Oil Change Interval

2012RAM1500RT said:

That had to hurt!

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Yep, but dropping collision and comprehensive was saving me $1,200 a year on a car worth less than $4,000 at the time. I had a household with a 16 and a 18 year old and a wife with a lead foot. They all had tickets or a crash (or 2, or 3!). Plus we lived in high cost Springfield VA at the time. It worked out, at the time of the crash I had enough cash for a shiny new vehicle.

I shed a tear though, the kids named it "White Elephant" because it was white and so much bigger than the 94 Jeep Cherokee it replaced. That 05 Durango Limited was sweet: Sunroof, heated leather powered adjustable driver and passenger side seats, rear seat DVD and radio w/wireless headphones, reclining 2nd row seats, Uconnect in dash radio with navigation and subwoofer under the seat, a lifetime satellite radio subscription, a smooth 5.7L engine and 4WD. Decent 20 MPG when I kept it under 70, and capable of towing 8000 and carrying 1600 lbs. A mighty nice long distance family truckster. Personally, I've always thought that that generation of Durango was the best all around Durango they made. It had one fault: at about 40k we realized the windshield drained water onto the top of the engine, which in our case shorted out the wiring for at least two cylinders. Fortunately my mechanic realized what was going on before any permanent damage was made and cut out a plastic cowling which kept the water away.

I don't go by any strict mileage or "oil change" light. I check the dipstick frequenty and when the oil starts to look significantly dirty I have it changed by a trusted shop. Generally this is in the 5000 - 6000 mile range. Truck has had Mobil 1 full synthetic 5w-20 in it since it hit 3000 miles and that is all I will use for as long as I own it.

15k changes with Rotella T6 Full synthetic in my '13 6.7. Any tires/oil questions will surely be answered in depth!

BLUKTY2 said:

I purchased a lifetime oil change when I ordered my truck. This was long before I ever head of the "Hemi tick" and cam/lifter issues. I can get up to 5 oil changes per year iirc, but I generally have it changed two or three times per year, which equates to around every 4,000 miles. I now add 15 ounces of Lubeguard with every oil change, just because I think it works and it is real cheap insurance.

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You let the dealer do all of your oil changes? You are a brave man. Read so many horror stories on this forum regarding dealers and oil changes. Overfilled, underfilled, no fill, drain plug on so tight you need a breaker bar to get it off, etc. I wouldn’t let the dealer change my wiper blades no less my oil.

But the Lubeguard is a GREAT choice. I use it at every oil change in both my Ram and my wife’s Jeep. Hopefully while you are under the hood adding it you are at least pulling the dipstick and checking the level the clowns at the stealership are filling your crankcase to.

Every 6k according to the windshield sticker the dealer put on...
Equals about twice a year for me.
Beats the crap out of the old "3,000 miles or 3 months" we used to abide by!

I like to change early at around 5000 miles but I am getting ready to take off to do a 2500-3000 mile road trip in a couple of hours and I am at 50% on the computer. I have 4000 miles on the current change so this time I will wait figure it is going to be all road miles so what the hell.

Hookedup87 said:

You let the dealer do all of your oil changes? You are a brave man. Read so many horror stories on this forum regarding dealers and oil changes. Overfilled, underfilled, no fill, drain plug on so tight you need a breaker bar to get it off, etc. I wouldn’t let the dealer change my wiper blades no less my oil.

But the Lubeguard is a GREAT choice. I use it at every oil change in both my Ram and my wife’s Jeep. Hopefully while you are under the hood adding it you are at least pulling the dipstick and checking the level the clowns at the stealership are filling your crankcase to.

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I guess that I am lucky to have the quality of help that I get at my dealer. Yes, I check their work every time and have never had an issue. Always very friendly, helpful and get the job done right the first time.

I noticed that the manual for my 2019 RAM 1500 Classic with the 5.7L HEMI states oil change intervals of 10000 or 1 year but to me that seems a bit excessive. Personally, I use Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 5w20 and change every 6000-7000 miles. I feel like that's a reasonable interval when using quality oil

I just bought my first ram 2 weeks ago, a 2014 hemi with 136k miles. Dealer had just done an oil change, but I have no idea what they put in it. This website will make you paranoid af that your engine is gonna assplode any moment. I don't have the tick, but since reading the threads on here, I'm expecting it every time I start it up. I have a 12 quart case of red line and an amsoil filter in the Amazon cart. I'm not convinced I'm gonna go with the most expensive synthetic I can find, but I would really like to get as close to 300k miles out of this truck as I can. After reading this thread, I still don't know what I'm gonna do. My wallet agrees with Burla's logic of not paying $70+ for oil that will go 10k miles if I'm gonna change it every 5k. Much confusion.

jelih said:

I just bought my first ram 2 weeks ago, a 2014 hemi with 136k miles. Dealer had just done an oil change, but I have no idea what they put in it. This website will make you paranoid af that your engine is gonna assplode any moment. I don't have the tick, but since reading the threads on here, I'm expecting it every time I start it up. I have a 12 quart case of red line and an amsoil filter in the Amazon cart. I'm not convinced I'm gonna go with the most expensive synthetic I can find, but I would really like to get as close to 300k miles out of this truck as I can. After reading this thread, I still don't know what I'm gonna do. My wallet agrees with Burla's logic of not paying $70+ for oil that will go 10k miles if I'm gonna change it every 5k. Much confusion.

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I'd invest in a used oil analysis from blackstone, see how the wear is going, leave that redline in the cart IF you get hemi tick. Read the when not to run redline thread, there is a risk with an old engine. The redline card should be played less with older engines, but occasionally you may opt to play that card, but not yet.

Pennzoil platinum high mileage oil is a great choice with a lot of moly, can even have some lubegard biotech as another move, but may not be needed. Many moves for you before considering the nuke.

jelih said:

I just bought my first ram 2 weeks ago, a 2014 hemi with 136k miles. Dealer had just done an oil change, but I have no idea what they put in it. This website will make you paranoid af that your engine is gonna assplode any moment. I don't have the tick, but since reading the threads on here, I'm expecting it every time I start it up. I have a 12 quart case of red line and an amsoil filter in the Amazon cart. I'm not convinced I'm gonna go with the most expensive synthetic I can find, but I would really like to get as close to 300k miles out of this truck as I can. After reading this thread, I still don't know what I'm gonna do. My wallet agrees with Burla's logic of not paying $70+ for oil that will go 10k miles if I'm gonna change it every 5k. Much confusion.

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I can just tell you what I'm doing. I bought my used 2013 Ram in 2019. It doesn't have a tick I change the oil approximately every 4,000 MI and I run a good synthetic in it. And over the last 60,000 miles my engine is as quiet as it was when I first got it. So I'm not going to worry about it, I'm just going to run it. Enjoy it. Other make trucks have some of the same issues from time to time.

I just ordered the blackstone kit. Should I even bother sending the sample of whatever is in it now, or wait until I'm going to change it for the 2nd time with whatever I decide to go with?

jelih said:

I just ordered the blackstone kit. Should I even bother sending the sample of whatever is in it now, or wait until I'm going to change it for the 2nd time with whatever I decide to go with?

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I'd not check what is in it now, but do an interval close to what you plan on with new oil, and send that in, and add tbn for ten bucks. This is the only way to gauge the protection at the end of an interval. I might be inclined to choose an oil as well, and stick with it unless something comes up. Most synthetics will due, even the inexpensive ones like halvoline, kirkland, or even supertech. Once you get your results and see moly level, you can later decide if you want a moly additive. take sample a little warm not from filter and fill jar to top, a high level is needed for one of the tests.

I think I'm gonna go with Mobil Super Synthetic and a Fram Ultra filter, along with a 15oz bottle of lube gard for each change.

To be clear, the UOA is checking for the moly level remaining when it's time for a change? Should I wait to add the lube gard until after the first change so I can see how the SS does on its own, or just go with everything at once, since that will be the plan going forward anyway? Maybe I can go 7500 miles instead of just the 5k I'm planning at the moment.

I only have a tick for just 5 or 6 seconds on a cold start. No warm idle tick, and I'd like to keep it that way.

I had a GTI before this and drove it like I stole it everywhere, but the hemi with the 8spd lets me accelerate around town how I like without having to shove my foot through the floor, rarely going above 2500rpm unless I'm getting on the freeway. All that to say, I don't beat on it, but mostly only because I don't have to. I have no idea how it was driven for the first 136k miles, but the carfax report shows the 1st and 3rd owners put an average of about 24k miles a year on it, but it also has higher idle hours for the miles than some others on this forum have stated, which is slight cause for concern. I sit in it idle about 20 minutes a day myself, so I intend to treat it like a new girlfriend and buy it all the expensive **** it wants so it'll stick around for a while since this wasn't a planned purchase. Insurance totaled the GTI when I went through some water that was about 1/2" deeper than I thought it was.

ETA: Also, thanks for the replies and the guidance.

The oil needs the best filtration. Things have changed. Look at Dieselcraft oil centrifuges they remove solids from the oil where a filter only stops the soot from circulating. Filters fill up and are purchased again and again. Centrifuges are cleanable.View attachment 476405

Every 4k.

It’s in the fine print of the owners manual if used in severe duty.

Every 5k miles....no later. A quality oil and filter every 5k is just hedging the odds in your favor. Just my opinion. I tend to do maintenance on the early side of the schedule.

For the uneducated... What criteria is my 2011 5.7 hemi using to determine when my oil needs changing? I normally change or have change the oil and filter every 3000 to 4000 miles. This morning when I started the engine, with 3500 miles on the oil, I had a message on the display indicating it was time to change it. How exactly did the truck determine that? I bought the truck used with 9800 miles on it, it now has 136k with changes every 3 to 4k since I owned it, I am the second owner.

As an aside, this truck replaced a 1999 Ram with the 5.2 engine that I purchased new. I changed that oil every 3 to 4k miles also. At the time I traded that Ram in for the current 2011 model it had 450k miles. Although it helped to keep the neighborhood mosquito in checked it was the best (longest lasting) vehicle I have ever owned.

I wish RAM still used an actual algorithm for the oil life meter. My '18 seems to just be a counter. I have seen no indication since I bought it at ~276 miles (First '18 that wasn't the tradesman) at my dealer, that it does anything other than count to 10k. That being said, right after I bought it, I changed jobs, and never really gave it the work load it was bought for.

Just started changing my own oil, because **** paying $50 for the LABOR on an oil change that I do faster than the shop guys, laying on my back, versus them in a pit.

But that being said, other than my first oil change, when I wasn't expecting a 3 WEEK lead on an OIL CHANGE from the dealer, the truck has never seen over 8.5k on a change. But I still was running full syn.

I have never liked running an oil to the "design" limit. My Civic was on 3k ('09), and my ram seems to be 10k on the meter. The Civic usually was around 3k, because **** that was often. Now trying to get the lady to schedule her changes on her '21 RAV4 BEFORE the meter says change it. Once I get some lifts, I'll probably start doing her's as well, just so I know what is going in it.

I just change every spring and fall on a warm day...no freezing fingers for me!