OCI question- conflicting suggestions

[mark pruett]

I have a 2005 Dodge Dakota with the 3.7L V6. The "severe service" OCI is 3k miles, and is triggered by just about anything other than highway driving- temps over 90F with high speed driving, temps under 32F, stop and go driving, trips under 10 miles, etc... The regular OCI is 6000 miles. I'm not looking to keep the truck more than maybe 4-5 more years, at which point I'll probably get something like a late-model used Colorado.

I pretty much only use my truck as my daily driver, going to and from work, with about a 9 mile drive each way, and the possibility of 4 or 5 miles during lunch round-trip when I run errands. I sometimes use it on the weekends for running errands that need a pickup, or if I need to go do something and my wife's using her car. Very, very rarely- like once a year, it gets out on the highway and gets more than 50-100 highway miles at a stretch when I need to take something big somewhere far away. All said and done, I average about 6000 miles a year, and have consistently done so for the past 8 years or so.

So it would seem to me that the prudent thing would be to get 3k oil changes. But the accepted wisdom around here is conflicting- the 3k OCI is considered to be about as antiquated as bleeding or phrenology, and something more like 5-6k is recommended, even for conventional oils.

Until really recently, I was doing annual oil changes and using Mobil 1 5w30 or 0w-30. I'm not interested in doing my own oil changes anymore, and not interested in paying for someone else to do synthetic changes either.

So is a 6000 mile interval with quality conventional oil unreasonable considering today's oils and my driving patterns? Or should I be having them done semi-annually?

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

'conflicting suggestions' is SOP around here at BITOG. You've been here long enough to know that.

Sounds like you have a pretty good grasp of the pros and cons of either schedule. It doesn't seem to me what you're doing would be severe enough to warrant 3k oil changes. ME, PERSONALLY, I'd do one year change with a good cheap syn or blend and not worry about. But I'm sure you're going to get many more suggestions!

 

[gfh77665]

Even 5000 mile intervals are perfect, and easy to remember!

 

[Gene K]

With that engines V8 parent the 4.7L and similar driving patterns the OLM in my 2010 Ram 4x4 defaulted to 6000 mile OCI.

I think 12 month oci would be doable with a conventional.

Most of the local oil change places here will do an oil change for $15-20 if you provide oil and filter. That is another option as you can often catch a Synthetic on Sale/Rebate for $2-3 a quart and get a decent filter for $3-5.

 

[Doog]

Since you are a severe service driver. I would do an annual OCI with Mobil1 EP 5w30 and a Fram premium filter and be done with it. You can have Walmart do it pretty cheap. But I would do it myself. You'll never get burned using the EP oil. So you get peace of mind and your annual OCI.

 

[fdcg27]

It sounds like almost any use of this vehicle would qualify as severe service.
Giving this the common sense test, that seems like a recommendation unlikely to be valid, particularly since you live in a place where real cold is never seen.
You could probably do annual drains with your mileage, although I'd lean toward a synthetic oil, most of which can be acquired quite cheaply by combining store deals with an MIR.
You want to run 3K/6 mo drains?
Go for it, but it probably isn't necessary.

 

[Toto]

I had a 06 Dakota 3.7 and ran 4 UOA's, I would recommend 6 months or 5k, your challenge is not so much the mileage but your driving conditions you are not allowing the engine to fully warm up for much time (short tripping) good luck!
TOTO.

 

[VNTS]

too many short trips, I would change it every 6 months.

Dont forget to change the PCV vave on the 3.7

 

[CT8]

Don't run syn oil for 2x per year oil changes.1 change per year do syn oil. If the engine is in good shape.

 

[OneEyeJack]

Your use sounds nothing like severe. Your truck as you describe it, is a commuter, not a work truck. Anyone of these schemes you're kicking around should do the trick.

You might consider a longer trip every month or so, something that is long enough to get everything warmed up, like an hour or so of steady driving.

I do 10K with my V8 4Runner that is used off road a lot towing a heavy trailer on dirt roads with water crossings and lots of bumps and ruts. I use a Red Line synthetic 0w-30 oil with a Mobil 1 M1-209 oil filter that I change every other oil change.

In a couple of months I'll post a UOA. I'm headed to somewhere around 155k miles and the engine runs like new. You can see any oil consumption on the dip stick between oil changes.

 

[mctmatt]

Mark,

I live up just north of you and travel into Dallas each day for work. I think the every 6 month approach is best as I know even with a little Dallas driving it still can be stop and go from the start of your destination until the end of your destination plus our summers can be brutal at times. Since you don't want to do your on oil changes the are plenty of great coupon deals you can take advantage of for a quality oil change probably less than $25. With that being said doing an oil change twice a year should not be an issue especially since you want to keep the truck another 4 or 5 years.

 

[SatinSilver]

I'd bring it into the Ford Quick Lane, no apt needed, 5w30 syn-blend, MC filter unless you provide your own and you'll be golden. They won't bat an eye when you bring the Dodge in there. I bring the Matrix there. Usually they use an 836 filter which they were out of last time. They were going to have a parts store deliver a different one but they found an 822 fits and is a little larger. I try to go during non-busy times. I tried a bunch of different places and this is my favorite combo. The price is $25.

 

[KingCake]

The best answer is to use an oil analysis to check for probs with extended intervals (fuel dilution, coolant, tbn, etc)

Took me 2 reports to stretch out to 15K mile intervals with Mobil1 EP and M1 filter. All was fine. Blackstone said to go longer!

 

[SilverC6]

I like a 5,000 mile OCI.

Start there and extend the OCI if you want.

5,000 miles lets me get under the car on a regular basis and do some assessment of the muffler, tires, shocks, tranny (not Bruce), etc.

 

[supton]

6k per year, and you plan to ditch in 4 or 5 years. So maybe another 30k on the clock.

Does it really matter? Change it once/year with almost anything. Better oil is better, but since you don't plan to keep it really long, why bother? That said, it's not that much more work to just change every 3k/6month either--doing that means the cheapest conventional is just fine. Plus if you keep the receipts it'll look really good to the next buyer.

Might be tempting to run the bestest synthetic and change every other year. Even less work, even if it costs the same amount.