I have an 04 dodge with the 5.9 cummins. It has 50k miles. I use rotella 15-40 and a wix filter on it once a year. My driving is around town a few miles a day and occassional fwy. I know I should change my fluid more often due to severe conditions of the short trip. The waste oil when changing it is like thick black ink. ive read this is normal in the cummins motor and that you'll never get clean oil on your dipstick after a change. Is there something I can add to condition the oil? Cant afford a uoa right now.
5.9 cummins
- Thread starter monster1
- Start date
- Status
The 5.9 turns oil black in no time, completely normal. There's no reason to add ANYTHING to the oil, might do more harm than good. Almost anything you would think of adding is snake oil with a big price tag. Rotella meets the spec for 5.9's right out of the bottle. The only question is do you get the truck up to operating temps on those short runs? I change my rotella syn 5w40 once a year at the 7500 mile severe schedule because I'm still under warranty, but even that is more often than necessary.
In that case I would take it for a good long drive once a week to keep condensation out of the crankcase and be done with it. Adding stuff to the oil blindly could interfere with the additive package that works as it should to begin with. If you're changing the oil once a year, I don't even see a need to do a UOA unless you want to extend your OCI or are just curious about the health of your engine. I have an '07 5.9-one of the last ones made and rotella works just fine in our hot summers and bone chilling winters out here. I used to be a Redline junkie but rotella turns in pretty much the same results in the cummins at half the price.
dnewton3
Staff member
There is zero reason to add things to HDEO for the type use you describe.
Not sure where in CA you are, but I doubt temp extremes are significant enough to warrant anything other than what you're doing right now.
Annual 6k mile OCIs (your long term average mileage) will be served just fine by good ol' conventional HDEO with no aftermarket additives.
Since you mentioned you cannot afford a UOA, then I would suggest this:
buy whatever HDEO you can find on sale with rebate. There is no reason to be brand loyal given that you have no intent to UOA, and you have low annual OCI use. If you cannot find one on sale, then walk right into W/M and get some 15w-40 SuperTech; excellent oil for your use at a very fair price. You can rest assured that your engine will be well protected by any CJ-4 lube you use.
Not sure where in CA you are, but I doubt temp extremes are significant enough to warrant anything other than what you're doing right now.
Annual 6k mile OCIs (your long term average mileage) will be served just fine by good ol' conventional HDEO with no aftermarket additives.
Since you mentioned you cannot afford a UOA, then I would suggest this:
buy whatever HDEO you can find on sale with rebate. There is no reason to be brand loyal given that you have no intent to UOA, and you have low annual OCI use. If you cannot find one on sale, then walk right into W/M and get some 15w-40 SuperTech; excellent oil for your use at a very fair price. You can rest assured that your engine will be well protected by any CJ-4 lube you use.
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: monster1
The waste oil when changing it is like thick black ink. ive read this is normal in the cummins motor and that you'll never get clean oil on your dipstick after a change.
Diesels should have jet-black oil almost immediately after an oil change... if the oil doesn't turn black then you have a problem.
No need to 'condition' the oil, just use whatever CJ-4 you can get on sale or easily otherwise.
The waste oil when changing it is like thick black ink. ive read this is normal in the cummins motor and that you'll never get clean oil on your dipstick after a change.
Diesels should have jet-black oil almost immediately after an oil change... if the oil doesn't turn black then you have a problem.
No need to 'condition' the oil, just use whatever CJ-4 you can get on sale or easily otherwise.
The oil turning black immediately depends on which model year Cummins you have. My 2003 Ram diesel stays amber for a long time after a change. This is because the 2003 and early 2004 diesel Rams (non-California 250HP or 305HP) did not have any emissions equipment on them , so the oil stays golden in color much longer.
Halfway through the 2004 model year (2004.5) the 325HP engine was released which was emissions legal in all 50 states. On these engines the oil turns black almost immediately because of the emissions changes and a 3rd injector event. I'm guessing that monster1 has the 325HP engine in his truck.
As for oil changes, IMHO once per year is fine for his situation. My truck only has 65k on it and I use the Mobil-1 synthetic oil and only change it every few years.
Halfway through the 2004 model year (2004.5) the 325HP engine was released which was emissions legal in all 50 states. On these engines the oil turns black almost immediately because of the emissions changes and a 3rd injector event. I'm guessing that monster1 has the 325HP engine in his truck.
As for oil changes, IMHO once per year is fine for his situation. My truck only has 65k on it and I use the Mobil-1 synthetic oil and only change it every few years.
all diesels turn the oil black.I'm not sure about why blastchambers does not as my 1987 with a 6.9 does not have "smog" stuff and its black after 5 minutes
Originally Posted By: Chris142
all diesels turn the oil black.I'm not sure about why blastchambers does not as my 1987 with a 6.9 does not have "smog" stuff and its black after 5 minutes
Does your engine have EGR on it? If it does that's probably why it turns black.
all diesels turn the oil black.I'm not sure about why blastchambers does not as my 1987 with a 6.9 does not have "smog" stuff and its black after 5 minutes
Does your engine have EGR on it? If it does that's probably why it turns black.
I was thinking that I was neglecting my engine but I guess i'm not. Yes, I usually go on a longer drive on my weekends. Btw, just filling the crankcase with fresh oil and checking the dipstick showed black oil without even turning over the engine.
I have an 05' 5.9 CTD and should hit 100,000 miles next week. I've done all my own maintenance and oil changes and have had probably a dozen UOA's done from Blackstone. I've used many different oils. Only Fleetguard Stratapore filters. Chevron Delo, Valv Prem blue, JohnDeere +50, Rotella 15w40, Shaeffers, and probably more that I've forgotten. I've used every oil listed in regular and synthetics running reg in summer and syn in winter. I've had nothing but great UOA's all the time. The 5.9 Cummins is not hard on oil like some other engines. Just get her up to temp to burn off condensation as mentioned and don't worry. My oil is as black as coal as soon as I pull the dipstick after changing the oil. This is a good thing as the oil is suspending the soot particulate as it is designed to do. No worries. I mix oils also. Currently running 2 gals of JD50 and 1 gal Rotella 15w40 because it's what I had left in my garage.
- Status
Similar threads
