Diesel Maintenance
Contemplating diesel and I am getting a few conflicting ideas as to the maintenance requirements and how often to service them? How often do the fuel filters need changing and how often does the w...
Forum Discussion
wintersun wrote:
With my diesel and towing 50% of the time I change the oil every 7500 miles and not per the DIC which would allow for going 10,000 miles. Diesels put more soot and such into the motor oil and the situation is even worse with towing or with short trips (less than 45 minutes) where the engine is seldom at its optimum operating temperature. My engine also takes twice as much oil as a gas engine and requires a more expensive motor oil as well. And I have to drive further for oil changes as most of the quick lube places and the GM dealers use a poorly rated oil for diesels.
I can go 100,000 miles with the fuel filter with my gas vehicles but have to change the fuel filter on my truck every 10,000 miles. Diesel fuel is unbelievable dirty and particles in the fuel eat away at the fuel injector solenoids which are operating at 29,000 PSI or higher in today's common rail high pressure fuel systems. Even with 98.7% filtration there are more than 200,000 particles going into the injectors at high velocity with each gallon of diesel that is burned. It is well worth the expense to use the best fuel filters you can find and not the stock ones, especially with the Duramax and its mediocre ACDelco filter. Ram with its Cummins filter is the only one I would trust.
NOx sensors cost $700 to replace and they are less reliable than the O2 sensors with gas vehicles. And there is the need to buy DEF for use to keep the exhaust cleaner. Diesel itself costs more than premium gas which pretty much negates any gains in MPG. Two batteries to replace instead of one.
My annual costs with the diesel engine are more than double that of any gas powered truck I have owned. Repairs are going to be magnitudes more expensive. A new set of fuel injectors for a diesel truck will cost more than an engine rebuild with a gas engine.
Completely disagree. While towing the engine oil is not being abused at all. When I tow a lot my oil change intervals are about 7,500 miles the maximum allowed for my 11 HO RAM 6.7. I change at the time it says no sooner.
