Just purchased a new 2003 Dodge 2500 4x4 Crew Cab. The owners manual suggest that you can wait 15,000 miles between oil changes. While I do most of my driving in town, short distances, should changes be more often. I had a Ford Power Stroke and changed the oil every 5,000. What sort of schedule should I set up for regular oil changes?:rolleyes:
WARLOCK
12-31-2002, 10:11 PM
Welcome neighbor!
I drive a 94 3500 at work, we usually try to change the oil around 10,000 miles.
But then again, I'm usually pulling a trailer some of the time with back hoes and all that. At the moment the one I drive is showing 286,+++ miles on it.
By the way, this is another good place to get more info
http://www.turbodieselregister.com/
PSiemens
01-02-2003, 01:32 AM
Does your owners manual list oil change interval for "severe" service?
lawrence
01-14-2003, 07:47 PM
i just bought a 2003 cummins and they told me 7500 would be a safe milage but if you work it hard it may be different.
gambilld
01-17-2003, 08:55 PM
Come on guys, treat it like a gas engine and change no later than 3500-5000 mi. I have a 93 dakota with 161000 mi and I change the oil religiously every 3500-5000 mi. The only thing I have replaced is the water pump and fuel pump!
6Charger9
01-17-2003, 10:11 PM
I change mine every 7000, nothing but highway miles with minimum stopping.
Our work trucks are changed every 10,000 and run for 9 hours straight daily. Never a problem.
PUTT SKI
01-19-2003, 07:41 AM
OIL IS CHEAP
dodge_em
01-23-2003, 04:09 PM
Oil is cheap, relatively speaking, I suppose. But the oil change intervals is longer on a diesel than on a gas motor. Changing it more often than necessary is not necessarily a benefit. There are companies that can do an oil analysis of your oil and help you determine the optimum oil change interval for you based on your driving habits. Oil in a diesel turns black very soon after putting fresh oil in, so can't judge it just based on color. The manufacturer isn't going to suggest oil change intervals that are too long for the motor when they have to warrantee it for 100,000 miles. I get my oil changed at the dealer, and they put 7,000 miles to my next change on the window sticker, and they make their money by you coming in more often, not less often. So do what you think is right. A lot of time, the suggested intevals from the factory can be exceeded if your oil isn't breaking down and isn't getting too dirty. I guess in summary, I would go with the factory recommendations based on the type of driving you do (severe or not), or spend the 15 bucks and get an analysis done and get something more precise.
jjt4806
04-25-2003, 11:10 AM
OK Bill, since your advertising here, whats the cost? I'd be interested in knowing what the by-pass system runs for an '03, and what prices the oil runs.....
sgbofav
04-29-2003, 10:43 AM
Originally posted by jjt4806
OK Bill, since your advertising here, whats the cost? I'd be interested in knowing what the by-pass system runs for an '03, and what prices the oil runs.....
To get the best price possible you should sign up as a preferred customer. This costs $10.00 for 6 months and $20.00 for 1 year. This will give you savings up to 25% off of Amsoil products.
The bypass set-up needed for the Dodge cummins / Ram trucks is the BMK-15 which costs 176.50 which includes one full flow and one bypass filter. you change the full flow filter every 7000 miles and the bypass filter every 14,000 miles. The full flow fliter used on the BMK-15 is the sdf-26 filter which costs $13.85 each and it comes with a BE-90 bypass filter which costs $20.50 each. you can replcae the BE-90 with the BE-100 or BE 110 if you have the room. The BE-90 is 4 1/2 inches in diameter and it 6 inches long the BE-100 is 4 1/2 inches by 8 inches long and the BE-110 is 4 1/2 inches by 10 inches long. This would increase the oil capacity in your truck.
Here is some info on the bypass filters:
http://www.amsoil.com/bypassfilters/instructions/bmk15_16_17.htm
http://www.amsoil.com/bypassfilters/partslist.htm
http://www.amsoil.com/bypassfilters/index.htm (This shows different truck and car installations.)
The oil that you need is the : SAE 15W-40 Synthetic Heavy Duty Diesel and Marine Motor Oil
This oil costs $4.00 a quart per quart and gets cheaper in larger quantites. The oil costs$3.93 per quart for1 gallon bottle, $3.73 a quart for a 2 1/2 gallon bottle and 3.55 a quart for (2) 2 1/2 gallon bottles.
Here are some performance tests: http://www.amsoil.com/performancetests.htm
PM or E-mail me if you have any questions.
Bill,
jjt4806
04-29-2003, 03:10 PM
It sounds like something I want to do - but it will probably be about a year out. I've read about the BMK-15/11 on the TDR site, and have heard that people experience low oil pressure issues with that set-up. I'd prefer the BMK15, but not at the price of low oil pressure......has Amsoil addressed this issue, or is it even an issue to them?
sgbofav
04-29-2003, 03:45 PM
The bmk-15 shouldn't have a low pressure issue because it has a restrictor plate in it. The plate only allows 10% of the oil to be scrubbed analytically clean at any given time to prevent low oil pressure issues. The BMK-11 just taps the oil from another location which might be the cause of lower oil pressure problems.
Bill
I'm going to contact the Tech Reps at Amsoil for a better explanation.
jjt4806
04-29-2003, 06:20 PM
Bill, I wonder if some of what these guys are seeing is a result of also switching to Amsoil oil at the same time as putting in the filter system? Just a thought....I know going synthetic will result in a lower pressure reading just due to the viscosity difference, and there might also be a small amount due to the longer run of the oil lines, thus giving a larger delta change in pressure reading especially if the pressure sending unit remains in the same location).....
sgbofav
04-29-2003, 07:19 PM
I was short on time when I replied the first time. I was going to mention the reduction in oil pressure like you said. I just didn't have as good of an explanation as you did. Amsoil 100% warranties their products including their bypass set-up and if anything was to happen they would give a check for damages. I'm proud to say that in 30 years Amsoil has not had one engine failure due to their oil. Even if you would like to wait a year to purchase the bypass set-up, don't discount their oil with their full flow SDF oil filters(same model as the 2002 Cummins).
Bill
2Blue4U
05-09-2003, 04:36 PM
Hey Bill another option is to run the Series 3000 5W-30 Heavy Duty Diesel Oil
15,000 miles between oil changes and change the Amsoil oil filter at 7,500.
This is the same oil I run in my 5.9 gas motor. This oil is recommended for gas and diesel engines.
http://www.amsoil.com/products/hdd.html
sgbofav
05-09-2003, 10:34 PM
Good idea Frank,
The series 3000 diesel oil is nothing but the best!
Bill,
Fred Schor
05-22-2003, 11:05 PM
So wait, you can keep your system "stock" and just buy the Amsoil oil filter and oil and still go longer in between oil changes than what's recommended with non-synthetic?
So what's the purpose for getting the complete by-pass system?
sgbofav
05-23-2003, 12:05 AM
With the bypass system you make the oil analytically clean which extends it's life much further than it normally would. It's not unrealistic to realize oil change intervals using the (bypass sytem) of 100,000 plus miles with full engine protection. This is with oil filter cahnges at prescribed intervals of course.
The other major benefit of the bypass sytem is that it filters particulates down to 2 microns. The majority of oil filters don't filter particulates smaller than 20 microns. According to Amsoil 60% or more of engine wear is caused by dirt particulates smaller than 20 microns.
In the long term, bypass systems will significantly reduce engine wear which will extend the service life of your engine above and beyond the average engine life.
