What should I do ?

[Kennyllance]

I have a 2019 1500 tradesman 5.7 and im coming up on 1st oil change. The thing is i only have 300 miles on it. I know I have to do the change at 6 months for warranty reasons. Should I take it the dealership and continue with factory oil or go ahead and switch to redline or royal purple ? I read that redline recommends afew thousand miles on the engine before switching to it . Im new to mopar and have read several posts on here about oils but not sure what direction to go in. Im not going to be putting many miles on the truck I just got such a great deal on it i couldnt pass it up. Thanks for any and all advice.

 

[kad]

A couple of free oil changes seem to be common with new truck purchases these days. Heck, I got 4 Dino or 2 Synthetic with my Certified Pre-Owned. Did you get any? If so, use 'em. The change goes on record with FCA and you're covered.

-K

 

[Kennyllance]

No, i didnt get any freebees.

 

[tidefan1967]

Is the 6 months you speak of for some kind of dealership warranty because the owners manual says 1 year or 10K miles. If you don't have some kind of extra warranty above and beyond the factory warranty I wouldn't bother with it for another 6 months personally.

 

[Jus Cruisin]

I take my truck into the dealership for maintenance items. Bulk oil is just fine for me. In fact, I'm due in the next few weeks for an oil change and it'll be done by the dealer. Just hit 29,000 miles

 

[mikeru]

I think we're missing some information here. Is this a new truck or used? When was the oil last changed? Like tidefan said, the owners manual says to change it at 12 months or 10k miles unless you're driving in severe conditions. So it would be interesting to know why you're wanting to change it after only 6 months and 300 miles.

But, if you're set on changing the oil every 6 months I'd just go with conventional 5w-20 oil and a good filter. There's really not a good reason to spend the extra money on a quality synthetic oil if you're changing it that often. Especially if you're hardly ever driving it. Of course, oil related threads like this always get differing opinions. In the end you'll have to sort through a bunch of people's opinions and make your own decision.

 

[Jm91rs]

Not sure about Ram vehicles, but I know about 10 years ago Silverados and Sierras had some pretty major oil consumption issues and the belief was that the recommended early oil change on the new engine was a mistake. Before that they switched to DEXOS synthetic blends and still had the recommendation to baby the truck when new. The better oil and babying of the truck and early recommended first oil change never allowed anything get to the right temperature and seat the gaskets and rings properly so the trucks started drinking the oil. I had 3 of them do it and all 3 had top end rebuilds at under 10k. I'm sure that all manufacturers have learned from the new and better oils so I would try and stick to their recommendations and if that's 1 year I'd stick to it if you're so low in miles. I'm no expert, but that may be why some of the high dollar oil brands want you to wait a few thousand miles before switching. Let the factory stuff do what it's supposed to do for awhile I'd say. I will put about 5k a year on my Ram (PICKING IT UP TONIGHT!!!) and my plan is to stick to factory specs on the oil for awhile and stretch out the oil change to the recommended 1 year.

 

[Nick_rp]

Im a stranger to new car break in periods but ive had a few new bikes and the first oil change is done at 500ish miles. I know its not the same but that habit has transferred to my wifes new car. I dont see the harm in doing it except for some view it as wasting money. The way i see it, the more shavings you get out early the less chance of wear on components with tight tolerances.

I have no other basis for it except for what i learned on bikes and they break in differently. They run at higher rpms, the power to weight ratio tends make it more torquey and puts more stress on the engine etc etc.

Piece of mind can be counted as preventive maintenance. Do what you feel is necessary but dont overshoot what the book recommends