The maintenance book for my 2006 CTD says that for schedule B (stop and go driving, towing, short trips, and so on) oil and filter has to be changed every 7500 miles, or three months, whichever comes first. That means that I'll be changing oil four times per year, even if drive only at the most 10,000 miles/year. Does it make sense? Please comment on this.

 

It could be much worse. It could be every month like many people on here. I am not positive, but if memory servies me correctly, I think that Schedule B is for vehicles used in harsh environments - i.e. pulling heavy loads constantly and/or in dirty conditions.

 

unless ur pulling those 4 car trailers that the dodges pull up here daily then i wouldn't worry...i change oil 3x/year

 

I'd always heard that you shouldn't keep conventional motor oil in a car's engine more than 4 to 6 months, regardless of how few miles there were between changes. Does anyone know if that still holds true when using synthetic oils?

 

That was true 10 years ago... but oils in general have come a long way since then... They have more and better additives that are able to deal with the condensation that occurs in the engine going from cold to hot to cold during the day... It is good to start or at least roll the motor over once a month or so to make sure that the upper part of the engine doesn't collect any corrosion. I usually change the oil in my stuff that is sitting every year to 18 months.. I use syn which can go further but it is my business (Oil and Lube business) and it is just so easy for me to take care of it.
Now for my customers.... They should change their oil everytime to purchase fuel!
Oilguy

 

At the risk of sounding stupid, do you really believe what the big oil companies say? The big gas crunch of the 70's was a big lie by big oil. Look at your oil does it smell burnt? Feel of it you should be able to tell right off the bat, I'd go with the manufacture of the motor for that info not the big oil companies, hence, they want to sell more oil thats their jobs. Hurricane Katrina prove that. Just my thoughts.

 

The question you have to answer is this rule of thumb: How often do you start the truck and drive it over 10 miles non stop so that the engine gets up to operating temps for 10 minutes or more?

If 50% or more is less than 10 miles and driving at speeds of 35 mph or less and or in a lot of stop and go traffic, on dusty roads, driving at high speeds when the temp is 90 or above or temps below 32, towing then I suggest you change your oil and filter every 7500 miles or 6 months which ever comes first.

My self I drive over 15 miles one way at speeds of 50 to 70 mph so I will go 10 to 11,000 miles in between oil changes and still not worry about hurting my engine, but then I use Synthetic oil & Fleetguard premium filters. In the wintertime I will change it at 6000 or 5 months which ever comes first. BTW you can get Fleetguard premium filter for about $10.50.

BTW, do not use FRAM filters of any kind in your diesel engine, as they do not hold up.

 

I base my oil changes on engine hours. Service = 200 hrs.

 

Just curious....do you have a Hobbs meter installed or do you convert miles to hours?....if so how?

 

Turn the ignition key to run without starting while pressing the odometer dash reset thingy. In 5 - 10 seconds the engine hour meter will show.

 

That is a nice thing to know, thanks.
by the way the et "clock" on the overhead can be used for this purpose also.

 

Install an AMSOIL Bypass setup such as I did and then you don't have to even change the oil, just the filter about every 6 months and the Bypass maybe once a year. Oh, yeah you do have to run Synthetic to do this, but it's worth the extra money up front and the extra protection that it provides for the engine.

 

I have an 04...the OWNERS manual says 7500 miles for schedule B...no time limit.
The Maitenance schedule book says 7500 miles or 3 months.
I tried to get a straight answer from one of the DC reps...and you might as well have been talking to a wall.
I had the dealer check and they said you can go by the owners manual...7500 miles and no time limit.( I had to push)
BTW...if schedule A, 15000 miles or 1 year.

If they could they would have you in every week for an oil change.
The oil change intervals in Europe are much longer than here with the same vehicles and arguably a harsher driving environment....shorter trips and traffic congestion.

Still clear as mud.