I'm afraid I'll have to agree with this statement. It would help to keep the sarcasm down. The forum is here to help everyone.


Take a minute or two to read and think about how your replies will come across to the viewers before hitting the "Submit Reply" button.

 

Sorry, I don't know much about the 5.9, I am just relaying what the Cummins guy said. So, I didn't relay very well

Personally, I will go synthetic @15-20k from what I read on this site and the owners manual

 

Question- - - -If the oil and compression rings have to "seat" why don't we see oil consumption and blow by, (like we use to on much older cars) I believe in following a manufac. recomm. but I don't really buy it, not tryng to be smart, just an interesting concept to me. And of course I wouldn't pretend to know as much as the people who designed it. A Poll would be interesting to see who went ahead with synthetics, and after high miles if it made any difference. That being said I did wait till 7000 miles to put the psuedosynthetic Rotella in.--- OH---- and Fulldraw86 congrats on your new truck, you will love it. Most all these guys around here are as helpful as can be and will go out of their way assist you. I belong to another paid site, but seems like I read over here a lot more. Another little tidbit I pickup up here was checking out www.fumotovalve.com (HIGH QUALITY PRODUCT) and put one on mine. Just make changing oil a little bit easier. Thanks to rest of members who have helped me so much and esp whoever steered me to Richard at Glacier Diesel. WELCOME TO TDR Fulldraw!!!

 

Bought New 2006 Dodge mega cab 5.9, I waited 2500 miles Then Did The First Oil Change , Put In Syn Oil Long Rider & a Oilguard By Pass Filter, I now Have
25K Never Has It Used any Oil ! No Probs ,Pull Heavey Loads 1/2 the time !
I Do This To All My Trucks , I Have a Few Dodge 3500 They All Get The Same .
My Wifes VW Jetta TDI Gets The Same


Regards,
Col.

 

I've been in the repair buis. for 30 yrs. and would guess that I've heard / read at most 2-3 % neg. [ and thats adding extra for the old memory ] .
Like most of the alternitives , extra cost at start up , but the payback is well worth it .
I've got a Amsoil dualbypass , from a friend , off his truck , when I can afford it , I'm going 100% syn.
I started looking at the $$$ spent on my BENCHREST competion stuff , and it knocked my back , the analigy is that the little bit of $$$ over not much time realy adds up .

 

Another option, fulldraw is used oil analysis. THis is hard proof that what you are doing or not doing is in the best interest of your engine.

 

So by changing my oil at the engine manufactured specs I'm an idoit. I think quite different as I am not wasting the extra $20 a gallon for snake oil. You will probably never keep the truck long enough to relize the damage you would be doing especially without a bypass filter. But I feel for the guy that buys it after you've ruined it by saving a little money. Please do as geico266 said and tell next owner or dealer where you trade it I bet you'll get more money for it . But what does an idoit like myself know about such things, i still change my oil as reccomended.

Jed

 

Even the Blackstone labs guys when asked say dino is as good as anything they have analyzed.
According to the latest Amsoil factory direct buying guide their synthetic 15-40 diesel oil is $25.70 a gallon.
My Delvac is $9.00 at the retailer by me.

With bypass filtering I never have to change my dino oil(according to the analysis I do at 10,000 miles)
With primary and bypass filter changes, an oil change is close to 4 gallons here. Do the math.

Food for thought. Soot, wear metals and other contaminants(acids, fuel...etc..) build up in systems with dino or synthetic, even with bypas filtering.

There also are a lot of other excellent synthetic oils out there that cost much less than Amsoil, and do just as well on the four ball scar test.

These are just my personal experiences and observations.
I sell no product or service that is automotive related.
Cheers
Mike
###

 

I personally would not buy a truck that had oil changes done at 25k. There is no doubt that synthetics give you slightly better fuel mileage. Not much, maybe .5 per gallon. Thats what mine averaged right away. I went over to Rotella T synthetic. I bought it at Wally World for $16 a gallon and plan on changing my oil change schedule to once every 8k instead of 3-4 like I have been doing.

 

I think the concept of buying an expensive diesel truck, and cheaping out on basic maintenance makes no sense to me. The factory recommended drain intervals are conservative, but I would not leave ANY brand of oil in my truck for 25,000 miles. The point about dirt soot, etc in your oil is a valid one. No amount of filtering gets out all the contaminents.

The biggest advantage to synthetics are in cold weather starting. If your not dealing with cold winters, you don't really even need to go synthetic. All major oil companies have excellent quality oils, whether dino or synthetic. Don't let the "four ball wear test" stuff fool you, its not even a very meaningful test for engine oils. I am not slamming Amsoil specifically, I've seen other oils advertised this way.

Which ever oil you choose (and how much you spend) is up to you. At the end of the day, I don't think you will find anyone who uses a good quality oil and does regular maintenance not get good life and reliability of thier engines.

...And I almost forgot-Congrats on the new truck.

 

Jed, don't take the post personal (it wasn't intended that way). I didn't call anyone an idiot . The two laughing icons after the "intelligent choice" comment was to signify it was a joke. Not the first time my humor has been lost on others.

 

I drive my 3500 6k to 10k a year,Using a synthetic oil(Amsoil for me) just makes me feel a little more secure in the fact I change it yearly and not quarterly etc.Amsoil might be a little pricey and the dino oils have come a long way in the last decade.BUT Amsoil on the oil site I visit and by the tests I've seen by labs is considered a TOP TIER lube in anyones book.I use it in every piece of equipment I own and have driven two autos to high mileage on 25k oil changes with excellant results.I was a 3k or 90day guy for several decades and it was very difficult to wean my self off it.I have it in tractors,lawn mowers,propane generators,cars,trucks etc.Even use their hyd oil in a tractor with front bucket etc.anything I have used their products in was easier starting,ran smoother,operated smoother,no hint of sluge or depoists etc.If it wasn't Amsoil I'd be using someone elses synthetics. Its been years since I had to go to Wall Mart whom I dispise or a auto parts store to buy lubes.I do it by phone or online and its delivered in 48 hours or less.

 

Amsoil is not that expensive. Around $19.50 a gal online if you are a preferred customer. One year subscription is a whapping $20.00. Heck of deal in my book for a synthetic. Couldn't find Mobil One synthetic so I tried Amsoil and I have to say I like it. Truck runs quieter too. So, it is a whapping $2.00 to $3.00 dollars a gallon more expensive. Big deal. Shipping is cheap too. For me about $8.00 dollars. I'd burn that up in fuel traveling to Wall Fart.

 

In the interests of full disclosure, I use Amsoil in everything I drive and I've done so for the last 8 years. However, I'm no dealer nor do I ever want to be. I AM a preferred customer because the street prices would scare anyone away. Don't ever go by the street price of Amsoil when comparing prices. $10 a year is easy to part with for a preferred customer discount, especially when buying nearly 3 gallons of oil for my Cummins.

Now, there's tons of research done by any number of folks and you could spend hours reading about it just doing google searches for things like: "synthetic oil," "extended drain intervals," "Brand 'X' 'Y' or 'Z' synthetic oil," whatever. All the research and documentation I've read says that 3,000 mile oil changes are unnecessary. Even the OEMs are finally admitting that with their new vehicles. My wife's Pontiac, for instance, has an oil life meter as part of her Driver Information Center, which calculates estimated oil life rather than holding her to a 3 month/3,000 mile interval. Oil analysis is an invaluable tool which has helped promote synthetic oil manufacturers' claims that extended drain intervals DO work. And Amsoil has been WAY out in front on this for several decades (since 1972 or so, I think). Oil analysis determines contaminant content, viscosity, detergent content, lubricity, etc. and compares the results against the standard for a "new," oil of a given standard. This helps the end-user determine when it's necessary to change the oil, not simply guess-work. I've been an Army mechanic since 1996 and we have completely eliminated oil changes on a calendar/odometer basis. The Army has literally saved millions--if not billions--of dollars since going to oil sampling. Why shouldn't the same apply to you and I in our trucks?

You may call me cheap if you want, but the long-term results of reducing my dependency (and my country's, by extension) on foreign oil leads to greater economic development and rates of return here at home. I've said it before in other posts: I'm a capitalist. I firmly believe that dollars follow value. Amsoil and other synthetic makers are steadily INCREASING market share while conventional oils are seeing a steady DECREASE in market share as more and more OEMs admit to the benefits of extended drain intervals. The consumer dollars are following the value created by synthetic lubricants.

And, yes, I'll fully disclose the interval and frequency of my oil changes to any new buyers of any of my vehicles, along with my anecdotal evidence of its benefits. If it's an informed buyer, they'll appreciate the advantages and if they're not interested, no skin off my back.

 

I am presently on my third Dodge 3500, this one a 2007 cab and chassis. I will make the change to Amsoil at about 20k like I did with the other two.
The first was a 95 3500 that I sold with 419,000 miles on it. Nothing but Amsoil in it once it was broke in. I did use extended oil changes along with a bypass filter. The truck is still on the road and the last time I checked with the man that bought it, it had over 700,000 miles on it and the engine has never been touched. He continued using Amsoil in it.
My next truck was a 03 3500 that I sold with 345,300 miles on it, same story as above, the engine, other than adjusting valves, was never touched.
I drive a lot more miles than most, the first month in my 07 I drove over 9,000 miles, so changing my oil every 3,000 miles would be a little silly to me, when the oil analysis says it is still good. As far as I'm concerned, anyone can use whatever oil and change it as often as they like. For me, the Amsoil,, with regular full flow filter changes, a bypass filter, and oil analysis have proven, to me anyway, to be the way for me to go. Over 775,000 miles say it works.