I recently purchased an 04' Hemi Ram. Two years ago I owned an 05' Hemi. The 05' uses 5w20 oil and the 04' calls for 5w30. Can anyone explain why the two different years call for different weight oils? Does anybody have any tech info about the two different engines as to why the change?
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Last edited by shootshescores; 08-21-2009 at 07:16 PM.
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I recently purchased an 04' Hemi Ram. Two years ago I owned an 05' Hemi. The 05' uses 5w20 oil and the 04' calls for 5w30. Can anyone explain why the two different years call for different weight oils? Does anybody have any tech info about the two different engines as to why the change?
Wow, that is strange. I got a buddy with a 04 and his calls for 5w-20.
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Member#005 Silver Truck Club.Dual K&N Air intake,FM catback dual exhast, Jet 180* T-stat, SC 3865,E-Fan,MSD Super Conductor wires, 5% tint all round
You are correct, and I've asked that question many times, other than a couple PCM code changes, the '04 and '05s are basically identical. Nobody, including Chrysler service managers and Mopar performance shops guys have really given me an answer on it.
I have an '04 and always ran 5w-30 until I went to a 180* thermostat then went to 5w-20, figured the cooler operating temp would like the slightly thinner oil, plus, since it was recommended for the '05s, would do no harm.
I even had a service manager swear they didn't go to they went to MDS in the '06s, but I made him look it up and he could only scratch his head and shrug his shoulders...
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4.56 Gear Club Founding Member
Yes, that is a gun in my pocket and No, I am not happy to see you!
It's marked on the oil cap and it says it plain as day in the owners manual.
I'm not disputing you man, just saying I know an 04 that has 5w-20 on the oil cap, I saw it myself.But either way I don't think either oil would hurt anything.
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Member#005 Silver Truck Club.Dual K&N Air intake,FM catback dual exhast, Jet 180* T-stat, SC 3865,E-Fan,MSD Super Conductor wires, 5% tint all round
They change the recommended weight randomly because they arent chemical engineers nor fluid dynamics scientists. They really have no clue what the optimal oil for your engine may be.
However, here is a nice write up from a guy who does. A very good read.
GM a few years back went to the lower weight oil to improve the gas mileage in the EPA testing. The thought was a tenth here and a tenth there and you started to pick up MPGs. The choice of tires was influenced by the rolling resistence and so on. Similar to xfeejayx, I use 5W-30 in summer, 5W-20 winter but do not mess around in Fall or Spring. My mileage is down to 10-12K a year, so I am only changing the oil twice a year.
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The Wanderer
2004 RC 4X4
Yeah, It's got a Hemi
GM a few years back went to the lower weight oil to improve the gas mileage in the EPA testing. The thought was a tenth here and a tenth there and you started to pick up MPGs. The choice of tires was influenced by the rolling resistence and so on. Similar to xfeejayx, I use 5W-30 in summer, 5W-20 winter but do not mess around in Fall or Spring. My mileage is down to 10-12K a year, so I am only changing the oil twice a year.
yea my mileage is double that. I started picking up oil on sale the last few times, and of course it's never on 7 quarts worth. So I just dump in whatever I had of the last batch then the new 30/20 depending on the season.
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04' 1500 QC SLT 4x4 HEMI She ain't a pavement queen, she's a ROAD WARRIOR
Hemi Oil 5w20 in 05' & 5w30 in 04'?
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