First oil change recommendations???

[Oncehadadakota]

Hello just about to get my first oil change. I’m at 7k mileage and I’m going to take it to valvoline. I wanted to ask if I take it to valvoline will it void my max care warranty? Do I need to take it to the dealership? Also what kind of oil do y’all recommend run in it? I live in PA

 

[hopVIP]

If you're just going to Valvoline and using their oil I'd probably let the dealership do it instead. From what I've read they should use Penzoil from the manufacturer. But regardless of the brand as long as the viscocity is right it won't affect the warranty and the dealership won't have an issue. It's just up to you if you want to pay for something different. Personally at 7K miles I would have changed the oil and filter twice by now. But I have a very strict engine break in method and always use my own oil and filter. I never let the dealer or anyone else touch my vehicles unless I have to.

 

[Klute]

Oh boy...

If you live in PA you gotta go Pennzoil don't cha?

There are a couple (many) threads out there and you are going to get 100 DIFFERENT opinions and advice.

Initial change was at 3K with Pennzoil Synthetic Blend (middle of road compromise) and plan to change every 7K after that (and use the % used/life as a rough guide).

I drive mixed 30% highway/70% city(suburb) driving.

 

[ldoh]

I just use which ever full synthetic oil is on sale. It's usually a name brand 5 gallon jug at close to $15.

 

[brian42]

As Klute said you'll get 100 different answers. Engine lubrication is not something I go looking to find the cheapest stuff on the shelves but I'm also not looking to break the bank.

From all the reading I did to figure out what to use here's what I came up with:

1. Redline
2. Pennzoil Ultra Platinum
3. Mobil 1 Full Synthetic
4. Pennzoil Platinum

Redline - has more of the ZDDP or WXYZ (or whatever it is) additive/lubricant to help with the Hemi tick. It's not cheap.
Pennzoil Ultra Platinum - not be confused with the "regular" Platinum. I don't remember the exact differences but it is better than just Platinum . It's not cheap but can usually be had on sale on Amazon.
Mobil 1 Full Synthetic - a hair behind the Ultra Platinum. Almost interchangeable with the Pennzoil Ultra Platinum but IMO the Pennzoil gets the nod as FCA promotes Pennzoil as the recommended oil for the engine. Also can usually be had on sale.
Pennzoil Platinum - Just misses the podium as it is not quite on the level as the other three but still a good choice.

There are plenty of other oils and opinions that will have long lasting engines too. This is just my opinion and not based on any empirical data other than reading a l-o-t of threads before my first oil change.

This is my first new truck and I plan to keep it for many years so decided to start off with the best oil for the best price (IMO) so I am using Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 5w20 with a Mobil 1 filter.

 

[cotonymopar]

just keep records, I do all my own oil changes, to make sure what is going in.. Mobil 1 full synth.

 

[Ram92131]

The owners manual says to follow the oil life indicator in the instrument cluster, but don’t exceed 10,000 miles without an oil change. If the oil really needs to be changed more frequently, then wouldn’t the owners manual say so? Seems like if you are changing it at 3000 and 7000 miles you are just throwing $ away?

 

[ponypride]

I did my first oil change with the dealer at 3,400. They did not use synthetic oil. When I was at the dealer yesterday for another issue, I asked if I can use synthetic going forward and they told me I could. And it’s not a problem to go for regular to synthetic as it used to be in the past.

 

[brian42]

The owners manual says to follow the oil life indicator in the instrument cluster, but don’t exceed 10,000 miles without an oil change. If the oil really needs to be changed more frequently, then wouldn’t the owners manual say so? Seems like if you are changing it at 3000 and 7000 miles you are just throwing $ away?

This is for the first oil change. The oil put in at the factory is unknown to you. Depending on who you ask they will tell you it's dino, synthetic blend, and/or may contain some lube package for engine break-in. Many like to know what's flowing around in there so put in a known product that meets their standards, whatever that may be.

I'm not sure what the computer is calculating other than miles but my oil life indicator seems to be a 10,000 mile countdown. The % oil life left seems to line up that. Those of us older guys are used to changing our dino oil as frequently as 3K miles "back in the day" so, regardless of excessiveness, many cannot go 10K miles without putting some fresh stuff in. Others us labs (like Blackstone) for oil analysis and go off of the recommendation from their report for OCI.

I only did mine early (7,500 miles) to put some of the "good stuff" in before the 10K miles were up. It just happened that I had a chance at that time (was trying for abour 5K miles but I just couldn't find the time). From here on out I'm going with ~10K miles OCI.

 

[Klute]

Don't know if you guys have seen this youtube guy before, but one of his topics in this video is on oil. Prefers Amazon oil over redline...makes sense.

 

[hopVIP]

I never follow the oil life meter because it's a pre programmed timer that never sees the actual oil. Sure these modern engines have sensors and things to monitor oil some what but unless your oil is still a very light color at 10000 miles or whatever else it should be changed. If it turns black at 5000 and your oil life monitor says 50% common sense should tell you to change it. Unless you want black dirty burnt oil in your engine half its life.

 

[jdmartin]

I never follow the oil life meter because it's a pre programmed timer that never sees the actual oil. Sure these modern engines have sensors and things to monitor oil some what but unless your oil is still a very light color at 10000 miles or whatever else it should be changed. If it turns black at 5000 and your oil life monitor says 50% common sense should tell you to change it. Unless you want black dirty burnt oil in your engine half its life.

You can't really tell anything much from color. The only real way to know how loaded the oil is with contaminants and metals and how much detergent is left is to do an oil sample analysis. I used to do Blackstones on a few of my vehicles because being old-school I was skeptical of the 7500 mile claims, but as it turned out the oil always had plenty of life left in it at the 4-5k intervals I would use, and if I had to add any oil for any reason you'd see sample data that was almost refreshed. I don't remember the website, but they did an experiment like this on an old Camaro or Mustang and found that replenishing just to make up for what they drew on samples (they installed a Fumoto valve) and replacing the filter occasionally (I think they did 5k miles or similar) they could almost drive forever without changing the oil. I personally wouldn't try that but if you really want to know how long your oil can go, do a Blackstone and you'll not only have data you can use, you can share it with the forum so everyone else can see what the loads look like.

 

[jdmartin]

This is for the first oil change. The oil put in at the factory is unknown to you. Depending on who you ask they will tell you it's dino, synthetic blend, and/or may contain some lube package for engine break-in. Many like to know what's flowing around in there so put in a known product that meets their standards, whatever that may be.

I'm not sure what the computer is calculating other than miles but my oil life indicator seems to be a 10,000 mile countdown. The % oil life left seems to line up that. Those of us older guys are used to changing our dino oil as frequently as 3K miles "back in the day" so, regardless of excessiveness, many cannot go 10K miles without putting some fresh stuff in. Others us labs (like Blackstone) for oil analysis and go off of the recommendation from their report for OCI.

I only did mine early (7,500 miles) to put some of the "good stuff" in before the 10K miles were up. It just happened that I had a chance at that time (was trying for abour 5K miles but I just couldn't find the time). From here on out I'm going with ~10K miles OCI.

I think you're about right on the timer - I'm at 4k something miles for the year and my indicator says 60% or so oil life left. At the rate of my mileage it looks like I'll have a change a year, which should keep me good for the next 6 years on this truck (I bought a 6-pack oil change at the dealer for cheap when I bought the truck).

 

[hopVIP]

In my other thread I asked about other oil change schedules/routines and am wondering when other people change theirs. Especially the original oil. Sticking to the manuals recommendations isn't always best. I mentioned some times the original oil isn't even meant for driving. Do you guys know about that? I saw a brand new motor sieze up because of it.

 

[Oncehadadakota]

Thanks! I appreciate the feedback

 

[jdmartin]

In my other thread I asked about other oil change schedules/routines and am wondering when other people change theirs. Especially the original oil. Sticking to the manuals recommendations isn't always best. I mentioned some times the original oil isn't even meant for driving. Do you guys know about that? I saw a brand new motor sieze up because of it.

I can't imagine for a second that FCA would put anything but usable oil in the crankcase right out of the factory; what would possibly be the upside to filling it with anything else? Oil at the wholesale level is ridiculously cheap.

 

[Ramster]

If I read the manual correctly it says 7 quarts of oil. If that's the case I can see the long life expectancy. Regardless oil will get changed after winter.

 

[hopVIP]

The experience I had with a new motor siezing was due to a pos dealership who didn't do thier job. After that happened I did some research and found out lots of manufacturers put preservative oil in new motors not driving oil for the time between initial build and dealer delivery. This perticular dealer knew about this and claimed they changed the oil before selling the truck but the oil they used was the same oil they drained out. Then I found out that everytime they were doing oil changes they were using the same giant oil tank they were storing original factory preservative oil in to service new engines with. They never used new oil even when myself and others brought it in. This happened to several new vehicles they serviced. I spoke with other dealerships about this and they said they have also seen this happen and did store the original oil and that they do recommend changing it as soon as the vehicle is delivered or purchased. It's actually part of a checklist they have and some dealers don't follow it.

 

[jdmartin]

The experience I had with a new motor siezing was due to a pos dealership who didn't do thier job. After that happened I did some research and found out lots of manufacturers put preservative oil in new motors not driving oil for the time between initial build and dealer delivery. This perticular dealer knew about this and claimed they changed the oil before selling the truck but the oil they used was the same oil they drained out. Then I found out that everytime they were doing oil changes they were using the same giant oil tank they were storing original factory preservative oil in to service new engines with. They never used new oil even when myself and others brought it in. This happened to several new vehicles they serviced. I spoke with other dealerships about this and they said they have also seen this happen and did store the original oil and that they do recommend changing it as soon as the vehicle is delivered or purchased. It's actually part of a checklist they have and some dealers don't follow it.

Interesting. I have never heard this before. My father sold cars all his life, mostly at new car dealers, before retiring, I'll have to ask him about this see what he knows about it.

 

[dsn112]

I go to walmart when my indicator says 20% left. Then I change it. I am using the new Shell Rotella Truck oil. It has a picture of a 5th gen ram right on the bottle! Has to be good.

Oil is oil, don't overthink it. Full synthetic can easily last 20k unless you are doing serious truck stuff. Don't worry, drive the truck and enjoy it, change your oil every 10k or so.