Help choosing the right oil

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Hi all! I'm new to this forum, followed a link off the Dodge blog because I want to pick the best oil to use.
A few months ago I bought a 2001 Dodge Ram Van3500 with 5.2L engine with just under 150,000 miles on the odometer. Most of the daily driving, (till I find a good used camper to buy) is town driving from 5 to 25 miles one way. When I get my camper I will be towing and driving at least 600 miles one way to visit my grandkids. The owners manual says to use 10W30 and Mopar filter P/N 5281090. It also says to change every 3,000 miles or 3 months under certain conditions, which I currently meet, and will continue to meet when I get that camper.
After reading Oil U, I think I should use a high mileage (van 18 years old and over 100,000k), synthetic oil but I am not familiar with synthetic oil and I am at a loss as to the weight ot type I should use.
Also, I am thinking about this oil filter, WIX 51085XP, as it is designed for heavy duty vehicles that tow.
Your advice is greatly appreciated!!!
 
Originally Posted by CAJ1966
Hi all! I'm new to this forum, followed a link off the Dodge blog because I want to pick the best oil to use.
A few months ago I bought a 2001 Dodge Ram Van3500 with 5.2L engine with just under 150,000 miles on the odometer. Most of the daily driving, (till I find a good used camper to buy) is town driving from 5 to 25 miles one way. When I get my camper I will be towing and driving at least 600 miles one way to visit my grandkids. The owners manual says to use 10W30 and Mopar filter P/N 5281090. It also says to change every 3,000 miles or 3 months under certain conditions, which I currently meet, and will continue to meet when I get that camper.
After reading Oil U, I think I should use a high mileage (van 18 years old and over 100,000k), synthetic oil but I am not familiar with synthetic oil and I am at a loss as to the weight ot type I should use.
Also, I am thinking about this oil filter, WIX 51085XP, as it is designed for heavy duty vehicles that tow.
Your advice is greatly appreciated!!!



We have a 2000 Dodge Ram 5.2. 96K or so miles. I just use regular conventional 5w-30 or 10w-30. But, I use a longer filter than the 51085--I use a 51515. Using a high mileage oil. may help condition seals for small oil leaks, etc--but honestly--and this is just my own flawed opinion: I tend to not use those high mileage oils and would prefer a "standard" conventional or synthetic oil (I tend to gravitate to conventional mostly--just keep em changed every 3-4k). Just keep doing what you are doing--use a quality brand oil that meets API and you should be good. Me personally, I would probably investigate going to thicker weight oils before switching to a high mileage blend--I have nothing against HM Oil, I just don't really use it.
 
I have a '97 B3500 with the 3.9 (basically the same engine) with 175k miles and it doesn't care what oil goes into it. It has M1 HM 10w-30 in it now but will have SuperTech syn 10w-30 next time. I think changing the oil every 3k miles is excessive. Pick any 10w-30 and a Mopar filter from Wal Mart and change it every 5k. Your engine and driving are easy on the oil.
 
The owners manual said 3,000, from what I just read on the Oil U on this site, if I use synthetic I can go 5,000 miles between cause it dont break down as fast as conventional? Or are you saying it doesnt matter? When I start pulling that camper over 1200 miles round trip should I put something different in it then?
 
You may want to consider Mobil 1 10W30 HM full synthetic every 3,000 miles. You have many options. Let us know what you choose with a follow up!
 
I have a 2000 Ram 4X4 5.2L/318 that just rolled 93 thousand miles. Have owned it since 2010 when I purchased it off the original owner who was elderly and could no longer comfortably get in and out of it with 64 thousand miles on it. He said he used strictly 10W30 conventional and what ever filter he could get the cheapest. First oil change was with Castrol Syntec 10W30 paired with a Purolator Pure One filter. Changed after 3000 miles with the oil super super black and the oil filter felt like it was a good 5lbs when removed. From there I have been running 5W30 & 10W30 Synthetic -- mostly Pennzoil Platinum paired with mostly Fram Ultras. I run the oil 4-5000 miles and change the Fram Ultra every other oil change. Motor still runs like a top till this day. I recommend running back to back tank fulls of Techron Complete Fuel System Cleaner to start your maintenance regiment. You can run conventional/synblend or synthetic and that Magnum motor will not care less. Good luck and keep us posted how the van is treating you down the road.


Dale
 
Originally Posted by CAJ1966
The owners manual said 3,000, from what I just read on the Oil U on this site, if I use synthetic I can go 5,000 miles between cause it dont break down as fast as conventional? Or are you saying it doesnt matter? When I start pulling that camper over 1200 miles round trip should I put something different in it then?

My owners manual says 7,500 miles (no mention of severe service) and change the filter every other oil change. I change the oil and filter each year but that's only 5k miles (for me) which I feel comfortable at. And it doesn't matter, synthetic or conventional. I use synthetic because it's cheap maintenance at once a year.
 
Any SN/SN+ rated 5w-30 or 10w-30 should suit your needs quite well. If we knew what part of the country you reside in, we could fine tune the recommendation to 5w or 10w...
Valvoline Maxlife is a popular oil here for older and high mileage vehicles. Dont focus so much on synthetic or conventional (Maxlife is available as both). Just change is every 4000-5000 miles due to your towing useage.
Then go worry about something else.
 
Originally Posted by CAJ1966
I thought it said lancaster, south carolin AZ in the header by my name, I guess it's not visible to everyone...sorru

You'll do quite fine with either a 5w-30 or 10w-30 as low temperature (-20F or less) performance is not important in your location.
 
I love this van and the motor purrs, no misses or clicks but I do have an issue I cant figure out. The first thing was I thought, though now I have doubts, that I ran out of gas, I thought gauge must be messed up. It died going down road and after I added a couple gallons it fired right up, went to station put in 3 more gallons and it wouldnt start. After fiddling with it for 20-30 mins it started and when I got home I let it idle and it died but restarted a couple times, then 3rd time it died a friend used a little squirt of starting fluid and it started again. We thought trash. Next day I looked for the in-line fuel filter, so did a friend, and couldn't find one. No check engine light. I did some research and thought the fuel pump needed replaced. So we changed that and we went 4 places, came home and parked in side yard and cleaned it out and sputtered around with it, went to move it into the driveway and it wouldnt start, we were tired so I said let's look at it tomorrow. About an hour or so later my friend wanted to run to the convenience store, I said you can see if it will start but dont shut it off. Well it started and it died when they put it in gear to come home but started right up. Still no check engine light. So we took it out on short trips a few times and when we got about 5 miles down road it would just shut off. One time it started right back but the other times after about 20-30 mins it would start up. I did a fuel pressure test and it was great, no visible leaks underneath and fuel came out when I checked the rail, I also tested all the blade fuses and replaced the 2 that were blown and the 4 that were bigger than what the owners manual said should be in there. After talking to people, reading and getting advice on the Dodge blog, I started to think it was a relay. There are 4 mini relays in the box under the hood (2 more inside), I numbered them 1 thru 4, took 1 out, moved the others up and put 1 in number 4 spot. Check engine light came on for the first time, went to AutoZone and they read the code which was this:
PO455...Fuel tank or canister hoses leaking or damaged
Fuel system component leaking or fuel cap loose or missing
Gas cap
So I bought a gas cap. For 1.5 days it was fine, then it started dying again but this time only when you slowed for a turn or in a parking lot or slowing for traffic and it was harder to restart. Then the check engine light came in again and I went back to AZ to have it read and the following came up:
P0442 gas cap or evac system medium leak
P0455 gas cap or evac system large leak
So I took off the gas cap they had sold me a few days before and they gave me another. Ran great for 1.5 days and started dying again when you slowed. I did some research and found out that all gas caps are not equal. I went to Advance who had as different brand and bought another and returned the cap I got from AZ. It died again and my friend had to use starting fluid to get it going. It died twice more on way home then ran fine the last 15 miles or so and idled for 10-15 mins in friends driveway and made it home (we live about 1/4 mile apart). About 20 mins later my friend called, had forgot something important and needed to run a couple miles down road. It started, died, restarted and made it to store, on way home it started and would not start. We tried s little bit of starting fluid but it backfired and caught the ether overspray on filter pan on fire which we put right out and caused no damage but scared the [censored] out of me so I had it towed home (yippee for insurance). Next day friend decided to pull of distributor cap and on the contacts up inside its was corroded with this white flaky stuff and the metal nib on rotor button was blackened and blunted on tip. I cleaned the white crud off and the nib and now I am waiting for payday. I am disabled and only get paid on the 3rd. I am ordering the following:

6 mini relays
2 relays
Ngk v power spark plugs and wires
Distributor cap/rotor
Pickup coil
Crankshaft sensor
PCV valve and grommet
Crankcase breather element
Air filter
Oil filter/oil change
Change transmission fluid/filter
A Mopar gas cap (guessing my van is going to be picky about this)


Since I know at least 1 mini relay is bad, I am replacing all the relays, I figure if it needs a new distributor cap, rotor and pickup coil, new plugs and wires would be smart to and one comment I got was crankshaft sensor so I'm getting that and going ahead and changing PCV valve, thank goodness for rockauto. If fixing these items doesnt stop it from dying, I dont know what to do. If anyone has had this issue or has any idea what it is, please let me know. I am not a mechanic, I know a little bit here and there but luckily have a couple friends who can do some things because I cannot afford to take it to a garage. With no check engine light coming on, I have no codes to guide me and it is very frustrating. I need to get this fixed so I can travel to see my grandkids this summer.
 
OK so first thing is ignore the P04xx evap system leak codes. That wont effect the starting or running and I have been fighting with that code P0440, P0442 on my truck since 2003. Its been to 3 dealers and had most of the evap system replaced and it still happens but now mostly only in the winter. If you changed the relays and the problem changed try putting them back and see if you go back to the original issue. I have a chevy 3500 RV that had start issues and rough running and it turned out to be one of those little relays that control the ignition system that I found after I had replaced the ignition switch. Plugs and wires wont solve it, neither will PCV or the breather element. They will only confuse you while you look for the real issue. You can replace them but set them aside for the time being. The cap and rotor and the mini relays would be the first thing of the items you listed I would replace. Either vibration or heat seems to be causing the issues of course with a truck that old it may be a mouse has chewed through a wire and it is making intermittent contact. I would run a check on the wiring with a flashlight and follow every bundle looking for signs of chaffing or chewing then I would disconnect the battery and pull apart every connector I could get to, examine it and put it back together. Make sure the battery is disconnected though you dont want to kill the ECM or TCM. Then start with your parts 1 at a time. That way you know what fixed it, I hate it when something gets fixed and I dont know why because if it comes back I am in the same boat as before.

Edit: Check your fuse box cover or manual for the mini relay labels and see if any mention ignition.
 
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IIRC, those engines only use the crank sensor signal when starting, so once it starts, it doesn't use that signal while running. Hopefully someone else knows for sure if this is the case.
 
Originally Posted by zrxkawboy
IIRC, those engines only use the crank sensor signal when starting, so once it starts, it doesn't use that signal while running. Hopefully someone else knows for sure if this is the case.

Which signal does it uses for running?
 
Originally Posted by ka9mnx
If it starts with either, it's a fuel problem.

That's what we've been thinking. When it dies and we try to restart it it acts like its fuel starved. The thing is the old fuel cap was loose and all 3 of those codes said fuel cap and I am positive the replacement caps were causing vapor lock. Last time we had trouble, friend checked the rail and a bunch of air came out then finally gas and when we checked it before we got no air. I was told if it vapor locked it would cause air in the rail. Plus, the fuel system has at least 1 relay. So if I have a relay working intermittently then that can cause it to die and not restart till relay cools down. I think there are a couple things wrong at same time and that is making it harder to figure out.
I think I'm going to follow the advice to not get all that I listed cause it was over $200 with tax and shipping.
I'll let you know what happens next and if you think of anything else let me know.
 
Originally Posted by ka9mnx
If it starts with either, it's a fuel problem.

You would think.
 
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