Maintenance intervals

Hemipig · Jun 25, 2016

Hey guys, glad to be a new member here.

Just bought a relatives blown up 180k mile 2003 1500 5.7 hemi 4x4 automatic(545rfe I think?), with I believe 4.10 gears. (How could I tell?). Truck was really clean besides the blown motor.

I just had a new 5.7 reman put in, copper champion spark plugs, injectors, alternator, etc.

Also had the tranny fluid replaced, and the 4x4 diff fluid changed.

I always go with a full synthetic every 7.5 to 10k miles, but what are the other maintenance intervals for the spark plugs, tranny fluid, diff fluid, coolant, coil packs, oil pump, water pump? etc?

Thanks you guys

codered · Jun 25, 2016

Hemipig said:
Hey guys, glad to be a new member here.

Just bought a relatives blown up 180k mile 2003 1500 5.7 hemi 4x4 automatic(545rfe I think?), with I believe 4.10 gears. (How could I tell?). Truck was really clean besides the blown motor.

I just had a new 5.7 reman put in, copper champion spark plugs, injectors, alternator, etc.

Also had the tranny fluid replaced, and the 4x4 diff fluid changed.

I always go with a full synthetic every 7.5 to 10k miles, but what are the other maintenance intervals for the spark plugs, tranny fluid, diff fluid, coolant, coil packs, oil pump, water pump? etc?

Thanks you guys

545rfe is a yep and 4.10 gears wow! well i guess you can check your build sheet if stock. go online and email dodge for a build sheet or go to the local dealer and ask for one. or take the diff plate off and if you look you can probably find the axle ratio just depends. is the oil within spec? if not the truck will go into "limp" mode most penzoil synthetics are within 5.7 hemi specs and you'll be good to go. i like to do spark plugs from 6 to 8 months. trans fluid 10k, diff 10k, coolant 25k, ignition depends on what brand taylor is good or MSD. parts master is like 1.5 years. i need to catch up on my stuff. Awesome that you are going with copper champions! OE plugs for my 94 318 are RC12YC copper plugs.

Hemipig · Jun 25, 2016

codered said:
545rfe is a yep and 4.10 gears wow! well i guess you can check your build sheet if stock. go online and email dodge for a build sheet or go to the local dealer and ask for one. or take the diff plate off and if you look you can probably find the axle ratio just depends. is the oil within spec? if not the truck will go into "limp" mode most penzoil synthetics are within 5.7 hemi specs and you'll be good to go. i like to do spark plugs from 6 to 8 months. trans fluid 10k, diff 10k, coolant 25k, ignition depends on what brand taylor is good or MSD. parts master is like 1.5 years. i need to catch up on my stuff. Awesome that you are going with copper champions! OE plugs for my 94 318 are RC12YC copper plugs.

Thanks for the reply bud. Yea i have the original window sticker, im pretty sure it was 4.10 gears. Are they good for towing or something?

The truck won't be driven every day, so what do you think the mileage number would be on the spark plugs. And when you say ignition, do you mean the coil packs?

Wow I didn't think the diff/tranny fluid would be needing to be changed so quickly, 10k is nada!

I put cheapo dino oil in the motor for the first 500 miles as per request of the people I got the reman from and the shop, then put in 7 quarts of royal purp with a mobil 1 filter on a free Sunday

codered · Jun 25, 2016

Hemipig said:
Thanks for the reply bud. Yea i have the original window sticker, im pretty sure it was 4.10 gears. Are they good for towing or something?

The truck won't be driven every day, so what do you think the mileage number would be on the spark plugs. And when you say ignition, do you mean the coil packs?

Wow I didn't think the diff/tranny fluid would be needing to be changed so quickly, 10k is nada!

I put cheapo dino oil in the motor for the first 500 miles as per request of the people I got the reman from and the shop, then put in 7 quarts of royal purp with a mobil 1 filter on a free Sunday

well lower gear ratios are better for acceleration. 3.55 is a good medium. i say 10k because it gets hot here. 60-80k miles. but i don't drive far, yes coil packs etc. ah ok man

justin13703 · Jun 26, 2016

Spark plugs are every 30k miles. Transmission fluid realistically is more around 60k miles unless you tow at the max limit every day.

If your truck came with factory 4.10 axle ratios that will be impressive. I thought the lowest you could get was the 3.92s but I could be wrong. Also I don't quite agree about 3.55s being a good ratio in our trucks. That is geared too high and will negatively affect towing capacity and performance. IMO the 3.92s are perfect. If you have 4.10s then you'll be even better off as far as towing and acceleration but will run at higher rpms at highway speeds.

Also there is a link on here somewhere that you can enter in your vin and it pulls up your build sheet instantly. Can't search for it though cause I'm on my phone. The build sheet will tell you the axle ratios your truck came from the factory with.

ST-8 · Jun 26, 2016

Pretty sure 4.10s wasn't an option on 3G 1500s, 3.55s an 3.92s. I don't think we had a 3.21 option

Hemipig · Jun 26, 2016

Not sure I will have to locate the window sticker. If they were 3.92s vs 4.10s, what would the change intervals for the 4x4 diffs be? I don't believe I had full synthetics put in the diffs but I will for sure next change

bulrid8 · Jun 26, 2016

I have 4.10's in my 02 1500. I have a 5.9L, so that may have been the towing package for them. Maybe since his is an 03, that he got a left over axle in his.

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

Core-Lokt · Jun 26, 2016

If you can't find a way to determine differential gearing, a quick but rough estimate can be done by making a chalk mark line from the yoke to the housing and one on the brake disc.

With the vehicle in neutral and the rear on jack stands, rotate the yoke until you re-index your mark and note how many times the index mark on the brake disc turns. It's close enough that you can tell if you made four turns of the yoke to re-index the mark, it's ~3.9-4.1 reduction. Do it enough, and you could tell the difference.

EDIT: I agree with Justin-3.55 gearing sucks for anything besides commuting. 3.73 is a good medium. These trucks all have, what, ~.70 OD? With 3.55 differentials, that's a final drive of 2.485. 4.10x0.70=2.87 final drive. Of course, larger tires exacerbate this.

justin13703 · Jun 26, 2016

Dodge - Recall

On the left, under "Your Vehicle" there is a link that says "Equipment Listing". Click this, type in your vin and it will give you an instant build sheet of your truck, including axle ratios.

usaf2006 · Jun 26, 2016

Core-Lokt said:
Of course, larger tires exacerbate this.

I was good up until here... then ya lost me and my little vocabulary lol

Core-Lokt · Jun 26, 2016

usaf2006 said:
I was good up until here... then ya lost me and my little vocabulary lol

Tell the truth; you were lost at the math. :joke:

usaf2006 · Jun 26, 2016

Core-Lokt said:
Tell the truth; you were lost at the math.

There was math?

Hemipig · Jun 29, 2016

Still not clear on the intervals for the diff with the varying responses. I did find out that they are 3.92 gears.

usaf2006 · Jun 29, 2016

If you tow a lot, change every 15 to 25k miles, depending on preference. If you don't tow, I'd say 25k to 40k miles depending on how you drive. Just my personal opinion

Hemipig · Jul 17, 2016

Any more input based on fact?

justin13703 · Jul 17, 2016

Hemipig said:
Any more input based on fact?

Unless you are using truck as a tow vehicle, pretty much every day, I would change your diff fluid at the same time as the transmission fluid. Around every 60k miles. Some say to do it earlier, but if your truck is only towing light loads or very rarely, 60k will be fine. But either way I would do both diffs at the same time as the trans.

Maintenance intervals

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