What's the manufacturer suggested oil change interval for Pentastar D's? I imagine it's 3k miles for regular oil but I'm not sure what it is for synthetic. I heard the industry is trying to change the 3k mile interval for regular oil as well so I don't know if Dodge has adopted a new standard yet.

http://www.edmunds.com/car-care/stop...-your-oil.html

 

Dodge's recomendation is operate the vehicle until the change oil message appears in the EVIC then change within 600 miles. I personally plan to run mine about 4,000 miles in my 3.6

 

I am a bit confused on this too. The book says to wait for light and change it (around 8000) miles, but the service guy at dodge say to change it at 3500 and to ignore the light. He said the light is only for people that drive 40,000 miles a year. I asked this question here about 4 months ago and DodgeCares said to wait for the light so I do and every time I go to the dodge house they look at me and say "wow you were do 4000 miles ago"

 

Is there any way to see percentage left? Is ridiculous that you really don't have a clue when the light will go off. Mine has come on at 3500 ish and 4000 ish. The manual says it will vary based on driving. My old gm told me what percentage was left on the oil.

 

The pentastar 3.6 is rated UP TO 8,000 miles. Based on numerous factors including, miles, engine run time, engine temps, cold starts, engine load vs throttle pct. Don't quote me on this but I believe the baseline is 4500 miles from a tech friend and this number increases or decreases based on the above change interval strategy. My pops has an 12' unlimited that we change at 5k because of lots of dusty off roading which the "strategy" cannot acount for, however we have never hit the oil change light. Hope that helps

 

My light came on around 4,000 miles or so.. that seems like a normal interval to me.

 

Dwolson2,

There is no display that will provide the oil percentage left in the vehicle. As advised in the owner's manual the engine oil change indicator system will vary depending on driving conditions and personal driving style causing the change intervals to fluctuate. The system is to remind you that it is time for the vehicles scheduled maintenance however under no circumstances should oil change intervals exceed 13,000km (8,000 miles) or 6 months, whichever occurs first.

If you have any questions please let me know.

 

DodgeCACares, are you affiliated with Dodge? If so you'd be an invaluable reference on this forum and perhaps you can tell me the #'s you provided (not exceeding 8k miles or 6 months) is that based on NON-synthetic? If so, what #'s if using synthetic? I want to be absolutely sure what #'s I need to adhere to in order to be compliant with my lifetime maximum care extended warranty.

 

Note to people at Dodge re oil life:

I want to give you a comparison of how your organization handles this vs. Honda. We also have a 2008 Odyssey. Everyone at the Honda dealership, from service to sales stands by the dashboard oil change indicator. They are all on the same page. At delivery, the salesman took the time to explain the system and assured us that it may go up to about 9000 miles even with regular oil. As a customer, this gives me the confidence to follow the manufacturer's instructions.

At the Dodge dealer, it was never mentioned that the vehicle even has the feature, and they gave me coupons for three free oil changes which specified 3000/6000/9000 mile service.

As a buyer, I wonder:
- Is the dealer pushing this to get me in the habit of paying for more oil changes?
- Does the dealer feel that the manufacturer's recommendations are not sufficient to protect the engine after seeing first hand what goes through their service department?
- Does the manufacturer have poor communication with their dealer network, or no ability to communicate a a coherent consistent message?

I suspect one or more of the above is going on. As a manufacturer, you might want to try and get a handle on this. I bought your product despite having a negative impression of ALL dealers i visited (Madison WI). Many wouldn't.

Steve

 

Did my 1st change at 5,000 miles w/no issues. Oil didn't even look that dirty and the "0il change reminder" never came on. Always used to change every 3,000 but think that is just throwing good oil/money away with modern engines....