Hello. I couldn't find the answer to this. 2022 Ram 2500 6.7. I am about to change the oil for the first time as soon as my filter arrives in the mail. I am going with Rotella as Valvoline Blue is hard to find here. Is it OK to go full synthetic with only 5500 miles on the engine?
We tow a camper for work where ever we are sent across the country. Which would be better protection for towing Rotella T5 10w/30 or Rotella T6 5w/40? Thank you.
It's very subjective... all this prattle about which brand of oil to run. There is nobody who can accurately give you dead-on correct advice for your unique circumstances. I believe in fully synthetic oil due to it's superior high temperature stability. That's the OIL itself. But, what about additives? There are anti-corrosives, moisture control additives, anti foam, yada yada yada.
Here, in Houston, Texas, our sub tropical clime makes it a sage idea to use a synthetic oil. Beyond that, the additives are where the biggest differences are. I will say that straying away from the assigned weight for a given application for a particular vehicle's mandate by the manufacturer may not be a very good idea.
The wisdom I got from engineers at GM was to pay attention to API ratings on the oil and know what they mean.
Nowadays, We have "API SP" on oil. What does that mean? Read up on it for your own edification.
Keep this in mind, also: In many cases, oil filtration is done only at lower pressure/ RPM. As the engine's RPM increases, the oil bypasses the filter via a bypass valve (many times, this valve is built into the filter). The volume of oil is also a factor as to keeping particulate debris in suspension... thus the admonition for running the engine to warm up before draining the old oil for an oil change.
Keeping the oil from overheating with an external cooler is a good idea to prevent additive and oil base break down from thermal extremes.
I could tell you about all of my experiences and my observations of others' vehicles which I've serviced in 47 years of being a professional technician. Take away from my own experience (Limited AND subjective) has been that the long run success of most vehicles has been regular oil AND filter changes in relatively short time/ mileage span. I NEVER go beyond 6,000 miles between changes for my own vehicles, synthetic or not. I aim for 5,000 miles, and give myself a buffer due to life's fluctuations.
Peace and good luck!