Well I got lazy yesterday. For the first time since I've owned it, I took my Jeep into the dealer for an oil change. I've been putting Royal Purple in it with great results myself up until now.
But money is a little tight, I've been busy as hell, and a coupon showed up in the mail for an oil change, 23 point check, chassis lube, tire rotation and even a free set of wiper blades installed - all for $17.95!!!
I inquired as to how much more it would cost for synthetic and was told I could choose either Mobil 1 or Valvoline 100% synthetic for $20 more, so I went with the Mobil 1. Ended up being just over $40 for everything.
Still a great deal and my tires were due for a rotation as it's been 6k miles since the lift and new tires went on.

Anyway, upon paying my bill, I get the paperwork and notice they used 5w-20 oil in it. Well, I don't know about the standard 4.7 in Rams, but my manual (and the oil cap) state that 10w-30 should be used for my H.O. and that's what I've always put in it.

Now, my '04 Hemi calls for 5w-30, but I've gone to the same 5w-20 that started being recommended with the '05s, mainly because I'm running a cooler thermostat. But I saw no reason to put anything in the Jeep other than the recommended 10w-30.

So, I inquired about it directly to the service manager and was told that Chrysler has recommended 5w-20 in ALL the 4.7s as well as Hemi's, regardless of year, for about 2 years now. He stated that this was done to remedy "sludge" issues that were/are showing up in the 4.7s at an increased rate.



How many of y'all 4.7 owners are using 5w-20 oil???

 

5w30 here. Might even start 10w30 in the summer.

 

I've always used 5w-30 Mobil1 synthetic in mine. First I've heard about Dodge recommending 5w-20.

 

since ive owned my 04 ive used 5-30w mobil1 full synthetic in my truck hammer thats what my cap says so i used what it said too.....i have no problems with it that i can tell what would be the advantage for me to change to 5-20w still mobil1 i too live in florida and im about to change my oil this up coming weekend.....i also want to change out my diff fluid what would be good to use in there is mobil1 ok? i ask you cause i trust you rp is a lil rich for my wallet to be honest and i can find a diy in the faq section right....i mean i know the jist of it as is....

 

I dunno, I guess at 42 I'm old school. I came up in the time when you went from 10w-40 to 20w-50 when an engine hit 75k miles on it for better protection. Now, they harp about "tight" tolerances and sludge issues as proponents against using thicker oils.
I know the service manager was pretty adamant about their choice to use 5w-20 now. Although this could be a cost thing. Cheaper to just buy bulk in one viscosity.

There isn't a lot of difference between the 5w-30 and 5w-20, just a bit thinner. But when my 4.7 HO is rated for 10w-30 and we are now switching to 5w-20 and with almost 90k miles on it, it kinda throws up a red flag with me. Enough so, that I'm thinking about changing this out at 3k miles and going back to my trusty old 10w-30 RP and 6k changes. That kinda defeats the purpose of my paying extra for synthetic yesterday, and kinda my reason for posting this thread.

As far as you are concerned, I'd stay with the 5w-30, and even though I'm a pretty big fan of RP anymore, any 100% true synthetic is fine. I also believe you should be able to find a DIY on changing diff fluid, but aside from being a bit messier, it's no harder than a crankcase fluid change...

 

My 05 4.7 says to use 5w-30 and ive used mobil 1 5w-30 since i got it with 27,000 miles. I better not have sludge with that low of miles.

 

I think mine calls for 10w20 but I used 10 w 30. Idk what the numbers mean to be honest. Thats just what goodyear has been putting in it since I bought it, buddy works there and it is super cheap from them.

 

yeah ive been doing 5k changes with 5-30w mobil1 and i got 65k on her and hope i got no sludge issues....

 

The cap on my 08 4.7 says 5w20 . . . so for the first dealer oil change that's what they put in and again later for the 2nd one the shop I went to put it in. So for my third oil change I'll be doing it myself and going with Mobil 1 5w20 and k&n filter . . . I'm just gona stick with what my cap says.

 

It won't hurt anything to run the 5W20. Just run it out until the next change and if you feel uncomfortable, go back to the old stuff. You may gain a little mpg from the reduction of drag on the oil pump.