# Oil Change Advice



## Insomniak (Jul 7, 2006)

I have a little more than 2,000 miles on the new Ram truck, and I've been keeping an eye on the fluids like the owner's manual says to. When I looked at the engine oil, the level was ok, but the oil was BLACK! It just doesn't seem reasonable that the oil should be so dirty after so few miles. Is this something that is unique to diesel engines, the break-in period, or something? Should I change the oil now and then again at 6,000 miles as is recommended? Also, what about synthetic oil? I used 5W-20 synthetic in the Tundra hoping it would improve my mileage a bit. The Dodge manual says to use 15W-40 or 5W-40 synthetic. Any opinions as to what would be best here in Los Angeles?


----------



## sunnybrook29 (Oct 7, 2009)

Diesel oil is always black . I do what the manufacturer says , I believe it is 6,000 miles . I have had 4 Cummins and put a minimum of 160,000 miles on each . I do not know why I change trucks but it was never engine problems . The only advantage to synthetic oil is a longer change interval but at no cost savings . My dealer has a program were I pay $160 upfront and I get 4 oil/filter changes which I do anytime after 4,500 miles . I usually change fuel filters myself as it is just a matter of lifting the old out and dropping in a new one and you will save thirty bucks . 
Your oil will be black after ten minutes of running .


----------



## KTMRacer (Jun 28, 2010)

sunnybrook29 said:


> Diesel oil is always black . I do what the manufacturer says , I believe it is 6,000 miles . I have had 4 Cummins and put a minimum of 160,000 miles on each . I do not know why I change trucks but it was never engine problems . The only advantage to synthetic oil is a longer change interval but at no cost savings . My dealer has a program were I pay $160 upfront and I get 4 oil/filter changes which I do anytime after 4,500 miles . I usually change fuel filters myself as it is just a matter of lifting the old out and dropping in a new one and you will save thirty bucks .
> Your oil will be black after ten minutes of running .


x2. In my duramax, the change interval is monitored by the engine computer and tells you when to change. for me It varies between about 7,000 and 10,000 miles depending on driving conditions. i've sent it off to blackstone labs for analysis going 10K when the indicator said change at 7500 with dino oil (non synthetic). Analysis came back with a recomendation that I could extend the change interval to 15K miles. so I went 10K and had an analysis done again. each time 10K was very good, with a recomendation I could go 15K so that's what I stick with.

so, don't worry, and based on the blackstone analysis on my truck and car the old "change oil every 3K miles" is a waste of resources and money. In my car, the recomended change interval is 7500 and blackstone showed that to be about right. 7500 oil was fine, at 10k the TBN was down considerably, and they recomended 10K as a change interval.


----------



## mmblantz (Jul 1, 2007)

I've got a 2012 VW TDI which is also a diesel. The oil is as black as can be and has been since day 1. 10,000 mile intervals also and they are free with all other scheduled maintanance during warranty period and synthetic is specified. Synthetic will make a difference in the long run cost or not. The organic stuff sludges up over time. ----Mike


----------



## cdawrld (Jul 31, 2011)

Audi also recommends 10,000 between changes. Dealer uses 10-30wt but I would recommend 15 weight for LA. Good for starting the engine at or above 50f outside morning lows.


----------



## MJRey (Jan 21, 2005)

The newer diesels with the EGR and other emissions equipment get the oil black very quickly. The oil spec was changed to the current CJ version around 2007 to accommodate the extra stuff going into the oil due to the current emissions requirements. So far I've just stuck with changing the oil when the truck's service message comes up. So far it's happened around every 5,000 to 7,000 miles and except for once I've just had the dealer take care of it. It's not too hard to change but it's messy. If you're going to change the oil yourself here are a couple of items that will make it much easier. The drain valve reduces the mess when taking out the drain plug. The one time I did it there was a big splash of oil when the plug came out and even with the drain pan properly placed it made a mess. To take off the filter I used a 2-litre soda bottle with the top cut off around the filter and it caught all the dripping oil. The product below does the same thing. I may get one before the next oil change if I do it myself.

http://www.genosgarage.com/FUMOTO-F104-OIL-DRAIN-VALVE-18MM-02-12/productinfo/FTP-F104-A/

http://www.genosgarage.com/FILTERGLOVE/productinfo/FILTERGLOVE/

I don't know which oil is best, there have been several good articles written in Turbo Diesel Register (TDR) (www.turbodieselregister.com) on the newer CJ oils. TDR is an excellent magazine for Dodge diesel trucks and I highly recommend it. Whatever oil you go with pay a few extra dollars and get the Stratapor Cummins/Mopar Oil filters. They use synthetic filter media and will give better filtering no matter which oil you use. I've been using the Valvoline Premium Blue 15W40 oil mainly because it's what the dealer uses and it's easy to get.


----------



## KTMRacer (Jun 28, 2010)

MJRey said:


> The newer diesels with the EGR and other emissions equipment get the oil black very quickly. The oil spec was changed to the current CJ version around 2007 to accommodate the extra stuff going into the oil due to the current emissions requirements. So far I've just stuck with changing the oil when the truck's service message comes up. So far it's happened around every 5,000 to 7,000 miles and except for once I've just had the dealer take care of it. It's not too hard to change but it's messy. If you're going to change the oil yourself here are a couple of items that will make it much easier. The drain valve reduces the mess when taking out the drain plug. The one time I did it there was a big splash of oil when the plug came out and even with the drain pan properly placed it made a mess. To take off the filter I used a 2-litre soda bottle with the top cut off around the filter and it caught all the dripping oil. The product below does the same thing. I may get one before the next oil change if I do it myself.
> 
> http://www.genosgarage.com/FUMOTO-F104-OIL-DRAIN-VALVE-18MM-02-12/productinfo/FTP-F104-A/
> 
> ...


X2 on the fumoto drain valve. I have one on the silverado and one on the mercedes. On both I bought the drain valve with a nipple so I just slip on a piece of tubing to drain the oil directly into the oil pan. Much less mess and splatter, and way quicker..


----------

