Oil change
How many mile you drive pulling the FW before you change the synthetic engine oil?
Forum Discussion
Cummins12V98 wrote:
Towing is MUCH better on your engine than short grocery getter driving.
X2!
Our Gippo Logger neighbor did 10,000 mile oil changes on his Cummins powered log truck back in the 1990’s with Dino oil.
His truck was worked hard, but well cared for, licensed for 105,000# GCWR, would pull “Mule Train” full load of long logs, then a pup of short logs.jfkmk wrote:
dodge guy wrote:
Regardless of what the dash says, never exceed 5k miles of you take pride in what you drive!
Why is that? I take extreme pride in what I drive and change the oil according to manufacturers recommendation. Oil today is very well refined, it isn’t the 70s anymore!
Well my Ram still has two years of warranty left so every 6 months no matter mileage. After that I will likely switch to synthetic and start at 10,000 miles or one year. Will send sample to Blackstone Labs for extended oil change and go from there.
Oil doesn’t wear out, it losses additive strength and can build acids.
I did 10,000 mile Dino oil changes on our 2001 Ram 2500 replaced the tappet cover gasket at about 300,000 miles. The gallery was still 100% clean!- Towing is MUCH better on your engine than short grocery getter driving.
dodge guy wrote:
...The dash doesn’t have your best interest at hand!
The manufacturer gives you a recommended maintenance schedule intended have the vehicle reach an end-of-life shortly after the warranty expires. Thus it begins to 'nickle & dime' the owner who will start to think about replacing it with another new vehicle.
So if that is you, then by all means, follow the manufacturer's schedule of infrequent service. For me, I believe the cheapest vehicle to drive is the one I already own. So it makes sense for me to exceed the manufacturer's recommendations on service intervals. Two daily drivers in the household are pushing 310k miles each with original motors & transmissions.
That is what works for me. I can drive my vehicles and haul my camper with confidence that I have properly maintained them and the assurance that they will bring me to my destination. Frequent maintenance reduces the risk of an unplanned failure which will inevitably occur at the worst time. I mitigate that risk with regular maintenance, other people mitigate that risk with AAA and other roadside assistance plans.
Consider your plans for the vehicle and how long you expect it to provide service for you. Determine what level of failure risk you are willing to accept and your plans to resolve it when it happens. Maintain the vehicle accordingly with your plans & risk tolerance. Do what is best for you, not what 'the Internet' suggests.
-Eric- 15k no matter if it’s all towing or no towing. I have Blackstone reports to back up every change.
I run AMZ/OIL Signature Series 15-40 with FleetGuard Stratapore filter. dodge guy wrote:
Well, that's a bit of over reaction. I don't think there's any harm in going over 5,000 miles as long as you know what kind of shape your oil is in. I have mine checked, and Blackstone Labs says I could easily extend my 5,000 mile oil change interval. So I went to 6,000 miles, and on the last report they suggested I could go to 7,000 miles if I felt inclined.
Regardless of what the dash says, never exceed 5k miles of you take pride in what you drive!
The dash doesn’t have your best interest at hand!
Oh and this is not a synthetic, it's Mobil Delvac 1300 Super.dodge guy wrote:
Regardless of what the dash says, never exceed 5k miles of you take pride in what you drive!
Why is that? I take extreme pride in what I drive and change the oil according to manufacturers recommendation. Oil today is very well refined, it isn’t the 70s anymore!buc1980 wrote:
goducks10 wrote:
I don't know if the truck know how many miles I tow to adjust the oil change message.
I go by my oil change message on the dash. I can scroll thru and see what my % left is.
It doesn't know specifically if you're towing, but it does know minute by minute how much load the engine is under, and whether it's up to operating temperature, and how many cold start cycles there have been since the last oil change, and other similar variables, and can form a much more accurate guess of oil life than anything based simply on miles the tires have rotated.- Regardless of what the dash says, never exceed 5k miles of you take pride in what you drive!
The dash doesn’t have your best interest at hand! goducks10 wrote:
I don't know if the truck know how many miles I tow to adjust the oil change message.
I go by my oil change message on the dash. I can scroll thru and see what my % left is.
