Just wondering at what mileage you all are doing your first oil change? This is my first diesel, on my gassers I always changed at 500 or 1000 miles.

Also, can someone tell me where and/or how many grease zerks there are on these trucks, don't want to miss any.

Thanks

Eric

 

My dealer did a complimentary oil change at 3000 miles.

I don't think our trucks have many/any zerks. Everything is sealed.

 

I am going to change my oil every 10,000 miles. It is inbetween the 7500 and 15,000 mile intervals specified in the owners manual. Since I don't do any extreme heavy duty hauling, I'm not too worried.

As for the zerk fittings, the only two I could find are on the tie rods. The ball joints, etc. are all sealed for life.

 

[quote author=eswartz link=board=20;threadid=21003;start=0#msg197014 date=1066217147]
Just wondering at what mileage you all are doing your first oil change? This is my first diesel, on my gassers I always changed at 500 or 1000 miles.

Also, can someone tell me where and/or how many grease zerks there are on these trucks, don't want to miss any.

Thanks

Eric
[/quote]

You'll get a thousand different opinions on this, but I changed mine per the manual at 7,500 miles. I'm not the least bit worried about causing damage by waiting that long either.

I don't think there are any grease zerks on these trucks....unfortunately (except for maybe on the ends of the tie rod). : They're using a sealed system that is SUPPOSED to last forever or something like that. :

 

Did my first change at 3000. Going to change every 5500 after that.

 

Had mine done at the dealership last Thursday, 3658 miles. They put a sticker in the window for the next change to be done on 1/9/04 or 7700 miles.

 

Don't have mine yet, but my plan is to change at 1000, then 3000, 5000, then to 10000 intervals with oil sampling.

 

As posted, two zerks.

Did my first oil change at 3,500 and based on the oil analysis I WISH I had changed it at 500 miles. My silicon numbers were sky high on the first change. I will never go to the recomended interval on the first change again.

 

[quote author=Nevada link=board=20;threadid=21003;start=0#msg197491 date=1066274978]
As posted, two zerks.

Did my first oil change at 3,500 and based on the oil analysis I WISH I had changed it at 500 miles. My silicon numbers were sky high on the first change. I will never go to the recomended interval on the first change again.
[/quote]

I noticed in your list of mods it says you have an AFE drop-in filter. Did you install this before the first oil change? I have heard many rumors that aftermarket filters (no matter how good they claim to be) tend to let more contaminants through. It would be interesting to do an oil analysis with a stock filter vs. an aftermarket one. This is why I am leary of changing the stock filter. Even the owner's manual advises against it.

 

So far, mine has been changed every 3k. I will continue to change it early due to all the short trips I take.

 

[quote author=RamDan03 link=board=20;threadid=21003;start=0#msg197554 date=1066309007]I noticed in your list of mods it says you have an AFE drop-in filter. Did you install this before the first oil change? I have heard many rumors that aftermarket filters (no matter how good they claim to be) tend to let more contaminants through. It would be interesting to do an oil analysis with a stock filter vs. an aftermarket one. This is why I am leary of changing the stock filter. Even the owner's manual advises against it.
[/quote]

I didn't change to the aFe until my fourth oil change, I did change air filters after getting my first oil analysis back, but I used a Mopar filter. After my silicon numbers leveled out I changed to the aFe and my analysis results since have been either as good as or better than my results were with the paper air filters. I have an early build truck with the old style filter minder guage. With the paper filter any time I hit 2,500 rpm it would pull the filter minder down, and at 3,000 rpm it REALLY pulled the filter minder down. With the aFe it hasn't moved in almost 20,000 miles of driving. Also, I have no visible accumulation of grit on the turbo blades or air intake hose. There has been a lot of discussion about this type of air filter on this board and its alleged reduced filtering ability, but you couldn't prove it by me. I also enjoy all of the talk about how Dodge is anti oiled gauze filters. Although it wasn't a diesel, I had a MOPAR cold air induction kit on my Durango that came from Dodge with a K & N cone filter. Go figure.

 

[quote author=Nevada link=board=20;threadid=21003;start=0#msg197914 date=1066364180]
[quote author=RamDan03 link=board=20;threadid=21003;start=0#msg197554 date=1066309007]I noticed in your list of mods it says you have an AFE drop-in filter. Did you install this before the first oil change? I have heard many rumors that aftermarket filters (no matter how good they claim to be) tend to let more contaminants through. It would be interesting to do an oil analysis with a stock filter vs. an aftermarket one. This is why I am leary of changing the stock filter. Even the owner's manual advises against it.
[/quote]

I didn't change to the aFe until my fourth oil change, I did change air filters after getting my first oil analysis back, but I used a Mopar filter. After my silicon numbers leveled out I changed to the aFe and my analysis results since have been either as good as or better than my results were with the paper air filters. I have an early build truck with the old style filter minder guage. With the paper filter any time I hit 2,500 rpm it would pull the filter minder down, and at 3,000 rpm it REALLY pulled the filter minder down. With the aFe it hasn't moved in almost 20,000 miles of driving. Also, I have no visible accumulation of grit on the turbo blades or air intake hose. There has been a lot of discussion about this type of air filter on this board and its alleged reduced filtering ability, but you couldn't prove it by me. I also enjoy all of the talk about how Dodge is anti oiled gauze filters. Although it wasn't a diesel, I had a MOPAR cold air induction kit on my Durango that came from Dodge with a K & N cone filter. Go figure.
[/quote]

This is some really good info. Thanks for giving us some insight on this.

 

I did mine at 2000,5000 and every 5000 miles thereafter. I come from the old school and just can't stand to let it go 7500-15000.

 

[quote author=Jonesey link=board=20;threadid=21003;start=0#msg198006 date=1066400909]
I did mine at 2000,5000 and every 5000 miles thereafter. I come from the old school and just can't stand to let it go 7500-15000.
[/quote]

I agree, seeing how all of my past vehicles have been gassers. I just keep telling myself to hold off. Once 10K miles comes i'll change it...hehe

 

I have broken in 3 cummins over the years...always checked the oil for color and as soon as it darkened up ..it got changed..first 2 trucks were at between 800 and 1000 miles and my 03 was 1200 miles... for all 3 you could literally see the ''shimmering'' metallic look in the oil...after the inital oil change it takes a long time for the oil to darken up and no more ''shimmering''..i have never used oil analysis or bypass filters..although have toyed with it for this new truck...and put 300k miles on both previous trucks with no engine problems at all