How does a 2008 dodge 1500 determine when it is time to change the oil.

I only have 2500 miles on the truck but its telling me to change the oil now?

Also should I go with synthetic at 2500 or should I wait till 5000 miles?

Glen,

 

I think the first change is set at 2500. I changed mine just before. I had the dealer do it due to many folks on here had problems getting the factory oil filter off the first time. The dealer used synthetic blend. The manual says every 6K after that unless heavy towing or dusty conditions. I will be changing it sooner than that though, just because I spent so much on the truck and am willing to do that simple procedure more frequently.

 

Yea the change oil warning supposed to go off 2500 to 3000 miles. But I drove another 1000 before and checked the oil and it was still fine. Its more of a better to be safe thing

 

Well the old school idea was to change the oil after the first 500 miles on any new engine to get out all the "break in" material out. Does it help or not, I don't know, but given the fact that an oil change is cheap I always do it.


Zack

 

lol my oil change indicator didn't go off first until 5000 miles. crazy... i changed mine at 3k miles went with mobil 1's top synthetic and top filter and just changed it today at 6300 miles.

 

Thanks guys. I'll get it changed this week. What do you suggest synthetic or Blend. I'm thinking synthetic since i'm trying to increase the mpg.

 

You are going to get a ton of different suggestions and opinions on that... Basically just use whatever you want. Just about any oil out on the market that meets the standards is fine for your engine. Stick to a well known brand and you will be good. Personally, I've only changed the oil once in my Ram, and I put in Mobil 1 Synthetic 5W-20. On my old Dakota, I usually used Pennzoil conventional 5W-30 and never had an oil-related problem (no oil leaks, busted seals, etc.) with nearly 150k miles on that truck. Some people claim to see a minor increase in mileage with synthetics, but it's usually very minor and could be related to anything including just having "new" oil in there.

 

I changed mine at 800 and will be doing it soon when I get to 2kmi. I poured 5w-20 Mobil Synthetic in at 800miles. Trucks fine. No modest increase that I was aware of. I still used same weight oil, but just synthetic. Next time I will try and use 10w-30 synthetic to turn off the damn MDS...lol

 

use whatever you would like. i myself prefer synthetic, mobil 1, royal purple, and amsoil are my three brands of lube... wow that sounds odd... but it's truly up to you. as long as there's oil in the truck of the right weight you will more than likely be ok. my 2 cents are that if you paid for the truck which was expensive what's a bit of extra coin to put good name brand synthetic oil in it?? in the long run it isn't that much more expensive.

plus idk if autozone is still doing it but last week when i bought my oil they were running a special 5 qts of mobil 1's best synthetic and a filter for 33.99, which is like 20 bux off lol. just gotta remember to buy the two extra quarts or one depending upon the motor you have.

 

I know the 4.7 came with the oil life management system, not sure about the 5.7. The frequency between your oil changes will be different depending on your driving habits. I use Royal Purple. ( My Wife likes the color) lol