3k miles… going for first oil change? Other things to check?

[blackbetty14]

Truck finally crossed the 3K mile mark ( currently 3100) and still has the factory fill. Since its the original oil and Ive had the truck over 6 months I'm trying to decide on what to do. Dealer gave me my first oil change on the house as long as its the factory fill… I can upgrade to synthetic but will cost me like $30-50 or so more. I know the factory puts the oil filters on hella tight so I want them to do the first one. That will hopefully be the last time they ever touch her.

1.) Is it oil change time at 3K? Temps are getting warmer… but my dash is saying i have like 60% oil life i think. But since its the original fill I want it out early so I can get all the break in gunk out.

2.) Conventional yellow bottle penn (factory fill stuff) or blend or synthetic? Should I wait like 6K miles before swapping to synthetic?

3.) I haven't done any towing yet, truck see's lots of short trips (hence 3K miles in like 8 months) and a lot of those miles/trips start and end before oil has been up to temp. I DO NOT want the "HEMI TICK" and since I put on such little miles I feel like changing the oil more frequently is better then putting in high mileage synthetic stuff and leaving it in through many different seasons and long periods of time. I mean a $40 yellow bottle penn oil change every 6-8 months is not going to kill me lol. I would prob run the yellow penn stuff and a quality filter for 5K miles honestly and get a full year maybe. What do you think is the best option?

4.) At what intervals do you guys rotate tires? Every 2 oil changes etc?

5.) anything else I should be checking? My air filter is a vararam and its good, but anything else? I try to run a bottle of fuel system cleaner every 3 months or so.

6.) Tire pressures? After the winter Im seeing 39-42psi… what pressure should I be at in the warmer temps 60-100*F?

 

[coleflo]

See if they have any deals.
I got (6) oil changes w/platinum synthetic and (6) tire rotations for 299.00.

 

[CC12RamLove]

Something I always check is the manual. Joke. Sorry. Dealer should change your anytime you want to pay them regardless of mileage. I waited till 6000 miles for my first oil change and went straight to full synthetic. Now I do it every 5-6000. I try to find Pennzoil ultra platinum .I'm at 68000+ now and done see any since of issues. Just MHO.

 

[blackbetty14]

See if they have any deals.
I got (6) oil changes w/platinum synthetic and (6) tire rotations for 299.00.

Its not about the deals… Im not a fan of people working on my vehicles lol. I have built cars from the ground up, motors, transmissions, etc and its not hard for me…. plus I like doing it. Ive seen people take there cars to dealers and I do better work than them. Not to mention come back with scratches or dents in there truck bc that random mechanic doesn't give a $hit about my truck and wouldn't take the care that I would or do that little extra. Plus it took my dealer 2 hours to screw in the 4 rubber isolators for my tailgate.

Only reason Im going to them is its free, and the OEM oil filter is on hella tight from the factory from what I heard. I might have to bring it in anyway as the chrome in my fog light is chipping away on the inside somehow.

Tire rotations should take 1/2 hour to jack the truck up and impact the lugs off and swap em…. so its not a big deal. Just looking for the real world mileage intervals you guys use.

 

[blackbetty14]

Something I always check is the manual. Joke. Sorry. Dealer should change your anytime you want to pay them regardless of mileage. I waited till 6000 miles for my first oil change and went straight to full synthetic. Now I do it every 5-6000. I try to find Pennzoil ultra platinum .I'm at 68000+ now and done see any since of issues. Just MHO.

Ha! Im not a fan of manuals, I look for specs and use it as a general rule of thumb but rather take it from the guys here who have driven their cars and have done the work. Manual also says run 89 gas… but 87 works just fine!! and saves me like 10-20 cents a gallon lol.

Ive heard a lot of odd things about oil changes. I personally don't run synthetic on anything I own (I do in my wifes elantra) mainly bc she doesn't follow warm up protocols and I don't like working on her car lol.

I've heard that oil should be changed every year regardless of mileage, if you have 10K oil and you only put 8K on by the end of the year it should still be drained which seems like a waste of money. Which is what I will be doing at about 5-6K a year maybe. I'm more worried about engine tick with the ****** MDS lifters not lovin the synthetic. I know due to my cold and hot climate changes 0*F winter to 100*F summer that synthetic is a better option, esp since my short commute to work doesn't allow full oil temp to be achieved which leaves condensation in the oil. But none of this is worth the engine noise and lifter tick some get after switching to synthetic.

Not sure if switching to full Synthetic is better at 3K or 6K… or if its even worth it due to my low yearly milage or if its bad for the HEMI. Good to hear yours is doing well and thanks for your input.

 

[blackbetty14]

Many New engines come from the manufacturer with synthetic oil in the oil pan. I feel you can switch to a synthetic at any time.

I would change your FF now.

BB: Is she kept outside or in the garage?

One thing I have made a very large note of--->Many hemis developed the so called Tick while running the specified oil. Just something I took note of.

Tires: I rotate before summer and before winter-->Every 6 months

Thanks Syn,

I feel I should to, when I break motor in I replace the oil immediately after break in, then again after 500miles do to all the metal and crap from breaking in more. Figure mine has 3K from the same oil from when it was started and broken in… if it even was lol.

She's kept outside Snow and salt already got me cringing when I craw under her and see small rust on parts and frame holes.

Hmmm interesting about the Tick. My engine is noisy but not a real "tick". Any links to what the tick sounds like? Would you swap to synthetic now or after the next oil change? The only real benefit I can see of the synthetic is better properties at cold and hot (esp for my climate). Since the cost of 1 synthetic oil change is basically the same as 2 regular changes. I feel that changing the oil more frequently is a main contributor of the conventional vs synthetic since over milage isn't a concern. But the temp range of the synthetic is much better than conventional.

WHen you do it at 6months… how many miles is that roughly between changes?

 

[xrsman]

I use penzoil platinum in mine I don't think there's a hemi tick but I'm also not listening for it. I use a K&N synthetic oil filter for it too

 

[HammerHead]

Go full synthetic and change every 5-7K. All your short trips before the engine oil gets up to temp is a Very Good reason to go full synthetic.
I would also crawl under your truck for a visual; my truck has 29k on it and I was under the truck and found 2 bolts that hold the tranny to the engine where so lose I could see the threads and turn them by hand. I was shocked but I learned a valuable lesson. Just takes 5-10 minutes for a good visual inspection.

 

[SyN]

BB: Sorry I was having severe internet issues at the time of my post...I didn't even know it posted... I was not totally done with my comments...

I would get your free oil change-->Take it 3000 miles then switch to synthetic if you want... or stick with conventional...

I have come to the thinking of within this board or any forum Trying to Discuss Oil Brands and Viscosity is like Trying to Discuss Religion and Christianity... Every one has their own beliefs and very few are the same... But that is all good-->As long as we discuss it civil and keep the criticism to a minimum...

With my 6 month OCI it all varies with our 4 autos! I tried to do each one at the 7K mile mark! But It seemed like I was doing oil changes all the time... So I chose to make it simple... I wanted Fresh oil in all our autos at the start of Summer and at the start of Winter...

The closest I could come to this was Summer-{June-Nov} Winter-{Dec-May}...
The most miles I have recorded within these 6 months was the Wifes Edge--8K miles but 1/2 those miles was interstate... Which is Very Easy on the Oil...
My Ram will average 4K-5K miles... Mosty Highway miles...

After looking Over many pictures of Cut Aways of the 5.7L especially the Top Half of the motor---Heads/Lifter... I realized how small and tiny some of these oil passages are as well as the complex design of this MDS system and Lifters... Very Tiny openings which can be blocked with small amounts of contamination or any type of sludge that has been formed and broke loose... After researching this and looking at these pictures... I want a Fresh Oil w/ a constant Strong Additive package flowing through all these tight tinny passage ways all the time... This area needs to be kept Very Clean in My Personal Opinion... as well as Very Well Lubricated... So with all this Bla Bla being spewed-->I will be for sure changing my oil in this 5.7L-->2 times a year {NO ifs ands or Buts}... Mind You-->This is all my personal opinion nothing more!

 

[Burla]

youtube hemi tick

Listen to the whole thing, right around the halfway point is what mine sounded like.

That was one example and was pretty close to how mine sounded, I do think mine was worse. Sounds like a sewing machine, and if your truck doesn't sound like that, don't worry about it unless you get it, then deal with it.

I highly recommend you cut your filter open and look for metal shavings. Even if you have the dealer change it toss a filter in a plastic bag and cut it open when you get home. And my highest recommendation is to use Royal Purple Oil filters, I have just found out they are even better then other synthetic filters. I had hemi tick and solved it with Redline oil, but after I used Purolator filter because it was cheap and still synthetic, my engine has had symptoms of tick seeping back. I believe it is a flow problem, and RP filters have 8 holes and Puro's have 6. Even though the 6 are larger, the RP filters must have better flow. Read the syn thread for some good oil choices, but there are other things like filter and always having a proper operating PCV that are just as important. I do recommend Redline ot Motul but price turns people off, and Penzoil Ultra is probably just as good and was specially designed with partnership of Dodge for the 6.4 Hemi. At 3k and 8 months is it safe to use any synthetic, even real synthetic.

 

[RAM_Designs]

Burla, which RP filter are you using again?

 

[Burla]

Burla, which RP filter are you using again?

Your part number is 10-48 only one RP filter that I know of, mine is different.

 

[RAM_Designs]

Your part number is 10-48 only one RP filter that I know of, mine is different.

My fault, I thought you had a newer model with the smaller size filter. I know people have been going back and forth on what to use, big or small. I put on a big Fram Ultra one and didn't notice any issues...haven't seen any kind of write-up on if it's actually bad to use or not, just kinda odd to me that Dodge would recommend such a small filter to begin with.

 

[blackbetty14]

Hmmm interesting.

So what is the correct RP filter for the hemi 14' model? the 10-48? and what viscosity do you run?

I know that amsoil is pretty much top shelf. I Don't mind spending the money on expensive filters and oils as long as I get my moneys worth, if I can go 10k or like a year or so with no change thats great but bet your ass I'm going with a great oil.

I always open up my own oil filters after changes, i even got the oil filter opening tool bc I do it so much lol. I'm not sure they would let me keep the filter to inspect. But I have opened up the M1, Bosch, Purolator pure 1, Purolator, Fram, Fram extra guard, K&N, and STP oil filters and found that the M1, Bosch, purolator pure1, and K&N are pretty much the same. Besides small differences in pleats etc. Haven't gotten my hands on the RP tho yet… prob due to price. I run special non bypass Jomar oil filters on my 521BBF and those are stupid awesome filters but they are special ordered lol. I actually really like the Bosch and Pure1 filter for my DD's.

 

[Burla]

I am about to drop a bomb over in the syn thread, I only changed the filter and my tick came back at least around 15%. Gonna see if I can't get it on video. The Redline oil still has it quiet, but the dang Purolater filter must have more restriction of flow, either the 6 holes or how they construct the inside, or the filter media. Dunno, but simply changing to the puro and not changing any oil my TRUCK DOES NOT LIKE. I had yellow Puro paper filter when I first used redline and everything was dandy. But the filter didn't last long and apparently their syn filters have flow issues. I just ordered a case of RP filters, F'it my truck wont ever get another filter. Royal Purple should be sending my case for free all the business I'm sending their way! But hey, I honestly believe it is the best filter for my truck that I've tried. Yes you have the right part number, and you can always double check with their find a filter in the top right. I'll keep the puro garbage in case I ever do a flush or something.