Oil Change Indicator - ??
 

Hi guys:

Just need some reassurance. I made my first oil change at 3800 miles. I changed it right before I drove to Clearwater Beach. Anyway, the truck now has 7200 miles and the change indicator came on.

Could it be that the dealer did not reset the change indicator? Or do you all think it just a ninny light.?

So we are talking only 3400 miles on the oil. I was thinking of resetting the indicator and waiting till 5000 miles. What do you all think?

The truck has only towed once for 20 miles and that was a light 3000 lb trailer. I will be towing my trailer Mem Day Weekend so I thought I might setup a Saturday appointment since I'm near the dealer that day. Anyway advice is appreciated.

This is a fine fine truck a real dandy.


Mike

My indicator just came on at 3500 miles so that is probably about how long it will be before I hear it again. You can reset it by turning the key to on (Not running)and depressing the accelerator slowly three times and then turning the key to off.

Just reset the warning lamp and go about your business. the "oil change required" light just goes off mileage. Most are programmed to go off about every 7500 miles but some come on sooner or later. I changed mine at 2000, 6000, 10000, and 15000. At 15000 I switched from Delo CJ-4 to AMSoil synthetic CJ-4 and will change every 5000 from here on out, regardless of oil condition. Overly conservative? You betcha, but in the oilfield you learn not to take chances with your truck, it's your livelihood. Well, my '08 isn't, but old habits die hard...lol

Thanks Folks - that's what I'll do.

Mike

My first warning came at 3800 too, but now at 5500 is has come on again....so I don't think its just based on miles. I thought that was one of the major advantages of a diesel engines that oil changes were less frequent than gas engines??? I have been towing but only @ 3K trailer back & forth...

i changed at 7200, the light never did come on.

Oil change frequency light
 

It actually isnt uncommon in the 07 and 08 for the truck to "ask" for oil changes frequently early in its life. Mine wanted the oil changed at 2400 miles for the first two changes, 2700 for the third and I can now go much longer with 16500 miles on the truck. I do tend to change the oil around 3000to 3500 as a standard practice. Anyway, the truck has an early breakin period until everything starts working together nicely. Also, with the new emissions more junk is being pumped back into the engine which the oil has to clean.

Cummins 6.7L, quad cab, 4x4, mineral gray, stock with the exception of a banks ram air intake. 16700 miles.

Mileage is the least correct indicator for oil changes, get out of the paradigm of yesteryear.
Use hours, as the units have accurate hour meters. My first COL was at 145 hrs. (4500 miles). Reset drove to another 167 hours, COL again (8860 Miles).
Mostly city with water tank to ranch once in awhile. So the interval is about right for city driving. My unsolicited recommendation pay attention to hours and don't exceed 200 hrs. for any reason, life of oil degrades exponentially after that point as well as anything it lubricates and/or cools.
I will advise when next interval is if anyone interested.

the indicator has he abillaty to monitor driving habbits, city, highway, idling,load,time,all factors of oil life. oil can accumulate soot at idling, therefore require more frequent regenerations of the dpf. drive em hard thats what their built for now. new dpf engines dont like to idle and run stop light to stop light.

Using the truck "light" duty will cause the oil service required request to come on sooner. I'm finding out more with my Edge Insight readings. It appears, and if I'm reading things right, that the EGR remains pretty much OPEN during light use and is constantly dumping exhaust gases (soot) back into the engine. Under load the EGR closes either all the way or mostly all the way. So babying these trucks will definitely shorten you OCI. (Oil change interval)

Not true. You shouldn't post things you don't know about.

I'm almost convinced that the quality of the oil used is part of the parameters for the OCI!! The first 3 oil changes, I took my rig into the dealer. They used regular conventional CJ4 rated oil (I checked the jugs to be sure) and each time the OCI came on after approximately 3500-5000 miles. The the next change I did myself using Unocal (76) Guardol ECT, a semi-synthetic CJ4 oil and it took nearly 9000 miles before the indicator came on. To top this off, all of the driving done during this time was during the winter, where it idled a lot more during warmup and where I did a lot more city driving. I had the last change done at the dealer again this past March, putting around 3000 miles on it in the last 2 months and last night the OCI came on. I'm going to change it myself this time, using the Guardol 15w40 I used before and see what happens.

The oil change light does not just go off of mileage. It calculates the driving style, the time and frequency of regenerations, and mostly off of the condition of the DPF. If the oil is changed and it is not reset, regardless of the light being on, it will not reset everything, and you will needlessly be changing oil when it is not required.



If you are talking about the light load switch on the dash under the a/c control, then all that does is lower the threshold of the tire pressure monitor. Without it on, you need to run 70psi in the rear, and 60psi in the front. If you have it turned on, then you can run lower tire pressures and the TPM light will not illuminate. It has nothing to do with the engine operation. EGR on diesels is used under light load and idle, not at higher rpms like a gasoline motor. So you can run lower tire pressures and achieve a smoother ride with the light load button pressed

Guess my terminology was mistaken. By light duty I meant grocery-getting type driving, little to no towing or not really working the powerplant. I have no idea what you mean about a light duty "switch" - must be an 08 model thing.

My oil change indicator came on and I tried to reset it with the key on and depress the accelerator slowly 3times then key off. It didn't reset. Any idea what I may be doing wrong or is there another way to reset it?