Engine oil turning black.

Not sure about the Landy specifically....but in general, diesel engines tend to turn their new oil black very quickly as a result of the soot content thatis ever-present.

Amen to Roachie's comment - and in the case of my Isuzu 3.0 in the Jack, quite a bit of old oil does not drain out when changing - trapped inside - that doesn't help. Re the Landie staying quite clean ......... clean-how could this be ?

Tafe gave me a younger laptopforpersonaluse- thespacebaronly works intermittently .HELP !

Some later Landies have a centrifugal oil filter and I reckon this is a worthwhile innovation for others to follow.

Could keep some particulates out of the oil.

Hi Axle

The Landrovers, like 3L Patrol, TD Cruiser, Jackaroo, Rodeo and others are direct injection. That is the fuel is squirted directly on top of the piston. Others (eg Patrol 4.2, Cruiser naturally aspirated, and most earlier stuff) iare Pre-combustion.

What happens here is that the fuel is squirted into a pre-chamber...a sphere inside the cylinder head. Combustion starts here and then migrates into the main combustion chamber, where it is completed. It is not as efficient or as clean as direct injection, but creates less noise at idle.

Direct injection is probably a good 20% more fuel efficient than pre-combustion, and better power too. Pre-combustion also necessitates higher compression ratios, so a combination of producing more soot from combustion, and also higher compression means more soot gets into the oil in PC engines than DI's. Me...I'm sold on DI's...oil service intervals are much better, since the soot doesn't knock out the oil's detergency so early. The simpler the better.

hi axle
Yes i agree with BRD
but there is help for the other type of engine Known as the jap engine
if the black soot is happining quickly ie 1000 ks try the klen out oil as advitised in 4WD monthly
u see these jap engine should if you are using the engine in stop start journeys to change the oil every 2500 klms
this will clean out the soot but run the engine first do not change the oil when its cold it has to be warm to hot
Snailbait

The soots not a problem as long as you change oil regularly. And as mentioned before, the indirect, mechanically injected diesels go black quicker than the Direct Injection diesels.

Its not something that should bother you. If the oil goes black quickly, its a good sign - means the oil is doing its job. Thats part of the joy of having a diesel :-))

Cheers
Phil