Oil in the Pentastar V6

[darthdzl]

Yup, I've got the 3.6L V6.

I've read a huge chunk (probably most) of the Synthetic Oil thread, and several others dealing with specific oils and specific people's trucks.

But the vast majority (if not all) of people in those threads have Hemis, and a lot of attention is used on preventing "lifter tick" (and I understand why; I know the basic anatomy of a pushrod engine...kinda scary).

Since I don't have pushrods or lifters, or the same block, or anything else in common with the Hemi guys , I was wondering if the oil gurus could cast their kind eye upon us V6 owners and offer their wisdom. I left the factory oil alone till 5K. At the 5K change, I had them stuff in whatever they use (which I'm 95% sure was Pennzoil Platinum 5W-20; not sure what filter).

I ran that until the 10K change, and then had them put in some Mobil 1 AFS 5W-20 that I got at WalMart for about $26/5qt. I just grabbed the cheapy filter there too and asked them to use it (probably a mistake).

For the 15K change, I've already got enough Mobil 1 to do the job, and I have another cheapy filter. I'm probably going to just give that one to my buddy and grab a Royal Purple filter instead.

But what oil would you run, with the following priorities:
Primary: make the engine run strong and clean for a gajillion miles
Secondary: save some fuel while I'm doing it
Tertiary: don't **** off the Warranty gods
Oh yeah...and I'm willing to pay a bit more, but not double or triple.

I can change the oil myself, but I tend to have the dealer do it. They're one of the good ones, at least so far. And it's really cheap if I bring my own.

What sayeth you, O gurus of lubricant?

 

[Burla]

For the 15K change, I've already got enough Mobil 1 to do the job, and I have another cheapy filter. I'm probably going to just give that one to my buddy and grab a Royal Purple filter instead.

Thanks for paying attention, I do approve of this plan. More important then your oil choice is to find the right filter. No reason to do 5k mile oil changes with Royal Purple Filter, I promise you will be good to 10k miles with M1 oil and an RP filter. To be safe always do at least one UOA to determine how oil is working long term in your truck. Nothing wrong with Mobil One, about every other month Costco has is 27 bucks for a 6 pack case. The additives talked about to combat Hemi tick also combat metal to metal wear before the oil is flowing. Good news is your Mobil One has the additive. Have a good day.

 

[darthdzl]

Thanks for paying attention, I do approve of this plan. More important then your oil choice is to find the right filter. No reason to do 5k mile oil changes with Royal Purple Filter, I promise you will be good to 10k miles with M1 oil and an RP filter.

Gotcha. Since I have the crappy filter now, I'll change at 15k and put in an RP one, then leave that for 10k.

To be safe always do at least one UOA to determine how oil is working long term in your truck.

Do you have recommendations on the easiest and/or cheapest way to do that?

Nothing wrong with Mobil One, about every other month Costco has is 27 bucks for a 6 pack case. The additives talked about to combat Hemi tick also combat metal to metal wear before the oil is flowing. Good news is your Mobil One has the additive. Have a good day.

I figured. Moly is good stuff. I notice that Schaeffer's has a buttload more of it, but it also has almost no Boron, hence the M1 (and the pricetag).

Thanks for your help.

 

[darthdzl]

Aaaaaand apparently, Royal Purple doesn't make an oil filter for the V6.

Any other recommendations on brand?

 

[Burla]

Bummer, Wix XP or Napa Platinum , and lastly Fram Ultra. Amsoil EA is probably the best filter if they have it for you, equal to RP according to the last test a member posted here.

Go to blacksone labs, they will send you a free test kit, follow instructions and send back a 35 dollar check, make sure you get the TBN that tells you how many miles your oil choice will last in your engine. Make sure you go many miles if you plan on only doing this once.

 

[darthdzl]

The only ones I could find were Fram (the "cheapy" I have from WalMart, better than I thought), K&N, and Purolator. I'll keep searching, but I hit all the big auto parts stores' sites as well as Summit Racing, AutoAnything, Jegs, and a few other places.

EDIT: And thanks. I'm on Blackstone's website now. I'll get that kit here so I can have it in time for the 15k change.

EDIT2: How do you feel about adding a bypass oil filter?

 

[Burla]

EDIT2: How do you feel about adding a bypass oil filter?

Highly recommend it if you don't mind spending a lot for filters. it really benefits diesel owners because they can literally go 60k miles without a wink on their oil, but most gas guys don't want the extra expense and you will not likely be able to go over 25k even on the top oils anyway. Most bypass systems use a specific filter and that filter is usually proprietary, that is the issue. I love the idea of them, but I don't prefer that no bypass uses standard filters that I know of. I'm sure there is a way to relocate and change the filter size to a standard hemi filter, but it would likely take a commitment to make it happen and you would have to be careful to keep good flow.

Let me know if you find a way to bypass your location into a standard filter, that would be nice.

This is messed up, Fram, Wix, Napa, Amsoil and Purarlor all don't make a synthetic filter for you. really blows man. Double check, I hope I'm wrong. If I was in your shoes, I'd probably use the cheap filters but change them every 3 months or 3k miles, you don't need to change the oil, just the filter. Until someone makes a synthetic. there are some other synthetics filters, but they wouldn't likely make them either. I'm sure eventually they will make a filter, so keep looking every 3 months.

 

[darthdzl]

Crap. I didn't realize paper filters were THAT bad.

I'll keep looking around and see what I find. Thanks again!

EDIT: I can't get a straight answer from any online source. Is this paper or synthetic?
http://www.knfilters.com/search/product.aspx?prod=PS-7026

EDIT2: I sent them an e-mail asking exactly that, and I ordered one. It was no more than the FRAM from Wal-Mart, so I figured what the hell. Should be here Tuesday.

 

[Burla]

So lets say at the 4k mile mark, take it out and take it apart and replace with a new one. If the media is still pliable it is likely still filtering good, if it is stiff, it isn't filtering anything. I still say they will likely have some options for you in the near future, good luck

 

[darthdzl]

Sounds like a good idea since I'll have an extra filter on hand.

Thanks again!

 

[htwo]

I have a HEMI in my Ram, but I also own a 3.6L - in a 2012 200. In the Pentastar I run Amsoil full synthetic 5W20 with their own EA filter. I only put on 10-11K miles a year, which is great so I only do one oil change a year. Their full synthetic is rated up to 25K miles. I did an oil analysis last year and after 9K miles it had 50% life remaining. The car mostly sees city driving, and the winter this last year was brutal, with many -35C mornings before the windchill rating.

I don't burn any oil in the 3.6L. I've never used RP oil, but I did use Mobil1 right after I bought it to get it through the winter so I could do my own oil changes and found it too costly here in Ontario to make it viable on a regular basis when Amsoil is a bit less, and they have their own consumer warranty.

I bought the 3.6L with low mileage and have since put on 20K miles and it's sitting around 30K miles now. I'll do its third Amsoil 5W20 oil change this July 4th weekend. I know it's the car version with the 6 speed auto, but I get a consistent 31mpg out of it on the highway. It's nearly too powerful for the sedan in FWD layout but I like how it pulls from low RPM without downshifting two or three times to climb shallow grades.

Price wise I can't really compare CAN$ with US$ but it costs me about $70-75 for an oil change once a year for this car: 6 quarts of oil + filter + delivery to my residence. Again, one oil a year also saves time. To put it into perspective, local oil change shops here are $39.99 for a 'basic' cheap oil change package.

 

[hemihustlin]

Yeah those little pentastars are great motors, easy on oil. You best bet for filters (untill someone makes a better syn one) is oem or napa gold. The oem is made by hengst and is cleary marked as such when you take it out of the mopar box. Seems to stand up well to normal filter change intervals.
The napa gold is of very similar construction, reccomended as well.
Napa proselect twists like a dirty dish rag after 3k miles lol dont go there

 

[Burla]

When you cut open that filter, let us know in the synthetic oil thread how the filter held up.

 

[darthdzl]

Great! Thanks for the suggestions, guys.

Also, it's a cartridge style (right? that's what all the pics show), so cutting it open to see the inner surface of the media will be much easier. No metal to get in the way.

Also, I forgot about Amsoil. I'll check their site and see what's available. I've already got the K&N on the way, so we'll see how that goes.

 

[hemihustlin]

Yes its a cartridge, no cutting required.
Easy inspection, all the time!

I dont own a pentastar but ive done hundreds of oil changes on them and the filter is always in acceptable condition unless it an el cheapo.

 

[darthdzl]

Yes its a cartridge, no cutting required.
Easy inspection, all the time!

I dont own a pentastar but ive done hundreds of oil changes on them and the filter is always in acceptable condition unless it an el cheapo.

WOOHOO! \o/ That's good to know. Thanks!

 

[2015er]

I have a 2015 Ram 1500 Laramie with the pentastar - love the motor by the way it is the best thing about this truck. Anyhow, I went to Amsoil and Royal Purple's webpage and neither one offers an oil filter for this motor (I wrote RP and asked when they will start to offer a filter). That said - what is the BEST filter to get? I want to avoid the Fram crap...

 

[darthdzl]

I have a 2015 Ram 1500 Laramie with the pentastar - love the motor by the way it is the best thing about this truck. Anyhow, I went to Amsoil and Royal Purple's webpage and neither one offers an oil filter for this motor (I wrote RP and asked when they will start to offer a filter). That said - what is the BEST filter to get? I want to avoid the Fram crap...

That's what we're still collectively trying to figure out.

If you read the other posts, you'll see that the current choices (that I know about) boil down to:

- Fram (bleh?)
- OEM (good, made by Hengst)
- NAPA Gold (good)
- NAPA ProSelect (bleh)
- K&N (unknown, I have one on the way)
- Purolator (unknown)

Burla recommended changing my Fram after 4k and examining the media. See his comments for how to tell if it's still doing its job.

 

[Burla]

If I had one of the engines I would just change the filter and top off at least once w/o doing the full oil change until they make a synthetic. I'd probably be near a 6 month oil change schedule maybe up to 8 or 10 if I didn't run a lot of miles, and somewhere at the halfway to that I would change the filter. That's all I got, sorry for you guys this is a bummer, shame on these filter companies.

 

[2015er]

I wrote the people at Amsoil inquiring about the availability of an oil filter for the pentastar and they replied that hey will be putting one on the market "this summer".