First Oil Change and a discovery or 2

[2019RamInSC]

Changed oil Pennzoil. Filter Mobil 1. At 1300 miles. It's my ritual with new vehicles.

As I was crawling around under the truck. I noticed it has the active air dam. Was not on the sticker. Is that a option or part of some package?

The filter is located in the worse place compared to any vehicle I have ever owned. Ughhh! Oil everywhere. Gotta find a better way. Also need to find a "bigger " filter.

As I was getting ready to refill with oil. I tried to attach my magnetic trouble light to the hood. WHAT? It is not steel? Neither is the tailgate. Shades of F-150


So far only issues needing return to dealer are window tint on drivers side has a scratch. And passenger seat has a problem with attachments under seat. Wife was complaining I did not pay attention lol.

At this point I love the truck.

Have fun!

 

[Duane Pipes]

My 19 had bubbled tint on driver's front + rear side too. Dealer fixed it. I thought oil in new vehicles has to stay in it for a lot longer right? I like my truck a lot too but wish I got a Longhorn though

 

[mikeru]

I have the same ritual. Changed the oil in my 2020 Laramie at a hair under 1000 miles. My biggest disappointment with my new truck is that Ram didn't change the filter location on the 5th gens, but they carried it over from the 4th gens. I installed a filter relocation kit on my 4th gen to avoid the issue. I guess I'll eventually be doing that for this truck too.
One tip I can give, which I read in one of the many forums I belong to, is to loosen the filter, then cover it with a plastic bag to catch the oil. I use a quart size zip lock bag. It almost completely eliminates the mess, but took me a couple of oil changes to get my technique down. Another thing I have done, along with the zip lock, is to cover the steering rack with shop rags to absorb any drips that get past the bag. Be sure to let the engine cool down a bit before removing the filter with this method.

 

[2019RamInSC]

My 19 had bubbled tint on driver's front + rear side too. Dealer fixed it. I thought oil in new vehicles has to stay in it for a lot longer right? I like my truck a lot too but wish I got a Longhorn though

The idea is the first oil change is done early. To remove anything that wears off a new engine. Also I don't think the factory used synthetic oil. I run synthetic in all my motors.

Have fun.

 

[crazykid1994]

Yea. I’ve got a 17 but same crappy filter spot. Love my relocate. And my hood is aluminum too. Every .0001% of fuel efficiency they could find

 

[2019RamInSC]

I have the same ritual. Changed the oil in my 2020 Laramie at a hair under 1000 miles. My biggest disappointment with my new truck is that Ram didn't change the filter location on the 5th gens, but they carried it over from the 4th gens. I installed a filter relocation kit on my 4th gen to avoid the issue. I guess I'll eventually be doing that for this truck too.
One tip I can give, which I read in one of the many forums I belong to, is to loosen the filter, then cover it with a plastic bag to catch the oil. I use a quart size zip lock bag. It almost completely eliminates the mess, but took me a couple of oil changes to get my technique down. Another thing I have done, along with the zip lock, is to cover the steering rack with shop rags to absorb any drips that get past the bag. Be sure to let the engine cool down a bit before removing the filter with this method.

Have to look at that filter relocation kit.
Thanks.
I tried the plastic baggie trick. My technique did not work so well ughgg.
Next time maybe

Have fun

 

[2019RamInSC]

Yea. I’ve got a 17 but same crappy filter spot. Love my relocate. And my hood is aluminum too. Every .0001% of fuel efficiency they could find



Thanks for the picture.
Is there any reason the filter cannot be vertical? I like to fill the filter with oil before I install it.

Have fun.

 

[chrisbh17]

Not to defend their filter location choice, but Im not sure why we would expect them to change the filter location if the engine in the 5th gen is exactly the same as the engine in the 4th gen

As FCA shoe-horns the 5.7 into everything know to man, there are bound to be applications that make the oil filter a PITA to get to. Of course, our trucks win that prize.

And the hood is aluminum (it was on the 4th gens, too). A good thing, IMHO, because at least it wont rust if you get paint chips from driving.

 

[Papa Red]

Yea. I’ve got a 17 but same crappy filter spot. Love my relocate. And my hood is aluminum too. Every .0001% of fuel efficiency they could find

View attachment 191907

View attachment 191908

Do you have a link as to where to purchase this extender? I like it especially since I do my own oil changes. Thanks.

Red

 

[crazykid1994]

Do you have a link as to where to purchase this extender? I like it especially since I do my own oil changes. Thanks.

Red

Bought from summit racing. It’s a transdapt 1127 kit but I purchased different hose to beef it up. -10 AN hose and fittings. Not sure about mounting points on the new trucks. I mounted mine on the tow hook mounting bar

 

[mikeru]

Not to defend their filter location choice, but Im not sure why we would expect them to change the filter location if the engine in the 5th gen is exactly the same as the engine in the 4th gen

As FCA shoe-horns the 5.7 into everything know to man, there are bound to be applications that make the oil filter a PITA to get to. Of course, our trucks win that prize.

And the hood is aluminum (it was on the 4th gens, too). A good thing, IMHO, because at least it wont rust if you get paint chips from driving.

I didn't expect them to redesign the engine, so I'm not surprised it's still in that location. But they redesigned the rest of the truck. They could have designed the steering rack location to be a little more favorable, or designed a remote filter location. The 2015 Subaru WRX I once owned has a factory filter relocation. It's located at the top of the engine bay, near the front of the engine. Readily accessible as soon as you open the hood.

It will be a a little more of a challenge to find a suitable filter location on my new truck. The frame is angled in the area where I mounted it on my 2017, and there isn't as much empty space there. It shouldn't be a huge problem, just not as obvious to me where I'll mount it yet. But I still have a few months until my next oil change to think about it.

 

[WhiteExpress]

You get used to the oil change, after the change, you get to rinse off your engine.

There are flexible funnels, I tried one, wasn't real impressed. Can also put a piece of tin foil over the boots. *shrug*

 

[Papa Red]

My old 2002 Ram 1500 had an awesome oil "slide" located under the oil filter so the oil would flow down the "slide" and into your container. Very convenient and clean. I wish they would go back to that.

Red

 

[chrisbh17]

My old 2002 Ram 1500 had an awesome oil "slide" located under the oil filter so the oil would flow down the "slide" and into your container. Very convenient and clean. I wish they would go back to that.

Red

I think you can still buy it, but the electric steering rack prevents it from being installed in a lot of 4th gen applications.

 

[Will S]

Changed oil Pennzoil. Filter Mobil 1. At 1300 miles. It's my ritual with new vehicles.

As I was crawling around under the truck. I noticed it has the active air dam. Was not on the sticker. Is that a option or part of some package?

The filter is located in the worse place compared to any vehicle I have ever owned. Ughhh! Oil everywhere. Gotta find a better way. Also need to find a "bigger " filter.

As I was getting ready to refill with oil. I tried to attach my magnetic trouble light to the hood. WHAT? It is not steel? Neither is the tailgate. Shades of F-150


So far only issues needing return to dealer are window tint on drivers side has a scratch. And passenger seat has a problem with attachments under seat. Wife was complaining I did not pay attention lol.

At this point I love the truck.

Have fun!

GM vehicles are going that direction as well. On Sierra's & Silverados, anything that is hinged, e.g. hood, tailgate and all doors: all aluminum.

Not sure if RAM has aluminum doors YET, but chances are, if they're not, they probably will be.

 

[2019RamInSC]

GM vehicles are going that direction as well. On Sierra's & Silverados, anything that is hinged, e.g. hood, tailgate and all doors: all aluminum.

Not sure if RAM has aluminum doors YET, but chances are, if they're not, they probably will be.

I checked the entire body. Doors and fenders and roof still steel.

But yep it's coming.

 

[RandomRam]

My old 2002 Ram 1500 had an awesome oil "slide" located under the oil filter so the oil would flow down the "slide" and into your container. Very convenient and clean. I wish they would go back to that.

Red

I noticed on my 2500 it appears there is a tray under the oil filter that has a hole in it. Almost appears it’s made to catch the oil and drain it into the pan. I’m not sure if the 6.4 Hemi has the oil filter in a different location than the 5.7.

 

[Mike R]

While on the subject of oil changes, I noticed that right beside the oil filler cap
is a node sticking up that will hold filler cap. Not saying but just saying that
MAYBE someone may have changed oil
and in rush to clean up after filling up oil in engine may have forgotten to put cap back on and not realized until wonderful burning oil smell came from under hood from where oil was shooting out and down on manifold. Oil cap at that point no where to be found. This could eliminate that problem, at least as far as losing oil refill cap. Probably won’t eliminate stupidity.

 

[geotex1]

The ziploc bag is generally an epic fail for most working on their back. In a pit or on a lift, works great. Do yourself a favor and take a 2-liter soda bottle and cut the bottom half off it. Use the half with the spout, making sure the cap is tight. The spout makes a good handle for you to hold to slip it around the oil filter and hold it while your other hand spins the filter loose and lets in drop into the soda bottle funnel. Remove everything neat and clean.

 

[2019RamInSC]

The ziploc bag is generally an epic fail for most working on their back. In a pit or on a lift, works great. Do yourself a favor and take a 2-liter soda bottle and cut the bottom half off it. Use the half with the spout, making sure the cap is tight. The spout makes a good handle for you to hold to slip it around the oil filter and hold it while your other hand spins the filter loose and lets in drop into the soda bottle funnel. Remove everything neat and clean.

And we have a winner.

Yeah the problem with plastic bag for me was I could not see it to keep it up where it belongs.

The plastic bottle should work better.

Thanks