I just put rotella t in my bike after I replaced the oil filter and drained the oil. I took it out for a 10 mile ride and came back to check the oil level. In the window the oil looked almost grayish and milky. What could this be from? Any help is greatly appreciated!

Kevin

Kevin,

You have just discovered one of the miracles of Rotella oils, which is the very strong detergent and particle suspension packages that good diesel oils require.   Rotella is intended to actively remove, trap and suspend trash in your engine and IT HAS STARTED DOING IT IN YOUR ENGINE right now.

Within the first 10 miles it has found, stripped and suspended some of the crap your previous oils had left coating the inside flat surfaces of your engine.   Give it a few thousand miles and it will finish the job.

You will find threads here on the list where we tell folks that Rotella can strip old sludge and varnish deposits from the inside your engine and the first oil change seems to come quickly (but really isn't necessary as Rotella will hold the shite in suspension for like 50,000 miles if you could tolerate leaving your oil in there that long).

An example I gave was my late XV535 which had been oil abused by a female previous owner -- it had sludge so thick that the rocker arm motion went through a channel of congealed crap in when you took off the rocker covers.  My first oil change came real fast on that one when I first put the Rotella in it to clean it up.  Within the first year, all the sludge was gone and the parts were clean and shiny when you took the covers off to adjust the valves.   Rotella stripped and suspended all of it and all that crap poured out into the drain pan with the dirty oil.

Magical stuff, that Rotella.

And yes, you are normal -- nobody can tolerate holding off on that first oil change for the full recommended mileage.   They (like I did) go ahead and change it after a 1,000 miles or so jest to get the gawdawful ugly out of there.

The next oil change will likely still get ugly relatively fast, but at the third and later all the crap should be gone and the oil will stay cleaner a lot longer.

Thank you Oldfeller! I drained the oil a couple weeks ago and ran it through but noticed it was really milky this morning so I though that there may have been some gas left in the oil filter cover area from having a bad petcock previously. But after doing the full change and riding today I just wanted to be doubly sure! I love this bike so far and I want it to last.

bill67 wrote on 05/14/11 at 07:08:01:


Take a flashlight to the peephole. If your milky look reflects the light and looks like very fine glitter bill may be on to something. To be sure, stick a long straw down the filler hole and cap the straw with your thumb to pull out some oil. Put it in a shallow bowl/lid/whatever and run a clean magnet through it. Anything sticking to the magnet?

Gonna take one heckuva straw to get to the oil, theres a baffle below the filler hole,

Ya dont Hafta drain it all to let some drip out the oil plug,, just keep a finger on the end of it & keep it poked in the hole,, try the fill hole idea, but dont be shocked if it just wont work.

If you want to get some oil out, simply remove the timing port cover at your left ankle.  You can even do this running and oil will blow out.  Use a blue paper shop towel and if it's metal, you'll be able to see it.

I don't think that oil will show you the true oil state,I use Klotz and its red the oil that come out of the oil hose isn't red at all.