Grand Caravan break in

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New England
Wife wanted a minivan. Having another kid in July and have a 2 year old daughter now. After searching used vans, I thought the best deal would be go new and cheapest. Used odyssey's with 150,000 miles and caravans with 100,000 were $7k. Didn't want to take the gamble of getting a good vehicle for that much money and the hassle of contacting people privately selling. When I did contact a couple people they only would answer yes to the vehicle still for sale and ignore my other requests.
So...Got a new vehicle: 2019 Dodge Grand Caravan with Pentastar 3.6. Planing on changing oil around 500-1000 miles with either Napa Dino or Mobil super 5w-20, with Mopar 349 filter. Which oil would you pick? I also have some peak, milesyn and valvoline 5w-30. I have a couple free changes but want to get the oil out sooner. Just a reminder: my stash is older so napa has sodium. Ok for break in?
In my owners manual it states to get a good break in I should wide open throttle when cruising after 300 miles. I've heard of doing this for better proformance but I'm looking for longevity. This is not a sports car. Is this just Dodge being Dodge, meaning they want to have this persona of being fast and fun?
Is it a better bet to break in the engine easy for longevity? I plan on letting off the throttle on hills every once in a while while cruising to seat the rings.
The picture makes the van look very grey. It is in fact more of a silver in real life. I do wish it was the more manly, darker color lol.

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Use the NAPA conventional oil. I do not think you need any elaborate break in procedures. The deceleration you plan is all you need.

Just relax, do reasonable OC's and drive normally. You will get years and years of great service from the Caravan. You made a great choice!
 
I just changed oil at 4500 with Napa synthetic blend nothing other than drove it normal nothing special as it had right at 3k when I bought it. It only has 7500 on it right now so next oil change is still away off. Most don't do anything special just drive it. The only thing I recommend is turn off the econ button. Mine has hit 5k up when getting on interstate as traffic here won't move over. Fuel mileage is now up quite a bit since I first bought it. 300 miles on this tank and still have 1/2 tank. Don't let it lug.
 
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Break it in on the conventional oil and then around 5K miles I would switch over to synthetic if you want although my dad's 2012 saw conventional its whole life and consumes no oil with over 300K KM on it.

The factory fill has a decent amount of Moly in it and most likely is PYB so you might want to mimic that as long as you are running conventional.

I changed my oil at 1,000km (600 miles), 3,000km (1800 miles) and again at 6,000km (3600 miles) and then went to synthetic. No reason to change it this often but I'm a bit OCD and conventional oil is cheap. Lots of crap to flush out from the factory. I had metal flakes in the filter on the first 2 filters.

I drove it conservatively in the first 500km (300 miles) and then drove normally there after but conservatively when cold. I tried to vary the RPM as much as possible from the first day and for the next 1,000 miles (1600km). I didn't do any wide open throttle bursts on the highway until the first 1,000km (600 miles) and never from the low gears. (All as per the manual)

I'm not a believer of being hard on it for good ring seating. I think this is bunk for many reasons and can do more harm than good but you will find these folks here.

The manual says you can run 5w30 if 5w20 isn't available and I'm running 0w30 in mine, seems to be quieter and they were originally spec'ed for a 30wt so that's most likely why.

Enjoy!
 
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That 3.6 is not really picky about oil, the higher sodium NAPA oil is fine. Use any of the oils you have.
As for the early change, all kinds of opinions on that. I am of the change it early (like 600 miles), then one more time before the "normal" first oil change.

For engine break-in, I have always heard and followed no steady speeds (ie no cruise control use) for first 600 miles or so, vary the speeds, vary easy and fast (but not full throttle) starts also, with an occasional "romp" on the throttle after 300 miles or so.
I have friends that are of the "floor it from the get go" and have no problems either.

I was looking at the Grand Caravan recently, found a few used (the RT model, pretty much from Rental Fleet) that I really liked, but when I parked one in the garage, it was a bit too tight for my liking. I did like the drive and size though.
 
Hey Stevie, I thought I saw I could run heavier oil but now I can't find it in the manual. I only see they recommend mopar, pennzoil 5w-20. Any idea what page the verbage is?
 
Originally Posted by CELICA_XX
This is the first time I have seen an owner's manual actually SUGGESTING a full throttle application during break-in

I know, right!?
 
I have the same engine in a 2017 Pacifica. Great engine, good power, decent fuel economy.

I use the same Mopar 349 filters, bought cheap off Amazon (from a Chrysler dealer) for about $6 a piece delivered. Cheapest Ive seen them.

I run synthetic 5W30, changed every 5K miles. I run the oil filter twice, for 10K miles use, which is what they are rated for. Makes the oil change a little easier, and quicker, and does no harm.

My car gets a LOT of idle time, picking up two different kids from two different school, at least 1.5 hour of idle time every day, so I upped the car to a 30 weight, and change it conservatively at 5K miles. If you do a lot of highway driving, I see no reason why you couldn't stick with 7.5K miles changes on synthetic.

That identical engine in the Pacifica calls for 0W20 oil only. In the Dodge, I think it calls for 5W20. Probably since a lot of them are used in fleets, and fleets are much more likely to have access to bulk (cheap) 5W20 than 0W20 oil.

Since synthetic Supertech oil (very good stuff) is only $15.XX per 5 quart jug, I see no reason whatsoever to use a conventional oil in this engine.
 
Most of FCA's break ins recommend full throttle after 300 miles. I like to think it helps with ring seating.

I believe, but don't quote me, the Pacifica got the PUG engine which has ESS, updated cam phasers, variable valve lift, among other changes. The Grand Caravan is still using the older Pentastar.

My 2018 Grand Caravan manual says around page 339 "NOTE: Mopar SAE 5W-30 engine oil approved to FCA Material Standard MS-6395 such as Pennzoil, Shell Helix or equivalent may be used when SAE 5W-20 engine oil meeting MS-6395 is not available."

I will be using Mobil 1 EP 5w30 in both my 3.6 Pentastar's.
 
I like your early oil change plan… I think any of the Dino oils will do fine for your break in plan.

For breaking in new engines, no cruise control for the first 1000 miles; heavy acceleration up to 3 or 4000 RPM with engine braking down to lower RPM (I did mine frequently in all gears the first 500 miles or so) is good for seating the rings as you have said.

Of that, enjoy the new vehicle; that is a great engine and should last longer than the rest of the vehicle.
 
Originally Posted by pda1122
Hey Stevie, I thought I saw I could run heavier oil but now I can't find it in the manual. I only see they recommend mopar, pennzoil 5w-20. Any idea what page the verbage is?


Page 463 of the manual.
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I like these vehicles a lot. The key for this generation isn't so much the engine as it is the transmission. The not so few bad ones we see at the dealer auctions almost always have a transmission issue that rears its head around the 90k to 120k mark. I would do a drain and fill every 20k to 30k.

As for oil, FCA hires a not so small army of chemical and mechanical engineers for a reason. Stick to their recommendations.

http://dashboard-light.com/vehicles/Dodge_Grand_Caravan.html
 
My dad's is over 300K KM and has the unrevised keyed-teflon ring design which has been fixed in later 62TE transmissions. They did have some pump problems and torque converter problems but that was a limited batch and has been corrected. This transmission is largely based on it's 4 speed brother which is used in the 4 cylinder Journey's. It's a good design if looked after.

That said I think 100,000km (60K miles) interval in the manual is too long for transmission fluid in this setup and I intend to change it at 30K miles (50,000km) changes. I bought a Dorman Pan with a drain plug for it and I'm going to put an inline Fram G-15 filter on the cooler line on the left side of the radiator which has a rating of 11 micron. I'll get my miles out of this transmission.
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Originally Posted by StevieC
My dad's is over 300K KM and has the unrevised keyed-teflon ring design which has been fixed in later 62TE transmissions. They did have some pump problems and torque converter problems but that was a limited batch and has been corrected. This transmission is largely based on it's 4 speed brother which is used in the 4 cylinder Journey's. It's a good design if looked after.

That said I think 100,000km (60K miles) interval in the manual is too long for transmission fluid in this setup and I intend to change it at 30K miles (50,000km) changes. I bought a Dorman Pan with a drain plug for it and I'm going to put an inline Fram G-15 filter on the cooler line on the left side of the radiator which has a rating of 11 micron. I'll get my miles out of this transmission.
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Could you post a link to the pan? I like the idea of drain pan bolt. Should fit my trans also, right? Thanks
Oh and that won't void warranty?
 
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It's and identical pan to the OE pan other than it has the drain plug. I can't speak to the warranty concern.

Be sure to move your magnet from your existing pan to this one.

https://www.dormanproducts.com/p-78993-265-833.aspx

Oh and Fel-pro makes a gasket for this pan so you don't need to use RTV.
https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=1949594&jsn=119

You can also get the Dipstick measuring tool from Dorman via RockAuto
https://www.dormanproducts.com/p-52514-917-327.aspx

Use a Scantool or ScanGauge for fluid temperature and this chart:
[Linked Image]
 
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So you know the OEM Mopar transmission filter is the same as the Fram transmission filter so buy whatever is less expensive. Make sure it comes with the sealing ring.
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