Hey guys. I just did my first oil change with my dakota. I used a 5w-30 mobil 1, with a Motorcraft oil filter. Now when I start her up she seems to tick until i drive her for a minute. If i start her and just let her idle she ticks. The oil doesnt appear to be any thinner, and to be honest, I cant hear the tick very well with the doors shut, so it might of ticked before the change. Does anyone else have a ticking at cold startup?
Veteran
I change my own oil & filter also and never experienced a cold start tick for any length of time but I would definitely consider a different filter. First thing I did after I bought my "05 V6 Dak was drain the factory oil and put in Castrol Syntec full synthetic 5w30 and changed out the filter with K&N. I also half fill a new filter with fresh oil before install. NEVER install a dry filter.
Professional
This is a question as much as a comment. When synthetic oils became common a few years back, I understood that you were not supposed to switch to synthetic until you had at least 10,000 miles on the engine. The reason being that the superior lubricating properties of synthetic oil would not allow the rings to seat in a new engine. Has this line of thinking changed?
Veteran
This is a reply to sawfish. First of all I have never heard of any such concern/requirement/recommendation in this regard. Allow me to quote from my owner's manual addressing this matter for my 2005 Dakota (Quote)Synthetic Engine Oils There are a number of engine oils being promoted as either synthetic or semi-synthetic. If you choose to use such a product use ONLY those oils that meet the American Petroleum Institute (API) and SAE viscosity standard. Follow the service schedule that describes your driving type(Unquote). Nothing is implied or stated about any mileage recommendation or use at your own risk.
Just got mine back from the garage for the same issue. Turned out to be the tensioner sensor on the cam chain. so far so good. I thought maybe I had a special dak with a cummins