5W-20 oil used on 5.7?

[JD Martin]

I was looking through my manual and noticed that they recommend 5W-20 oil for the 5.7 engine. Seems like a pretty thin viscosity oil to me for a V8; my Titan used 5W-30, which I thought seemed just about right. My Kia Soul 4 banger uses 5W-20, and it burns off a little in between oil changes.

I know the manufacturers are going to these thinner oils trying to coax a little more fuel economy out of the vehicles, but what do you all think of the long-term wear of putting such a thin oil in that engine? It doesn't seem to me that the base mechanicals of this engine are much different from previous versions of the engine, and those used a thicker viscosity oil.

Thoughts? I'm sure I'll use what they recommend while it's under warranty (I bought a 6 pack of oil changes & tire rotations when I got the truck) but beyond that I'm more interested in this drive train being happy for a long time than I am in saving 1 MPG.

 

[Firebird]

Yes, very thin. That is why I switched to Redline 5w30 at 1200 miles

 

[ThunderMug95]

Take a peek at 4th gen forum(Same 5.7)under Engine&Performance, Thread : Synthetic Oil. Everything to satisfy your questions

 

[Fatbob Frank]

My 2007 Dodge Charger has the 5.7 hemi and it uses 5w20.
Switched to Mobile 1 at the first oil change.
No hemi tick yet.
And it gets run harder than my truck...

 

[JD Martin]

Thanks for the replies all. I'm sure part of it is just me being old school in my thinking and in my experiences with old muscle cars and such. I'm not entirely convinced I won't go with something a little bit heavier once my warranty expires, but it makes me feel better reading some of these experiences.

I didn't see anything in there, but do they recommend any different viscosity if you do a lot of towing?

 

[corneileous]

I dunno, I’m just not totally sold on that heavier oil. I figure, as long as you use a good quality full synthetic, good filter and DO NOT go off that oil life meter, 5w20 will be fine. I ran 5w20 Mobil 1 full synthetic in my old 08 without a single issue. Sold it 6 years later when it was 10 years old, with 70,000 miles. Now I run 5w20 Pennzoil Ultra Premium in my new 18 with already close to 17,000 miles- no issues. I changed the oil in the old truck for the most part around 4500 miles, then towards the end I bumped it up to 5000 miles.

My new truck, I don’t go over 6,000, 6,500 if I can help it. If I followed that OLM, I’d be clear up to 8, 9000 mile oil changes. Not good in my opinion.

But, I am under lifetime warranty contract too so, I kinda have to run what Chrysler says if I wanna keep from voiding my contract.

I heard once before on here where a member said his service writer said that basically if you only intend to keep the truck for the length of the warranty, follow the OLM; if you plan to keep it for a long time, change it much sooner. Makes sense to me because if it is in fact true what they say about squeezing more mileage out with the lighter oil, then it’s probably also true that they kinda silently want to get you to keep the environment in mind by telling you to wait so long between oil changes. Which, people will say that a used oil analysis will dictate interval which, I believe is true, but I also believe that I just don’t wanna push the envelope. Leaving oil in too long is bad. Changing it before it needs to be, isn’t.

If you drive more miles than I do then my method might not apply to ya but with the amount of miles I drive a year, it only costs me a hundred bucks total to change my own oil and filter twice a year. Of course, it’ll be a little more now that used oil analysis’s are 30 bucks a pop but still, that’s quite the deal as far as I’m concerned.


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[ram5977]

Just picked up my 2019 Ram Laramie 5.7 hemi and the service department said I should only use 5w-20 dino oil, not synthetic even if it meets the 6395 spec. Does not make sense to me, but has anyone else been told this by their dealership?

 

[corneileous]

Just picked up my 2019 Ram Laramie 5.7 hemi and the service department said I should only use 5w-20 dino oil, not synthetic even if it meets the 6395 spec. Does not make sense to me, but has anyone else been told this by their dealership?

That’s odd. I’m guessing this right here is absolute proof that not all dealers know what the hell they’re talking about... even the factory fill that’s in your motor right now, is a synthetic blend.

Or hell, maybe it’s not, I dunno. I’ve had quite a few dealers tell me it is but I’ve never had one once say I couldn’t use a full synthetic, and that conventional is all I could use.

I even had one dealer say that if you’re going to use full synthetic, to change it every 8,000 and that if you’re gonna run conventional or what the factory puts in, to run that at only 5,000.

But if I were you, I’d keep that factory fill in there for no more than 3,000 miles, just despite what they may say. Maybe there is no copious amounts of assembly lube in there but still, you’ve got a lot of wear going on in there as your motor breaks in. Your iron content and copper and other material contents are gonna be high too as the rings get worn in.

Somethin’ else, you might wanna let them do the first oil change as I’ve heard here that the robot at the factory that spins them filters on, spins them on quite tightly.

As far as filter, I dunno. Many people are gonna tell you many different options. I’ve been using a Wix XP but I’m thinking about going back to an OE Mopar filter, or even the white Mopar SRT filter.

As far as oil- well, same thing. Many use Redline, Amsoil, Pennzoil Ultra Premium. A lot of people use 5w30, just despite what their manual says.



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[mboymopar]

I am running 5w/20 PP full synthetic now, going to run 5w/30 Rotella full synthetic next change.

 

[ram5977]

The oil change intervals you talked about are exactly the same as my dealer's recommendations. 3000 miles on the factory fill, 5000 miles on the 5w-20 dino, and up to 8000 miles if I insisted on using synthetic oil (which the service manager advised against). I plan on doing the first change myself after 1000 miles, using QSAD 5w-20 dino with a wix filter (NAPA gold), running that until 5000 miles on the truck. At that point blending quaker state ultimate durability and the remaining portion of the QSAD dino oil that I have for the next 5000 miles. I plan after that point to use QSUD synthetic 5w-20 and wix filters. I want full synthetic because living in northern Wisconsin, we see -30 F frequently in the winter months. Any thoughts on the above plan or the choice of QSUD vs PUP would be welcome. Thanks

 

[Wahrsuul]

I got my truck used with just over 100K on it. used the 5-20 the first time, then switched to PUP 5-30. Truck seems to like it better. I've been going by the OLM, but so far it's been very close to 5k every time it comes on.

 

[Burla]

5w30 is traditionaly considered thin oil as well, go 5w30 imo. Lot of engine issues with internals with these hemi's just saying. Do some research, research both sides.

 

[Factory]

Based on tolerances

 

[mboymopar]

Same here, I have over 100/k been using 5w/20 PP
Going to give the Rotella 5w/30 a try at the next oil change.

 

[Bondzai]

I got the extended warranty on mine. The finance guy told me I had to use full synthetic or it would void the extended warranty. I call ******** but I'll have to look at the paperwork. Anyone else heard this/

 

[mboymopar]

I got the extended warranty on mine. The finance guy told me I had to use full synthetic or it would void the extended warranty. I call ******** but I'll have to look at the paperwork. Anyone else heard this/

As long as the oil meets FCA specs.
I don’t see what leg they have to stand on, other
Then making more coin on the oil change.

 

[corneileous]

I got the extended warranty on mine. The finance guy told me I had to use full synthetic or it would void the extended warranty. I call ******** but I'll have to look at the paperwork. Anyone else heard this/

Yeah, I call ******** too. No where in the manual- at least in mine, does it say I have to use a full synthetic. Doesn’t even mention synthetic. All it says, as long as it’s 5w20, API certified and meets Chrysler’s MS-6395 specifications, they could care less what you use.

As far as whatever they fill the pan with at the factory, I have no idea completely but from what I’ve been told, and from what I have read quite a few times here, that it’s a synthetic blend.

I’m not advising against using straight up conventional oil but if you do, I would most definitely not go off what the oil life meter says if it is in fact true about that system being designed around a semi-synthetic oil. But I did have one service writer advise me that depending on what oil I used, that they recommend to all their customers that they should change conventional out at 5,000 am full synthetic out at 8,000.

If you did run conventional, I wouldn’t let that oil life meter wait till you had dang near 8k or 9k Mike’s before it told you it was time to change the oil.


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[turkeybird56]

Just picked up my 2019 Ram Laramie 5.7 hemi and the service department said I should only use 5w-20 dino oil, not synthetic even if it meets the 6395 spec. Does not make sense to me, but has anyone else been told this by their dealership?

Somebody full of something a color of brown. I run Full Synthetic in every vehicle I have owned for 30 years, Includes older Dodges, Chevy, Ford, even my 2006 Honda Wing.

 

[turkeybird56]

I got the extended warranty on mine. The finance guy told me I had to use full synthetic or it would void the extended warranty. I call ******** but I'll have to look at the paperwork. Anyone else heard this/

Now that is reverse brown in color substance. Nothing in OEM says U have to use. Most OEM says 5-20 blend, where do they get U have to. YEAH< U might want to read your Warranty Info. Maybe a Third Party Warranty??? All IMHO...

 

[SRT Racing]

Good video for all the oil experts to watch. I run Valvoline 50W racing oil in that monster to the left because of high Zinc in it. But in my new 2019 5.7L RAM it will be full Syn 5w-20 as per owner manual. This guy knows what he's talking about when it comes to oil.