10,000 mile oil change?

[2001gw]

I have always changed oil and filter every 5,000 miles. My 2021 RAM maintenance schedule calls for 10,000 mile oil changes. Do you guys go 10,000 miles between oil changes?

 

[boogielander]

seeing that you have the hemi, i'd say do 5k miles oil change.
some people say broken needle bearing (one of the hemi ticks) is caused by bad/ old oil, so fresh oil every 5k miles should help limit if not eliminate that potential cause.

in addition, fresh oil is what keeps your engine alive longer. Honestly if you don't run your engine hard (ie: towing, wheeling, or idling long) you can just drain the oil and fill it, and change the filter every 10k miles. Most of the filters we change at 5k miles mark are still pretty clean, but those are your regular daily grocery getter vehicles.

 

[SD Rebel]

I have always changed oil and filter every 5,000 miles. My 2021 RAM maintenance schedule calls for 10,000 mile oil changes. Do you guys go 10,000 miles between oil changes?

Actually, the max limit regardless of mileage is 1 year or 10,000 miles whichever comes first as per the manual.

If you go by your maintenance computer, it will adjust based on your driving variables. The manual states your computer can require service as low as 3,500 miles or as high as 10,000 miles, depending on those variables. But regardless of what your computer states, don't go beyond 1 year.

I don't drive a lot, so I do it annually regardless of mileage, which is about 4,000 miles for me. My maintenance computer is at about 35% left by that time.

 

[boogielander]

Actually, the max limit regardless of mileage is 1 year or 10,000 miles whichever comes first as per the manual.

If you go by your maintenance computer, it will adjust based on your driving variables. The manual states your computer can require service as low as 3,500 miles or as high as 10,000 miles, depending on those variables. But regardless of what your computer states, don't go beyond 1 year.

I don't drive a lot, so I do it annually regardless of mileage, which is about 4,000 miles for me. My maintenance computer is at about 35% left by that time.

i didnt know the computer adjusts based on your driving!

 

[SD Rebel]

i didnt know the computer adjusts based on your driving!

Yup, it does. I do a lot of idling on trails sometimes, and if I went by the computer, it probably would go to 0% by 6,000 - 7,000 or so miles.

If you do a lot of highway driving, suspect you will likely hit 10,000. But again, regardless of what the computer states, do it at least annually unless the monitor tells you sooner. Or just do it at 5,000 miles if you want to be conservative.

 

[Mountain Whiskey]

My computer doesn't max out. I do 10k with synthetic. I drive highway, back roads and city. I drive fairly aggressive to.

The Hemi takes 7 quarts so it is 40% more oil than an average car.

 

[RedFred]

On my 4th gen truck with the hemi, I just changed the oil yesterday at 8k miles. Computer was still showing oil life at 21%. I don't feel comfortable going 10k miles but will usually change the oil somewhere between 7-9k miles. I think I reached 9k once. 5K miles seems too soon for most circumstances, imo, especially considering the 7qt capacity.

 

[Eighty]

Strange, my computer appears to estimate the oil like purely on miles, and it's based on 5,000 per oil change. I had my first one done at "just over" 5000 miles, and it showed zero life remaining. Second one was "just under" additional miles, and it showed less than 10% remaining.

 

[monza2t]

They say 10k because that is what the industry has gone to in general, mostly because they want to tout "low maintenance" but is that a good number? For me no, it isn't.

There are those that argue that modern synthetics will not break down in 10k, and I totally agree with that, however modern synthetics are just like old oils in that they accumulate contaminants in them from just how the engine functions, stuff the filter doesn't get out and that you can't stop no matter how good your oil or filter.

 

[Rlaf75]

With today's modern oils it really isn't a concern to go 10k miles under normal driving conditions. I average between 7 and 8k miles per year and go by the oil life monitor in the truck so basically I change it once a year. When I had my 11 Ram with the 5.7 I did the exact same thing and never had an issue. I also don't beat on it and only tow on occasion

 

[Dewey]

I drive mostly highway miles so my oil life monitor always goes to 10,000 miles. Running full synthetic that’s perfectly acceptable. Been doing that with all my trucks for decades and easily 500,000 miles with zero issues.

 

[Timeless]

The truth is unless you do mostly heavy duty driving 10K is still probably overkill.

However, it is cheap insurance and makes me feel better...so I probably do it around every 6-8K miles.

 

[yankeefan31569]

i still change at 3k or 4k maybe im just a bug but i want fresh oil in beginning of summer and the winter..i drive
around 9k or 10k a year