Oil Change frequency

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Kejar7

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Curious as heck. I have a 2015 Reg cab short box. I changed the oil at 33000 km now I am at 43000 km a year later. My oil change gauge shows 50% life left.
Do I change by the oil life gauge or kilometres driven.
Last change was with synthetic.
Just wanting to see what the consensus is.
Not worried about warrant as it is long gone.
 

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Tom Davis

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My 2 cents worth is...If it has been a year I would change it. Mine sits a lot, as I travel for work between 6 and 7 months a year, and it still gets changed every 6 months, and I run synthetic all the time. Not saying synthetic isn't good beyond a year, but this is just me.
 

RamDiver

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I choose to ignore the oil life meter and FCA and change it more frequently with full synthetic.

My truck mileage is now at about 21,000 KM, I aim for about every 6-8K, and at least twice per year.

They're (FCA) in the business of selling trucks and I'm in the business of doing what I can to keep my truck alive as long as possible. :cool:

This note is from a pdf manual for the '21 Ram 1500 Classic.

Under no circumstances should oil change intervals exceed 10,000 miles (16,000 km), 12 months or 350 hours of engine run time, whichever comes first. The 350 hours of engine run or idle time is generally only a concern for fleet customers.

My logic would be to half the recommended OCI. Oil changes are much cheaper than an engine rebuild or replacement. :cool:

.
 

Wild one

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Curious as heck. I have a 2015 Reg cab short box. I changed the oil at 33000 km now I am at 43000 km a year later. My oil change gauge shows 50% life left.
Do I change by the oil life gauge or kilometres driven.
Last change was with synthetic.
Just wanting to see what the consensus is.
Not worried about warrant as it is long gone.
More importantly,who listens to AM anymore :Big Laugh: Way back in the 70's/early 80's 630 CHED used to be a good AM station though:waytogo:
 

HEMIMANN

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I think the manual says xxxx miles OR 1 year, whichever is sooner. I'm not going to look it up at the moment, but this is typical for engines because - once oil is poured into the engine it can absorb atmospheric moisture. Without running the engine, the moisture doesn't get evaporated out. True even with synthetics.

Yes, I know water boiling temp is 212F / 100C @ sea level, but that is what is called the liquidus equilibrium temperature where liquid and vapor phase coexists equally. It's not an instantaneous change of state above or below this temp either - some water evaporates below this temp, some remains liquid above this temp.
 

huntergreen

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I think the manual says xxxx miles OR 1 year, whichever is sooner. I'm not going to look it up at the moment, but this is typical for engines because - once oil is poured into the engine it can absorb atmospheric moisture. Without running the engine, the moisture doesn't get evaporated out. True even with synthetics.

Yes, I know water boiling temp is 212F / 100C @ sea level, but that is what is called the liquidus equilibrium temperature where liquid and vapor phase coexists equally. It's not an instantaneous change of state above or below this temp either - some water evaporates below this temp, some remains liquid above this temp.
Agree with Hemimann. Moisture in the oil is an issue regardless of syn or conventional oil. I would absolutely change at least every year. I would also make sure I got out on the hwy and get the engine up up to operating temp every couple weeks.
 
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Jeepwalker

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I run synthetic oil in my snow plow jeep. 4.0, I-6. It's pretty much a winter vehicle/beater, doesn't see many miles. I go years between oil changes. Which is why I run Citgo synthetic. Changed it last winter... The sticker indicated last time i changed it was 5 years ago. The oil looked good and clean too. Not very dark. I think the time before that was around 4-5 year interval.

I'm not recommending that long of an interval ...just that the world isn't going to fall apart if ya go longer.
 

Socalramfan

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For me, I’ve never exceeded 5,000k without an oil & filter change, and I run Synthetic.

Excessive? Probably, but do yourself a favor …. and at
least change the filter ever 5,000k even if you want to leave the oil in longer. :waytogo:
 
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Bandit517

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I tend to go 8k-10k between changes although I do what I can to not exceed 10k. I find it to be somewhat wasteful to change it early all the time. Sure it "doesn't hurt" but depending on your environment, driving characteristics and such you can adjust your interval. I've read a ton of reports from oil analysis and find my way works for me. Other may have different results.
 

Jeepwalker

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Excessive? Probably, but do yourself a favor …. and at
least change the filter ever 5,000k even if you want to leave the oil in longer.

LOL ...I've gone as high as 14k miles between changes on my Jetta TDI (same filter). Come to think of it, the filters are taller than yer typical spin-on filters. And, you know, diesel oil is black as tar. Rotella T6 Synth. Good diesel oil!
 

anchorsaweigh

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My oil change interval? NEVER longer than 3.5k.
 

Overlander

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'A quart of high quality oil and a main bearing cost about the same. One is just easier to change than the other.'

Don't over complicate things. Do it on the 5's, every 5k. If you live in a socialist country you may need to do maths to covert. ;-)
 

Big3MG

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Be careful about what the manual states as far as oil changes. It may use a phrase like “do not exceed 10k miles” or whatever. Never exceed 5k miles as your engine will be toast after 80k miles if the oil isn’t changed but 10k miles. I do not pay attention to the oil life gauge. Mines always at about 40-50% life when I change it at 5k miles with Mobil1 advanced synthetic. I get oil from Costco or BJs when it’s on sale $10 off a 6 pack ($29).
 

Goose55

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Some folk swear by the owners guide which states 15,000 miles. That would be OK in a perfect world where every mile is highway miles, but not in reality. Around town I use the gear limit toggle to keep the rpms up at, or above 1,200, and I still change ever 5,000 miles.
 

boblonben

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Curious as heck. I have a 2015 Reg cab short box. I changed the oil at 33000 km now I am at 43000 km a year later. My oil change gauge shows 50% life left.
Do I change by the oil life gauge or kilometres driven.
Last change was with synthetic.
Just wanting to see what the consensus is.
Not worried about warrant as it is long gone.
I do 5000 miles or 6 months, period.
 

BuschLatte420

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More importantly,who listens to AM anymore :Big Laugh: Way back in the 70's/early 80's 630 CHED used to be a good AM station though:waytogo:
I do, Sunday mornings on my way to work. A lot of stations have lame talk shows on, AM 1300 wyrk has classic country in the am and then polkas polkas polkas in the afternoon! They have a FM station but the range is not far so half way to work it gets fuzzy LOL
 

Hydrasport

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If you get the carb and choke pull off set right, 5000 ml oil changes will be a thing of the past. lol. Modern fuel injected motors no longer have massive amounts of raw fuel dumped into the cylinders every cold start so no need to change the oil like it's a 40 year old powertrain. Look at the large fleets with regular oil monitoring and you may learn that the oil life monitor can be a reasonable tool to help save money without destroying the motor. Oil related failures are rare in modern motors. Use the correct quality oil and filter and let the oil life monitor help you decide when to replace the oil. That said, I change oil at least once a year or about 80% of oil life according to the OLM.
 
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