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Is my oil supposed to be this color?

8K views 29 replies 20 participants last post by  rydplrs 
#1 ·
Last week I picked up my 2018 1025R from a dealer with 204 hours. They told me they performed the 200 hour service including an oil change. I can see that zerk fittings had been greased and the engine oil filter had the date marked on it in paint pen. When I went to check the engine oil level, the color seemed very unusual to me, much darker than I am used to.

Questions:
  • Is this normal?
  • Is this the color of the oil that is used in these engines?
  • Does a diesel engine change the oil color quickly?
  • Was the oil not changed by the dealer?
  • Do I have a problem with my tractor?

Thanks in advance for any input.

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#4 ·
The oil in diesel engines will definitely turn very black as hours accumulate. It is hard to say for sure from a picture, but that looks awfully dark to me for only four hours... Diesel engine oil that has been run for many hours has a very distinctive smell. It is very hard to describe, but it is very different from that of fresh engine oil.
 
#8 ·
Yup, diesel oil gets dark quick. How clean is the exterior of the filter? Did they just paint marker a date and hours on the filter and wipe off the crud? (Highly unlikely for a reputable business), but if there's areas on the filter that appear to have a heavy (I know my filters after some time are covered in dust/crud/sasquach hair) buildup, then maybe?!?, but realistically I wouldn't stress about it.

Edit: Also take a look at the hydraulic oil filter (under the center of the tractor on the "front" of the hydrostatic transmission) Is this area clean? 4 hours and it should be fairly clean if the 200 hour service was performed. Finally a quick way to check is looking at the suction hose clamps, they will usually show type of marking from the act of loosening them. Suction hose too will show some evidence of manipulation from cleaning the suction screen during the 200 hour service.
 
#22 ·
The filter looks brand new, I think I overreacted. Thanks for talking me down!
To me it was changed without a doubt. Probably a quick change as mentioned above. Our old yanmar in the 332 would be almost black again 3-4 hours after a change. Ran like a champ!
Now I am confident, thanks for the good words.
 
#12 ·
Last week I picked up my 2018 1025R from a dealer with 204 hours. They told me they performed the 200 hour service including an oil change. I can see that zerk fittings had been greased and the engine oil filter had the date marked on it in paint pen. When I went to check the engine oil level, the color seemed very unusual to me, much darker than I am used to.

Questions:
  • Is this normal?
  • Is this the color of the oil that is used in these engines?
  • Does a diesel engine change the oil color quickly?
  • Was the oil not changed by the dealer?
  • Do I have a problem with my tractor?

Thanks in advance for any input.

View attachment 790567
Take a sample and have it analyzed then you will know for sure. Simple to do
 
#16 ·
but I've read that the factory fill is special "break in" oil.
Oh Lord, please don't start this discussion again.. I thought this was put to bed when TTWT went to the John Deere factory and was told that the engines are already broke in and to run them like you stole it.
 
#15 ·
It looks good to me mine gets dark after 2-3 hours of use the only diesel I've ever had that didn't get dark almost immediately is my 99 f250 with the 7.3 powerstroke it's the only exception I've had in a diesel 👍🏻🙂
 
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#17 ·
I will add my 2 cents and say the that is normal color for 4 hour post oil change. The reason I say this is because a dealer is not going to let the oil drain 100%. Dealers are on a time schedule and will pull the plug, let the majority drain, reinstall plug and add oil. So there will still be a little old oil that will mix with the new oil and turn it darker a little faster.

When I change the oil I pull the drain plug and let it drain while I work on other projects. Sometimes it will drain overnight. Plenty of time for the oil to drain back out to the pan. Oil stays clean and hard to see on the stick for quite sometime. Nothing wrong with either - just my observational 2 cents.
 
#18 ·
The diesel oil on our 1983 240D Benz would always be black, like tar, even after an oil change. By contrast, the oil in the Isuzu generator driver took eons before it hardly got dark. Right now, after being changed about 5 years ago at 50 hours and with 100 hours or so on the oil, it's amber. The JD tractors have been in between these extremes. The VW TDI's oil would clear up after each 10k mile change and then get about as dark as the JD's.
 
#19 ·
completely different animals. If concerned just have it analyzed...is that so difficult?
 
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#20 ·
If you're not convinced that the dealer did the oil change or did it properly, do it yourself. It's not hard, and you will be sure that everything was drained properly and the proper weight oil is in there. If you suspect that someone just cleaned the filter and marked it with the date, change them too. This is a reasonably cheap way to get familiar with your new tractor and give you peace of mind. Every used vehicle or engine that I've ever bought has had an oil change done almost as soon as it possible no matter what the former owner said about when it was last done. Having said my peace, congratulations on your new tractor and I hope that it will give you many years of good service.
 
#23 ·
Hello! My 1025R should arrive by the end of this month. I don't know about diesel tractors, but I had a VW Jetta turbo diesel for 20 years. I did my own oil and filter changes. I can tell you in my case even after running the car for only half an hour, this was enough to turn the oil black. PS, I sold that car when odometer was showing 700,000 km (about 435,000 miles).
 
#25 ·
Nothing wrong with your oil. I change my own and after I start it to check for leaks when done I let it run for a minute or two and then shut it down. I then check the oil dip stick and it's already black. It's normal. Done this since the first time changing it. Have over 1400 hours on it now. Still running strong.
 
#26 ·
The soot in a diesel engine doesn't all go out the exhaust. Dark oil is typical.
 
#30 ·
My 755 had tons of hours, but I believe oil was changed. I changed it when I got it and it looked black in 5 minutes. After 4-5 hours I changed it again fixing an oil pan leak. It’s still pretty clean 8-10 hours later.

My duramax was a fire chiefs truck with meticulous records. Due to injectors, and a couple other things causing short changes it finally had clean looking oil until into an oil change cycle.

If I was the op I would just change it again, it’s perfectly normal for a diesel, but it’s nice to know your starting clean. I run 0w40 JD synthetic in my tractors. The truck got amsoil or mobile 1. Weight varied by season, 5w40 would burn in the summer, but start easier in winter. The difference in consumption was 1 quart/5000 miles vs 1 quart/2000 miles. I’ve yet to have a tractor consume any significant oil, the 755 went through maybe 1/2 quart before I fixed the leak.
 
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