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Scheduled Oil Change

33K views 31 replies 15 participants last post by  joatmon 
#1 ·
So according to the maintenance schedule I only need to change the oil and filter every 8000 miles. Really? :) or should I have just the oil changed only at 4000 then at 12000 etc... then the oil and filter being done every 8000 miles?
 
#2 ·
WOW, that's almost 1300km for us Canucks.

I'm old school, and have always went with the 5000km (which is what, 3000 miles?). However if the manufacturer says 8000 miles and will stand behind it, then why not?
 
#4 ·
I'm a maintenace guy's dream. I do exactly what the book says on time, every time.....well within a few hundred km's of course.

If they tell me 1300km and warranty it, then I will be fine with that.

Its this whole flex fuel thing that has me puzzled. Good thing there isn't anywhere near my place, so I won't have to worry about that for a few more years. LOL........
 
#7 ·
I'm with Topless...I plan on changing it every 3000 regardless of what the book says. My girlfriend and I both bought 200's with the V6 last month, and I've already changed the oil on both cars...(the old school 500 mile first oil change...not required in the owners manual). Very, very easy to do on these cars. The oil filters are not widely available yet, but was able to find them at NAPA. Supposedly the oil coolers on these engines and the fact they take 6 quarts is suppposed to help extend the change intervals to 8K (or six months if you reach that first...very important point), but I just can't bring myself to wait that long! Oil is cheap, and I like it to come out still looking amber!
 
#9 · (Edited)
I'm also old school and generally change break-in oil within 3K miles and then switch to synthetic for 6K OCI's.

There's a ton of oil change info on this website:http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/

For any Detroit area owners, Fenkell Glass (2 metro locations) offers lifetime oil changes/tire rotations every 3K miles for $225. They use Shell oil and Wix filters. My wife's Jeep is on that plan and you can't beat it.

The cartridge oil filter choice rather than spin-on is interesting, and since the PentaStar engine is used across the board, I would expect all the parts companies to have replacement filters available in short order.
 
#11 ·
Real old school, and listening to the engineers over the years, I think the first oil change should come really early ---kind of like flushing out the system as these new motors are super tight. Will probably change my oil around every 3-4 k, as once it starts looking dirty/dark to me, it is time to change.
 
#13 ·
I just got a coupon for a complimentary oil change from my dealership. I have around 2800 miles on my 200 now so I think I'll go ahead and get the first one done at 3000 miles. I'm going to talk to the service guys and see what they recommend after that.
 
#19 ·
I got my oil changed today at around 3300 miles and I asked the service guy about how often I should change it since the book says every 8000 miles. He said at the most change it every 6000 miles. I think I'm going to go with every 5000 and then that will coincide with a tire rotation.
 
#15 ·
I knew that the scheduled oil change is at 8,000 miles, but the question is not to dispute this, it is what we, as owners are comfortable with, or how we personally maintain our vehicles. I will still change mine prior to 8,000 miles for the first time, but for someone to tell you that to change it prior to 2500 miles could cause you problems is just hogwash. It frankly does not even sound logical, let alone have any real merit to it. I foolishly went back and asked our Shop Foreman if he could think of any reason why this would be the case and he looked at me like I was daft. Heck no you can change it sooner than 8K, and no reason at all one couldn't do it at 500 miles if they wanted.

No basis in such a ridiculous comment, and sure won't hurt. It is wise to use the specified weight , as this has been recommended since the MDS motors first came out in the Hemi.
 
#16 ·
Factory oil

I read somewhere that the original factory oil had a specefic additive package for new engines and that is why an early oil change is not recomended. I can't remember where I read it though.

Thanks
Randy
 
#18 ·
To me, 8000 miles is absurd. Especially the first change.

Parts guy (he seems much more knowledgeable than the service guy) said maybe 4,000 or six months. I've gotten TWO certificates for free O&F change from the dealer so far, we've had the car four months and about 2,000 miles so I'll probably do it at about 2500 next month.

I notice the car mags go extended interval on their long term test cars. It seems to me that in days past, cars did as well or better @ 40,000 as they did when new. The trend seems to be the cars' performance has deteriorated @ 40K now. I'd suspect the 7,000 to 10,000 mile O&F could have something to do with it, but I have no proof.
 
#25 ·
My Oil Change Required message came on in the EVIC at about 3600 miles. I'll go by the EVIC since it takes into account engine hours and load. My guess is that it comes on early for the first change to get the factory oil out after initial break-in.

This may be helpful:
"The change oil indicator gives an indication to the vehicle operator when a duty-cycle algorithm contained within the software of the Powertrain Control Module (PCM) determines that a recommended oil change interval has been attained. This indicator is controlled by the instrument cluster logic circuit based upon cluster programming and electronic messages received over the Controller Area Network (CAN) data bus from the PCM. The PCM continually monitors numerous sensor inputs to determine the duty-cycles to which the engine is being subjected."
 
#26 ·
My Oil Change Required message came on in the EVIC at about 3600 miles. I'll go by the EVIC since it takes into account engine hours and load. My guess is that it comes on early for the first change to get the factory oil out after initial break-in.

This may be helpful:
"The change oil indicator gives an indication to the vehicle operator when a duty-cycle algorithm contained within the software of the Powertrain Control Module (PCM) determines that a recommended oil change interval has been attained. This indicator is controlled by the instrument cluster logic circuit based upon cluster programming and electronic messages received over the Controller Area Network (CAN) data bus from the PCM. The PCM continually monitors numerous sensor inputs to determine the duty-cycles to which the engine is being subjected."
Why couldn't they just say "The change oil indicator gives an indication to the vehicle operator to stop enjoying the ride for a few hours and change the oil because the manufacturer says so"?!?

That would be good enough for me. LOL.......:D
 
#30 ·
I just switched mine to Amsoil Signature Series 0w-30 full synthetic yesterday. Good for one year or 25,000 miles. I'll change the filter about twice in between since Amsoil doesn't have a filter for it yet. For those on the metric system, that's about 40,200 KM
 
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