Oil change interval

[jman]

OK, what actually is the oil change interval we are supposed to be using. I read the maintance book and I can't seem to see a straight answer anywhere in this thing. I will be using Mobil Delvac 1300 15w-40 for the first 20K or so and then will switch over to Premium Blue Extreme after that. I use Stratapore filters and drive about 20 miles to work everyday with about 5 being in a little traffic. It sits in the garage nearly every night and will be plugged in in the winter. I figure I will go with 5K intervals and split the difference for now and see what the rest of the group is settling in on.



TIA

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

jman if you look at your maintenance book at the standard service (light duty) it will show oil changes every 7500 miles, but then it will have an asterisk that refers to a comment like "California engines only. " So basically the 7500 mile interval is California, Mass & whatever state has EGR, and 15,000 miles for everyone else.



I am going to use synthetic starting at 20,000 miles and change it every 15,000 miles. I plan to do oil samples too and make sure everything is in good shape going 15K per change.



Vaughn

 

[jwilliams3]

If you keep the truck stock, follow your owners manual.

If you modify the power of the truck go with at the maximum 5k interval.



--Justin

 

[EB]

Really don't want to stir things up, but the last I changed oil was at 18,000 miles. I now have over 63,000 miles on my truck. I changed every 6,000 miles until I got broke in good, then switched over to Amsoil using a bi-pass filter. I analyze my oil every 15,000 miles and so far they are telling me the oil is good for continued use. Have just changed the primary filter and will probably change the bi-pass filter next time. There is no wrong way to do it other than doing nothing. This is how I do it and I put over 10,000 miles a month on my truck. Truck was bought on Feb 14, and has 63,285 miles on it now.

 

[DPKetchum]

I may really be overlooking something but wife and I looked through maintance book and found nothing that said 15k oil change intervals?

 

[Bertram65]

EB,

If I am reading this right, and I may not be, you have gone 45K on your oil so far? Not trying to stir the pot but what if you have a major engine problem and Dodge questions the change intervals? I don't doubt the oil is fine I just wonder what the dealer would say.

 

[jman]

I get it now!!!



I didn't see anything about 15K intervals either, but it is true if you follow the asterisks. In Schedule A at 7500 miles it states change oil and filter followed by a "cross" symbol, which refers to CA LEV engines only(235 hp). At 15K in the same schedule it states change oil and filter followed by a "cross" and a "diamond". The diamond refers to Tier 1 EPA engines only (250 and 305 hp).



In other words if you are going to follow Schedule A and don't have a CA LEV engine change every 15K.



I was making this way harder than it really was.



I think I will have to stick with Schedule B anyway with my type of driving and because 15K is just to long to go with out getting some diesel oil on your skin. Oo.

 

[EB]

You are reading it right. If there is no metal or other contaminants in the oil, there souldn't be any problems. Go to the Amsoil website and there are trucks that have gone several hundred thousand miles on the same oil, torn down and show no excessive wear. You must use a bypass filter and do oil analysis or it wouldn't be safe to do. I believe this system works, my last truck went over 400,000 miles. Like I said before, the only wrong way to go with oil is to do nothing. If you prefer to change oil every 4000 miles, more power to you. I prefer this way, it also makes that "high priced synthetic" pretty cheap.

 

[dieselpilot1969]

I'll change mine at every 6000 miles

 

[Pit Bull]

Originally posted by EB

You are reading it right. If there is no metal or other contaminants in the oil, there souldn't be any problems. Go to the Amsoil website and there are trucks that have gone several hundred thousand miles on the same oil, torn down and show no excessive wear. You must use a bypass filter and do oil analysis or it wouldn't be safe to do. I believe this system works, my last truck went over 400,000 miles. Like I said before, the only wrong way to go with oil is to do nothing. If you prefer to change oil every 4000 miles, more power to you. I prefer this way, it also makes that "high priced synthetic" pretty cheap.

EB with your 10K miles of driving a month this makes a lot of sense for your application. Otherwise you would be changing your oil and filter every few weeks

 

[DPKetchum]

Once mine breaks in I want to go back to Amsoil 15w40 and service once a year or every 12k. If 15k is the service interval then D. C. doesn't have any argument with that mileage between intervals. :-{}