2009 doge ram crew 1500 slt 4x4 5.7l

So I am using Fram's long life filter XG2 and full synthetic oil. Filter says it is good for 15000 to 24000 miles and synthetic is good for????

Here is my issue. The damn truck wants an oil change every 4000 km.

Is it programmed for distance or does it actually check the state of the oil. Sick of spending this amount on oil ect when the intervals are not longer at all.

Do I dump the filter and put it back on or is it all just a scam?

 

The light just uses an algorithm based on miles driven and how hard those miles were. For example, it will come on sooner with city driving then hwy driving. They are also based on the assumption you will run a standard filter with standard dino oil. If you run synthetic, you can run it many miles pass the light coming on. To know exactly when you should change, you can pull oil samples and send them to a lab like Blackstone. They'll tell you how many miles are left in your oil based on real analysis. I know of one Ram Hemi that is running 16K miles on Pennzoil Platinum and long life filter between changes. Once again, that's his driving style and lab analysis. Yours will be different.

 

You don't need to run synthetic in these trucks. You do NEED to run 5W20 oil, but you can use conventional. I would ignore that oil change minder all together. Just pick a number. I change mine every 5k miles.

Considering an oil filter is $10-$14 and a CRITICAL part of your engines lifespan i would never leave on on for more than 10,000 miles tops. You would be taking a huge risk to save a few bucks and 5 minutes of your time. Same goes for oil. You can easily go 10,000 miles on conventional oil if you don't drive in harsh conditions. Sythetic is better but still not worthy of exceeding 10k. Close to 5 grand for a new engine installed to avoid spending $75 (filter and oil) a few times a year seems silly to me. Not worth the risk trying to double that number on mileage. In fact Dodge does not recommend exceeding the 10k mile mark between changes.

And to add, I would not use any Fram filter in your truck. A fantastic read on filters with lots and lots of info. http://www.minimopar.net/oilfilters/opinions.html