What is the quick drain plug?

 

http://www.genosgarage.com/prodinfo....er=FTP-F104N-A

Best $25 you'll ever spend if you change your own oil.

 

Absolutely !!

 

Ok, I'm confused as to why you guys are changing your oil so often -- especially those with the 5.9 CTD? Am I missing something? I'm looking at the owners manual right now and it has 2 schedules. I'm talking about the 5.9L here since the 6.7L appears to have a 6k oil change interval.

Per the 2005, 2006, and 2007 Dodge Ram CTD owners manual :

Schedule A has a 15,000 mile oil change interval.
Schedule B has a 7,500 mile oil change interval.

Here's an article that also mentions a 15k mile oil change interval on the Cummins 610 Turbo Diesel Engine:

http://www.swiftdodgesacto.com/special.cfm?ID=1792

I purchased my truck on April of 2007 and currently have 12,000 miles on it and I'm still on the stock oil. The only reason I'm doing this is because I'm following the owners manual, but now I'm reading about people on here doing oil changes almost four times as often. Please, inquiring minds want to know! What am I missing??

 

I change my oil every 5K. It just makes me feel better knowing that I have the freshest oil possible in there. I honestly don't see the attraction to seeing how far you can stretch the limits of your oil. Eventually, you'll stretch it too far and the only looser is you.

I think you'd be hard pressed to find any statement written anywhere that says that changing your oilbefore the reccomended interval is a harmfull thing at all.

 

If you have 12K on factory oil then get it changed ASAP, as it’s not good for your engine to be running it that long. If you read the requirements for schedule A all most no engine fits in to this service Schedule. 99% of all engines fall in to schedule B and the oil should be changed at 7500 miles when using dino oil or sooner if its all stop and go city driving. If you were to use a group IV or V synthetic oil then you could with UOA go 15K or more in between oil changes. Also if you installed an oil by pass system on your engine it will help to extend oil life even dino oil. BTW, Group III synthetic oils like Mobil One, Rotella, Castrol, Pennzoil etc should also be changed out between 7500 and 10,000 miles if it 85% or more Hwy/Freeway, driving sooner if its all city/town driving.

 

I agree with this, but the manual specifically states 7500 - 15k. I also own a car that suggests 3500 mile oil change intervals. Should I change it every 1000 miles just because I don't want to stretch the limits of the oil in the car? I'm not pulling these numbers out of thin air. If Dodge thought that this might be a problem, why would they list it in their service manual and why would they advertise this? I mean, I'm looking at it right now in black and white and it says 15k for schedule A (which I do fall under). Here's the way I see it. I have signed documents showing that I'm following the appropriate maintenance schedule. If something goes wrong, Dodge's warranty will cover it. I guess I'm just questioning why Dodge would list 7500 - 15k if its not a good thing? Especially if people are bringing in their trucks more often for warranty work because of the extended oil changes. It seems as if Dodge would lose out on this.

This brings up a new issue. If I can't trust the service manual on oil changes, what else can I not trust. The manual states to lubricate the front drive shaft every 7500 miles. Does this need to change to every 3750 miles instead? The same goes for lubricating the outter tie rods, etc.

Its harmful to my pocket book -- especially if its not needed. Those of you who have changed your oil at 3500-5000 mile intervals have already spent 3-4 times as much money than if they followed what the manual states.

 

Schedule B :

[ul][*] Frequent short trips where the engine does not achieve full operating tires (190 degrees)[*] Extended over idling (over 10 minutes per hour)[*] Driving in dusty conditions[*] Frequent trailer towing[*] Commercial vehicle (police, taxi, etc)[*] Off road operation[*] Extensive operation at high speeds
[/ul]

I don't fall into any of these. But lets assume that I did. I'd have to do my oil changes every 7500 miles. Some of you guys are doing it more frequently than this. I'd just like to know why. If I can't trust the manual that comes from Dodge, what can I trust?

As for your comment, "If you have 12K on factory oil then get it changed ASAP, as it’s not good for your engine to be running it that long.", see my response to Mayfair above.

 

Minex, the ONLY person / thing you can trust is yourself. I don't care how religious you are about your oil changes and how many doccuments you have most, not all (*cough* parts/service *cough*) will fight tooth and nail not to honor the warranty. You say you fall under the 15K, they will say you should have followed the 7.5K. On and on.

I'm not bashing you here, I'm just trying to shed some light on things for you. Do what makes you feel comfortable, but don't rely on that warranty as some sort of security blanket. More people than I can count have been burned thinking that way.

 

I don't think your bashing at all. I'm just trying to get clarification here. Hell, this is my first diesel truck ever and I baby the thing like its my first born. This is why I stick to the maintenance schedule very strickly, and was suprised that people were doing their oil changes more often than the manual states. As I mentioned to DBLR, some people are doing oil changes even more often than what schedule B suggests (every 7500 miles), so I was just curious.

In the 10 years that I owned my 1998 Dodge Ram 1500, I never missed a single maintanence schedule and did the oil changes exactly when the book suggested. I never had a problem with that truck, but if someone came to me saying that I had to do oil changes every 2000 miles instead of the listed 4000 miles, I'd obviously question that.

But this also concerns me about the other maintenance procedures in the book. Do I need to do them more often than than the listed value??