Does Anyone Use Conventional Oil?

[tobyw]

If I'm reading the Owner's Manual correctly, it just says regular old dinosaur SAE 5W-20 oil is what is recommended?? However, pretty much every oil choice and oil change thread I read on the forums is centered around XYZ brand synthetic... Does anybody run conventional motor oil?

 

[sman301]

Use synthetic, especially how its getting colder now. If i use conventional, I only run is for like 2-3k miles. I only use it once.

 

[Patsy1099]

It’s a hotly debated topic oil changes, oil etc. If you like to change your oil frequently at 3k, I don’t think it matters IMO. If you like to go longer between changes, buy yourself some extra insurance, then you can go full synthetic. I guess the way I look at it is the synthetic blend is so cheap that it should be the new default as opposed to conventional. Then the full synthetic is the step up.

 

[Twister]

Just changed mine, used the same synthetic I use in the hellcat

 

[Orion10182011]

I've switched every car I've ever owned over to Synthetic at the first oil change.

 

[kdoublep]

Synthetic here

 

[rotts4u]

I am 57 years old and have owned countless cars, trucks motorcycles etc. I do all my own Maint and oil changes and I use synthetic. BUT, I have never had any oil related failure of any kind so its hard to say if its worth it or not. Its not a big enough expense to me to justify the risk so I use Syn oil. Cleary it has advantages.

 

[Neurobit]

I just had mine done while at the dealer for the AC TSB. They put 5W-20. Pretty sure it’s not synthetic, which is fine (oil life gauge was displaying 30%).

 

[bskubon]

These engines run very hot, I always go with Synthetic oil, supposed to hold up better to the high temps


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[Bobsled]

MPO, have been using full synthetic oil for years. My go to brand is AMSOIL. For all the good reasons, newer engines run hotter (220 degrees F), newer engines have tighter clearances than engines in the 60' and 70's. Synthetic oil has better cold flow characteristics, with synthetic oil you can extend oil drain intervals.

 

[Jako]

Had 1st oil change done at dealership and they used Penzoil synthetic. I had 2nd oil change done and they used Penzoil traditional oil and the only way I knew was to look up the number used to identify the oil. The "service" person did not ask and I assumed (I know, I know *** u me) if they used synthetic the last time it would be synthetic again - wrong. Changed it out with about 1300 miles with synthetic. I have been doing my own since with a Valvo max valve - very clean and easy.

I have had 2 bad experiences (leaks) going from traditional to synthetic on my 2003 BMW motorcycles. I will not go for a third.

Penzoil traditional meets the Ram standard, HOWEVER they recommend synthetic. I emailed Penzoil why they don't include traditional on the list as it meets the Ram standard BUT never received a reply.

Oil Selector

Find out what type of motor oil your car takes with our oil selector. Get recommendations on motor oils and transmission fluids for optimal performance.

www.pennzoil.com

 

[Oldphart]

FWIW, I did my 1st oil change at 250 miles with Castrol 5-20 dino, changed back to Mobil1 5-30 syn at 2,500 and will change again at 5,000 and every 5,000 thereafter. My reasoning for this is to allow a proper break-in which really cannot be achieved with syn as it is actually too slippery.
I'm 68 years old and have followed this procedure wince I got my 1st new car in 1968. I've never had any oil related issues. I used to run every car, motorcycle, lawn mower, boat, etc on Castrol 20-50 dino but those days are over.

 

[Mirowpl]

I have not run any vehicle on synthetic, yet. never have had a problem. However, since this newer hemi runs so much hotter, I might just switch to it. Old 2009 hemi the oil never got hotter than about 205 and the engine temp was a steady 195. But I have free oil changes from dealer until dec 2023 so it will wait until then. Good news is they put their little oil ch age sticker on windshield and it is set for 3,500 miles. So I think I will be fine with their Dino oil until the free ones run out

 

[Neurobit]

I have not run any vehicle on synthetic, yet. never have had a problem. However, since this newer hemi runs so much hotter, I might just switch to it. Old 2009 hemi the oil never got hotter than about 205 and the engine temp was a steady 195. But I have free oil changes from dealer until dec 2023 so it will wait until then. Good news is they put their little oil ch age sticker on windshield and it is set for 3,500 miles. So I think I will be fine with their Dino oil until the free ones run out

I think you should be fine. My opinion is that if FCA powerplant engineers that designed these engines thought for a second that they would require synthetic (or have issues with conventional oil), that they would at least recommend it (like they recommend 89 octane).

Don’t get me wrong, synthetic is better in just about every way, just not required.

 

[Hydroblueguy]

If I'm reading the Owner's Manual correctly, it just says regular old dinosaur SAE 5W-20 oil is what is recommended?? However, pretty much every oil choice and oil change thread I read on the forums is centered around XYZ brand synthetic... Does anybody run conventional motor oil?

Many dealers put conventional oil in these trucks, when we have the oil changed. We pay for synthetic blend, but who knows what they really put in there!

 

[HoosierTrooper]

FWIW, I did my 1st oil change at 250 miles with Castrol 5-20 dino, changed back to Mobil1 5-30 syn at 2,500 and will change again at 5,000 and every 5,000 thereafter. My reasoning for this is to allow a proper break-in which really cannot be achieved with syn as it is actually too slippery.
I'm 68 years old and have followed this procedure wince I got my 1st new car in 1968. I've never had any oil related issues. I used to run every car, motorcycle, lawn mower, boat, etc on Castrol 20-50 dino but those days are over.

It's amazing that this old wives tale is still believed. A lot of vehicles come from the factory with synthetic oil, including some FCA engines like the 6.2L which uses 0W-40, as well as the 2.0L turbo in my Jeep which specifies 5W-30 synthetic, and both came from the factory with Pennzoil synthetic. Virtually every engine made by Porsche, BMW, Mercedes Benz and Volkswagen comes from the factory with synthetic oil that has to meet very stringent requirements specific to each brand that can only be met with synthetic oil. The GM 6.2L also comes from the factory with synthetic Mobil1 0W-40. Even the numerous engines from GM, Honda, FCA , Toyota and others that specify 0W-20 likely come from the factory with synthetic oil since most 0W-20 oils are synthetic.

If synthetic oil is "too slippery" for a "proper break-in" then why would manufacturers use it as factory fill in so many engines, including some very expensive and high performance models?

 

[silver billet]

If you plan to keep your truck outside of warranty, definitely use a high quality synthetic; not a synthetic blend either, since that marketing term is not regulated and if they put one drop of synthetic in 5 gallons of dino oil they can label it synthetic blend.

You will not get "leaks", I don't know where that idea comes from.

There is a ton of user reports on oiling in a different forum; our hemis do best on high quality synthetics such as Redline, Amsoil, and PUP. This is backed up by Used Oil Analysis reports, most of which are from Blackstone. They tell you exactly which wear metals are present (copper, aluminum, iron etc), in which quantities, and whether you can continue to put more miles on the next oil change etc.

So the science is clear here; use a good synthetic.

 

[Oldphart]

It's amazing that this old wives tale is still believed. A lot of vehicles come from the factory with synthetic oil, including some FCA engines like the 6.2L which uses 0W-40, as well as the 2.0L turbo in my Jeep which specifies 5W-30 synthetic, and both came from the factory with Pennzoil synthetic. Virtually every engine made by Porsche, BMW, Mercedes Benz and Volkswagen comes from the factory with synthetic oil that has to meet very stringent requirements specific to each brand that can only be met with synthetic oil. The GM 6.2L also comes from the factory with synthetic Mobil1 0W-40. Even the numerous engines from GM, Honda, FCA , Toyota and others that specify 0W-20 likely come from the factory with synthetic oil since most 0W-20 oils are synthetic.

If synthetic oil is "too slippery" for a "proper break-in" then why would manufacturers use it as factory fill in so many engines, including some very expensive and high performance models?

Don't know and don't care...all I know from first hand knowledge is my method has worked just fine on the 2 dozen of so vehicles I have bought over the last 52 years. I have gotten over 250k out of a 1990 Ford Ranger with the POS 2.9 V6 and 300k from a 2002 Toyota Sequoia used to tow SeaDoos. No oil needed to be added between 5k changes.

EVERYONE has a different opinion on this, nothing personal, but you can do it your way and I'll continue to do it mine.

 

[Jako]

If you plan to keep your truck outside of warranty, definitely use a high quality synthetic; not a synthetic blend either, since that marketing term is not regulated and if they put one drop of synthetic in 5 gallons of dino oil they can label it synthetic blend.

You will not get "leaks", I don't know where that idea comes from.

There is a ton of user reports on oiling in a different forum; our hemis do best on high quality synthetics such as Redline, Amsoil, and PUP. This is backed up by Used Oil Analysis reports, most of which are from Blackstone. They tell you exactly which wear metals are present (copper, aluminum, iron etc), in which quantities, and whether you can continue to put more miles on the next oil change etc.

So the science is clear here; use a good synthetic.

I don't know where it came from either. But I do know I switched to synthetic in my 2 BMW (2003 K1200RS and GT) motorcycles and I had leaks. I'm not going for a third.

 

[HoosierTrooper]

Don't know and don't care...all I know from first hand knowledge is my method has worked just fine on the 2 dozen of so vehicles I have bought over the last 52 years. I have gotten over 250k out of a 1990 Ford Ranger with the POS 2.9 V6 and 300k from a 2002 Toyota Sequoia used to tow SeaDoos. No oil needed to be added between 5k changes.

EVERYONE has a different opinion on this, nothing personal, but you can do it your way and I'll continue to do it mine.

I agree, nothing personal, but what I posted wasn't my opinion. It's an undisputed fact that millions of new vehicles are sold every year that come from the factory with synthetic oil, which disproves the opinion that synthetic oil is "too slippery" for proper break-in.