Ferrrous and non Ferrious metal, etc)

Shakerhood · Dec 1, 2005

352Ford2 said:
If your really worried about it take a clean container and get a sample of your "dark" oil

take it to a diesel repair shop, most have the cabiblity to test your oil.

I can't remeber what exactly they test for (I would assume ph, particulets, Ferrrous and non Ferrious metal, etc)

I believe the Oil Test is called a SOAP Test

whitehorseupnorth · Dec 1, 2005

Do yourself a favor and stay with the synthetic. It's light years ahead of regular oil. I would change it every 3-4k miles though. Here is a good read on the subject.
www.boss302.com/oil.htm

Black1987Stang · Dec 1, 2005

Modular2v said:
thats because u have deposits in your engine....an engine flush will cure this....keep in mind that oil is a detergent and if there are sludge deposits in the motor then it will immediately get to work on trying to clean those up hence the darker oil in the short amount of time

The motor is Spotless inside, not one spec of sludge,oil deposits, rust, scale, nothing. I took out every oil gallery plug, freeze out plug, cam bearings, and I hot tanked it, steam cleaned it then bored and honed it, Cleaned out all the oil galleries with a gallery brush, then steam cleaned it again, painted it then cleaned it with soap and water very well. and the motor has no more than 3k on it so theres no sludge buildup anywhere. new oil pump, oil pan everything. Only thing i can think of is blowby so a little gas is getting in the oil and getting it dark?

DMAN302 · Dec 2, 2005

Maybe a leaky injector..is your pressure holding for any time after you shut down?

Black1987Stang · Dec 2, 2005

DMAN302 said:
Maybe a leaky injector..is your pressure holding for any time after you shut down?

Good thought, The pressure doesnt Hold but it will take about 20 minutes or so to fully go to Zero. Is this good enough? When I had 24lb injectors on, the pressure leaked down much faster so one of them must be leaking. Ill be putting in a 190lph fp soon so that might help hold the pressure.Right now ill be keeping the 19lb injectors on for awhile.

HISSIN50 · Dec 2, 2005

To test injectors, you have to pull them. Otherwise, the FP check valve and FPR can bleed off your pressure (and they do by design - it is not good to keep 30 PSI in the lines when not needed). That is why the pump primes at start up.

Jrichker has a nifty test using a cup of soapy water and an air compressor.

It would be easier to get a UOA done IMHO.

Black1987Stang · Dec 3, 2005

What does a UOA mean?

HISSIN50 · Dec 3, 2005

87stangdiddle said:
What does a UOA mean?

Used Oil Analysis.

You can use a lab to analyze the oil - get a vial from them (often free, or part of the total cost of the analysis) and dump some used oil in and send it out.

Here is some info about it.

Good luck.

Michael Yount · Dec 3, 2005

Color doesn't mean a thing -- my brother changes the synth in his PowerStroke diesel based on analysis. He runs Amsoil synth, along with Amsoil's regular filter for that engine, and a separate additional bypass oil filter. He changes filters every 5000 miles and tops up oil if necessary. He pulls samples about every other oil filter change for analysis. His oil currently has 45,000 miles on it -- analysis says it's still good to go. This is not uncommon on the big diesel rigs -- some go as many as 100k on synth. oil -- but you have to perform regular analysis and change the filters regularly. His oil is quite dark.....it's still lubricating just fine.

HISSIN50 · Dec 3, 2005

Michael is right. If an oil is dark, it means that it is working and suspending particulate.

Should stay Synthetic or change back to Dino?

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