Oil Weight & Cold Air Intake, Phoenix Arizona

[Randy Grant]

Hello all,

I have a 2014 ram tradesman. 5.7 Hemi. I was wondering two things. First should I run a thicker weight oil in the summertime since we have extreme heat and a lower weight for the rest of the year. Second again another heat related question, but would a "Cold air intake actually even do anything for me in an area that is 100 plus degrees 4 months out of the year? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

There is a misconception about CAI's. They really only get air from the grill area, as apposed to the older style intake/air filter, that got its air from under the hood, where the air was quite a bit warmer. Unless you put ice in the air box, it really isn't cold. It's the same as ambient air temps.

 

[pscarbor]

Get rid of the crappy plastic radiator and get an aluminum one. I got a three row all aluminum radiator on Amazon for around $200, put one on each of my Ram trucks. With a 200 degree thermostat in the winter the temp goes to 200 in about two miles and never budges. In summer (central Louisiana) when it's 100 and humidity is 98% the temp goes to 200 in about two miles and never budges.

5w20 oil is 5 weight oil with additives to make it behave like 20 weight when it's hot. 5w30 oil is also 5 weight oil with additives to make it behave like 30 weight when it's hot. Use the weight called for in your owner's manual or printed on the oil fill cap, you shouldn't have to use a different weight oil in summer or winter unless you plan on driving in Alaska in the winter.

By the way, 0w20 also works fine.

 

[Sherman Bird]

Hello all,

I have a 2014 ram tradesman. 5.7 Hemi. I was wondering two things. First should I run a thicker weight oil in the summertime since we have extreme heat and a lower weight for the rest of the year. Second again another heat related question, but would a "Cold air intake actually even do anything for me in an area that is 100 plus degrees 4 months out of the year? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

It's in your owner's manual. Read it.

 

[DILLIGAF]

The oil. No. Dodge spent a lot of time and money to determine exactly what viscosity your engine needs for any driving condition.

Id like a puff of what you're smoking, 5w30 is what a HEMI needs !

That same Manual says the 8 speed has lifetime fluid Make sure you follow that to a T as well

I swear some people would throw rocks in the engine if the manual called for it.

 

[Sherman Bird]

Id like a puff of what you're smoking, 5w30 is what a HEMI needs !

That same Manual says the 8 speed has lifetime fluid Make sure you follow that to a T as well

I swear some people would throw rocks in the engine if the manual called for it.

Around here, throwing rocks into the engine is unnecessary.
About 8 years ago, a customer brought his wife's BMW 335i into the shop. The problem was that the serpentine belt had shredded as she drove down the Sam Houston Tollway, AKA Beltway8 when the A/C stopped blowing cold, the alternator stopped turning as per the battery light, and the power steering became non-powered.
Fortunately, the coolant was/is circulated by electric pump, other wise her human nature of "I gotta get home" proclivity would have cost the engine .

Several of my customers over the years have done egregious harm to their vehicles, because "I gotta get home" took over all reasoning.

I commenced to examine the 335i and found the belt shredded lengthwise into ribbons which were tangled into the pulleys.
I also noticed a LOT of silt/sand everywhere under the hood, and assumed they took the car to the beach.

When I queried this man, he swore on everything dear to him that the car NEVER went off road, beach included.
OK then where'd the sand/grit come from? It was inside the air filter housing as well.

Either way, I fixed the car, cleaned everything up, and sent it on it's way. But the whole thing bothered me.

A few weeks later, I got my answer. As I was driving through the neighborhood, one of these Yard Crew outfits was finishing up on a yard with the back pack style blower (The Typhoon7000 by Binford Tools! ).

This ignoramus idjit was blowing clouds of this silt, grass, sand, dirt, at typhoon velocity up under a car parked on the street! My "AHA" lightbulb came on, and I called the BMW customer, and, sure enough, His wife parked the car in front of her office where the landscape crews came through 2-3 times a week, Blower(S) included!!!!!

The cloud formed when I witnessed it enshrouded the entire the breadth of the street!