Looking for the break in time before I sholud changethe oil in my new Dodge CTD

 

You'll get a lot of anwsers on that one, I changed mine at 4500(1st one free) but go to 5000 between from now on. BTW, Welcome!!

 

5k is fine for the first change

 

The dealer's answer to me for that question was 4k for the first change, and then every 7.5k after that. He also recomended that I wait at least 2 changes with regular oil before I went with synthetic.Also the manual states the engine break in period as being 6k with a load, and it may be longer for no load driving.

 

you can change to synthetics on the first change, HOWEVER, synthetics will not allow the engine to break in properly, waiting till after 20k to make the switch will allow the engine to wear in and parts to seat properly.

 

I changed mine at 3K miles. I would have waited till 5K, but I did not like the fact the truck was built in 10/05 and I purchased it in 11/06. That oil had been sitting for a while. Probably makes no difference, but I wanted to install a quick tap for oil changes anyway.

 

When to change the oil has many factors of when to change it out. I changed mine at 1150 miles as it was made it August and I bought it the middle of April with 50 miles on it. There is no way I would of run mine 3-4,000 miles knowing that the oil was 8 months old and no way to know how long it had sat idling during that time period. I would of change it at 500 miles but I was to busy driving it to notice the miles adding up so fast. If no one has told you yet Do Not use FRAM oil filters as they are junk in a CTD and Dodge will void your warranty for any oil related problems you may have by using this filter so it’s best to stick with FleetGuard filters as Cummins own FleetGuard. I see no problem going 7500 miles in-between oil changes as long as you use good oil and filters as even Cummins said it is ok to do so. The only exceptions I see is if you use cheap oil and filters along with 80% stop and go driving and frequent drives under 10 miles that do not allow the engine to get up to operating temps to burn off the condensation and any exhaust gas that get by the rings and in to the oil. As far as break-in goes to help speed it up is to load the truck up and or tow some heavy loads. If you can put 1200-1500 lbs in the bed and drive it this way for as long as you can do so will also help. If you can get a few long (4-500 miles) non-stop drives your engine will love you for do so. If you have the time to go longer then 500 miles non-stop except for fuel this is ok too as I drove mine for 30 plus hours non-stop except to refuel with about 1250 miles on the Odometer. Now go have a great Christmas and enjoy your new truck.

 

Thanks for the info

 

Per the 2006 owners manual you can wait till 15,000 miles for your all oil changes (including your first) under schedule A

or 7,500 miles under schedule B if you operate under harsh conditions.