Hemi Truck Club banner

First oil change looming - what to use???

4K views 32 replies 10 participants last post by  BigART 
#1 ·
My first oil change will be coming up shortly. No idea what the OEM brand is or what the dealer's typically use. Since I've got 3 years of free oil changes figure I'll use the dealer for this.

What does everyone suggest? I've seen Mobil 1 or Royal Purple and Lucas additive. Advice???
 
#2 ·
My first oil change will be coming up shortly. No idea what the OEM brand is or what the dealer's typically use. Since I've got 3 years of free oil changes figure I'll use the dealer for this.

What does everyone suggest? I've seen Mobil 1 or Royal Purple and Lucas additive. Advice???
 
#3 ·
Everyone swears by AMSOIL, I used it in my 07 and even after 6k it still looked very clean. Right now I'm making use of cost free dealership maintenance
 
#4 ·
 
#6 ·
Originally posted by RedRiverRam:
What does everyone suggest? I've seen Mobil 1 or Royal Purple and Lucas additive. Advice???
If you're thinking of using an additive in your oil, get a better oil.
 
#7 ·


Ran royal purple and switched to amsoil. i will not be goinng back.
 
#8 ·
Originally posted by megacab:


Ran royal purple and switched to amsoil. i will not be goinng back.
 
#9 ·
Dealer says the truck was delivered with Mopar 5w20 and he strongly urges I stay with that weight. Says if I want to use RP or Amsoil I can bring my own, they don't stock it. Good idea or is there anything wrong with staying withe the Mopar oil?
 
#10 ·
Ask him who makes Mopar oil?


AMSOIL has 5W-20 full synthetic and 100% synthetic as you wish.
 
#11 ·


Switched engine, trans, and dif to amsoil. lower temps, more power and about 1 mpg more on fuel.
 
#13 ·
Shall I switch? I run 10-30 mobil 1 syn. Truck has 97k
 
#14 ·
97K on an 03' isn't very many miles. You can switch. Might be a good idea to use the engine flush.
 
#15 ·
What's the flush?
 
#17 ·
Ok...lol.. thanks for the pic. I will look for that. I feel 97k is a lot. Last 10k have been a lot of highway miles. Still love my truck though! Thanks for the help!
 
#20 ·
Originally posted by RedRiverRam:
Dealer says the truck was delivered with Mopar 5w20 and he strongly urges I stay with that weight. Says if I want to use RP or Amsoil I can bring my own, they don't stock it. Good idea or is there anything wrong with staying withe the Mopar oil?
If your Ram has MDS then the dealer is correct that you want to stay with 5W20( or 0W20 in winter ). MDS operates using oil pressure so don't go thicker than a 20 weight.

Not sure what year your Ram is but I am assuming a new one here based on the free OC's and such. MOPAR oil is now provided by SOPUS( Shell & Pennzoil ). It used to be Mobil1 but is now SOPUS last I knew. The OE oil is a perfectly good oil if you wish to stay with conventional oil. The MOPAR filter is also a decent filter for up to 5-6K intervalls. You have 3 years of OC's free so use them if you wish.

If you only want the best for your truck, as most of us here do, than IMOA a synthetic oil is the way to go even if you have to pay for it. If you will only keep the truck for a few years and 50-75K use the free OC's. If you will keep it longer and/or wrack up the miles than a synthetic is the best option.

Again, I am assuming this is a new truck( 2011 or 2012 ). That means you have warranty issues to take into account so you really should use...

5W20
Meet/Exceed Chrysler oil spec MS6395
API Certified w/ Starburst( will have to be service level SN now )
Changed every 6 months or 8000 miles( whichever comes 1st )- MAX! You can do it sooner but not later even if your OLM has not tripped.

All of the above requirements are in your owner's manual under engine oil/maintenance.

So use the free OC's if you want to save some cash. You are fine doing so and your engine wiill do well on it. If you want to upgrade to a better product then Royal Purple and Amsoil are two good choices and both offer oils that are warranty accdeptable( as well as oils that are not so pick the right one ).

Royal Purple has a couple different oil lines but only one that meets your warranty requirements. Look for the High Performance Motor oil. They have a High Performance Street(HPS) oil as well but that is not the stuff. The oil you want will have the API Starburst on the front and only one line from RP has it. There is a lot of older API SL RP oil out there still as they just reformulated to API SN within the last year. Again, look for the API Starburst on the front of the bottle and then you have the right stuff.

Amsoil offers many different oil types but the 2 you should stick with, while under warranty, are the 5W20 XL and 5W20 OE lines. These two are their only oils that meet warranty requirements but both are very good oils. The XL would be the superior oil. OE is their entry level oil so tos peak or more of an answer to the cheaper name brand synthetics people buy in 5qt jugs at WalMart( not a slam about it just a description ).

If you are going to step up to a premium oil like RP or Amsoil I suggest using an RP oil filter or Amsoil oil filter with it. Might as well do it right.

FWIW I have run RP for decades in tons of vehicles including 2 HEMI Rams and it is great stuff. It is my personal choice. The new(er) RP filters are one of the best out there. I use them now as well.

Hope this helps. Good luck with your truck.
 
#21 ·
Originally posted by NHHEMI:
Amsoil offers many different oil types but the 2 you should stick with, while under warranty, are the 5W20 XL and 5W20 OE lines. These two are their only oils that meet warranty requirements but both are very good oils. The XL would be the superior oil. OE is their entry level oil so tos peak or more of an answer to the cheaper name brand synthetics people buy in 5qt jugs at WalMart( not a slam about it just a description ).


OEM is just fine, it's the same thing as XL. XL has extended life additives in it thus the XL name. It's the same base stock which is considered a "full synthetic" which is a group 3 oil.

He can run the 5W-20 100% synthetic, it will absolutely not void his warranty.
 
#22 ·
Originally posted by BigART:
Originally posted by NHHEMI:
Amsoil offers many different oil types but the 2 you should stick with, while under warranty, are the 5W20 XL and 5W20 OE lines. These two are their only oils that meet warranty requirements but both are very good oils. The XL would be the superior oil. OE is their entry level oil so tos peak or more of an answer to the cheaper name brand synthetics people buy in 5qt jugs at WalMart( not a slam about it just a description ).


OEM is just fine, it's the same thing as XL. XL has extended life additives in it thus the XL name. It's the same base stock which is considered a "full synthetic" which is a group 3 oil.

He can run the 5W-20 100% synthetic, it will absolutely not void his warranty.
If the XL has different additives that let it stay in service longer than OE is it not a superior product? The OE line is Amsoil's entry level product designed to compete with the cheaper name brand products. It replaced XL as the entry level product. They are both Grp III true but they are different. One is better. All I said.

Only the XL and OE 5W20 are API Certified w/ Starburst which are required per his owner's manual. The other Amsoil lines, while good products, do not meet his warranty requirements.

We have been over this before and I thought we agreed to disagree on it?
 
#23 ·
Originally posted by NHHEMI:
If the XL has different additives that let it stay in service longer than OE is it not a superior product? The OE line is Amsoil's entry level product designed to compete with the cheaper name brand products. It replaced XL as the entry level product. They are both Grp III true but they are different. One is better. All I said.
I would say XL is superior in that it lasts longer, but it is not superior as far as protection compared to AMSOIL's OE. Moving up to 100% synthetic would be the best choice for service life and protection.

Originally posted by NHHEMI:
Only the XL and OE 5W20 are API Certified w/ Starburst which are required per his owner's manual. The other Amsoil lines, while good products, do not meet his warranty requirements.
Although ALM 5W-20 does not carry the starburst logo it does not mean it doesn't meet the manufactures requirements. You need to read up on what API certification really is. You still do not understand what the certification really means or how to read the owners manual correctly. The forums have been corrupted enough by misgivings. Please feel free to contact me directly, I'll help you on the phone.

Originally posted by NHHEMI:
We have been over this before and I thought we agreed to disagree on it?
Yes, many times. I agree you provide a lot of opinions that you pass off as fact. You've agreed to stay out of these discussions in the past several times. Why the new found love for stirring up trouble again?
 
#25 ·
Originally posted by BigART:
Originally posted by NHHEMI:
If the XL has different additives that let it stay in service longer than OE is it not a superior product? The OE line is Amsoil's entry level product designed to compete with the cheaper name brand products. It replaced XL as the entry level product. They are both Grp III true but they are different. One is better. All I said.
I would say XL is superior in that it lasts longer, but it is not superior as far as protection compared to AMSOIL's OE. Moving up to 100% synthetic would be the best choice for service life and protection.

Originally posted by NHHEMI:
Only the XL and OE 5W20 are API Certified w/ Starburst which are required per his owner's manual. The other Amsoil lines, while good products, do not meet his warranty requirements.
Although ALM 5W-20 does not carry the starburst logo it does not mean it doesn't meet the manufactures requirements. You need to read up on what API certification really is. You still do not understand what the certification really means or how to read the owners manual correctly. The forums have been corrupted enough by misgivings. Please feel free to contact me directly, I'll help you on the phone.

Originally posted by NHHEMI:
We have been over this before and I thought we agreed to disagree on it?
Yes, many times. I agree you provide a lot of opinions that you pass off as fact. You've agreed to stay out of these discussions in the past several times. Why the new found love for stirring up trouble again?
Take a minute and look to see who is stirring up trouble. I simply answered the guy's post and gave him his options. You are the one who gets all riled up everytime someone posts something that isn't step in tow wiith Amsoil's marketing material.

I actually worked at a dealership in service and worked in the aftermarket auto field as well. I know how it works. I also know exactly what API certification is and I also know the law.

You continue to say I post opinion as fact. Sorry sir but you are mistaken. I don't need to call you to be educated on anything.

You are hands down the rudest, most arrogant, internet know it all I have ever come across. Don't play innocent. As always you have started this mess.

 
#26 ·
If you don't know, don't make up stuff.

You don't know the law, you keep telling people the wrong information. Besides that, everyone complains about dealerships voiding warranties for BS stuff. So you working there isn't helping your cause.

You can call me whatever names you like. I've been called worse by better people then you.

You've said many times you'd stay out of this stuff to not cause a war, but here you are again spouting off nonsense.

You throw in your opinions, fine.
You throw in your experience, fine.
You throw in some BS facts, I won't tolerate it.

You even spouted out facts in a previous thread about RP that weren't true and you love them.

Time to give it a rest NHEMI, stick to what you know, because this ain't it.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top