to drain D1 or not...

[JHZR2]

Hi,

I put Delvac 1 into my 83 MB 300D turbodiesel about 3300 mi ago. It has since been taken on a 1000 mile road trip, and a bunch of shorter (100-300mi) road trips. Mostly all highway or moderate speed milage.

I changed the filter and toped the oil off at around 2000 mi.

When I check the oil, it is really thick, just kind of sits on the dipstick. The 10w-40 I have in my BMW drips off the dipstick and isnt as thick in the same temperature as the 5w-40 delvac 1. Is this a sign that either the oil has taken on too much soot, or has cleaned a lot of the engine and has a lot of junk in it?
I know it is very cold for any oil (always hovers a bit beloiw freezing), so it will be thick, but I dont think it should be thicker than the heavier synth in my gas engine...
I have two more gallons of it, and will drain if needed, but I was kind of hoping to keep it in for 5k mi. But Ill drain if needs be. I will do an analysis next time (this time there was still rotella in the system)
Thanks

JMH

 

[msparks]

quote:

---

Originally posted by JHZR2:
Hi,

I put Delvac 1 into my 83 MB 300D turbodiesel about 3300 mi ago. It has since been taken on a 1000 mile road trip, and a bunch of shorter (100-300mi) road trips. Mostly all highway or moderate speed milage.

I changed the filter and toped the oil off at around 2000 mi.

When I check the oil, it is really thick, just kind of sits on the dipstick. The 10w-40 I have in my BMW drips off the dipstick and isnt as thick in the same temperature as the 5w-40 delvac 1. Is this a sign that either the oil has taken on too much soot, or has cleaned a lot of the engine and has a lot of junk in it?
I know it is very cold for any oil (always hovers a bit beloiw freezing), so it will be thick, but I dont think it should be thicker than the heavier synth in my gas engine...
I have two more gallons of it, and will drain if needed, but I was kind of hoping to keep it in for 5k mi. But Ill drain if needs be. I will do an analysis next time (this time there was still rotella in the system)
Thanks

JMH

---

If this is the first run of the Delvac, I would drop it early, I'm sure it has been doing quite a job of cleaning out your engine.

Next run of Delvac should look much better. Though from what I have read the MB's are some soot monsters. Might have to see what an analysis say's if the oil continues looking like that after the change.

 

[GeorgeCLS]

Gosh, that is not much in the way of miles on Delvac 1. And appearances can be deceiving. As suggested, it might be best to drain, however, capture an oil sample and get the Delvac 1 tested. This way you will know exactly what the appearance told you in terms of soot load, viscosity, etc. You did have residual oil from the previous change, plus Delvac 1 is a high detergency oil. It can give an engine an enima on that first run through!
Again, with an oil analysis, you will know exactly what is going on in your engine..
George Morrison, STLE CLS

 

[JHZR2]

Thats just it, I have a feeling, from looking at what I could see through the oil fill cap on the valve cover, that things look cleaner than they did...

My engine heats up quicker than it used to, even for the winter, which is my other reasoning for need to replace the oil... maybe there is more friction as soot thickens the oil.

Any oil I put in turns black immediately, before I even turn the car on... So there is a lot of soot in there...

JMH

 

[G-MAN]

I had a 240D that I ran Ursa 15w40 in year round. One thing I always noticed about the oil in this engine was that no matter what the temp, even if the oil was hot, it seemed to cling to the dipstick. I think soot loading is what does it.

But if this is your first run of Delvac 1, I'd go ahead and change it.

 

[Bio-T]

JHZR2,

On a Ford diesel site I frequent there are alot of owners using Auto-Rx to clean their engines. I have seen them start at 187K on one and 223K on another with great results. The rest of the users have various miles below the above. I use it in both of my diesels and oil analysis are always good since using the Auto-Rx. Your oil will still darken, but will not be as soot laiden after you clean the engine.