Oil Change

Materials Required

• 3 Gallons (12 quarts) 15W-40 Engine Oil when temperatures are above 0*F (-17*C)

  • Use only Diesel Engine Oil meeting standard MIL-2104C or API Classification CD or higher or CCML D4, D5. Petroleum Based.

• 3 Gallons (12 quarts) 5W-40 Synthetic Engine Oil when temperatures fall below -5*F (-15*C)

• Oil Filter

  • Do NOT use Fram Oil Filter there is a TSB concerning the use of Fram Oil filters. 

Tools

• 3/8 Ratchet

• Oil Filter Wrench

• 4 Gallon Drain Pan 

Procedure

Start the truck and drive the truck till it is up to full operating temperature. Bring it back home and park on flat level ground. Grab your engine oil drain pan and place it under the engine oil pan. Grab that 3/8 ratchet and loosen the engine oil drain plug on the engine oil pan. The square tip of the 3/8 ratchet will fit the drain plug perfectly. Now be careful that engine oil will be hot, a pair of nitrile gloves will guard your hand against hot oil splashing on your hands. Another way is to unscrew the drain plug and just drop the plug into the drain pan you can fish it out with a magnet. Next, you want to spin the oil filter off double check you have the rubber gasket on the oil filter and its not stuck to the filter mount base. Again be careful the engine oil and oil filter are going to be hot.  I would suggest allowing it to drain for at least a good 1 hour. If you want the best results I do this in the evening and allow it to drain all night long. In the morning I install the drain plug and the oil filter. When installing the oil filter make sure to lube the rubber gasket with a small amount of clean engine oil. Spin the filter till the oil filter seal makes contact. Then tighten with your hand 3/4 of a turn and stop. 

WARNING: Do not tighten an oil filter using a filter wrench you can over-tighten and cause the rubber gasket of the oil filter to weep or leak from deforming the rubber seal.

WARNING: I know a lot of people don't like dry starts and will prefill the oil filter with oil. I do not suggest this being if any materials or debris gets in the center hole of the oil filter it will be the first debris to the bearings and oil jets. It can do serious engine damage. If you want to prefill an oil filter make sure to plug the center hole and fill from the outer ring of small holes. These smaller holes are the inlet of the dirty filter from the oil pump. I've seen an engine ruined from a mouse turd that was in a bottle of Chevron Delo because the bottles are molded and left opened till filled so the mouse turd was poured into the oil filter and when the engine ran it plugged an oil cooler jet and fried a piston. 

Reinstall the drain plug. The FSM book shows that the torque is 37 foot-pounds. I've never used a torque wrench to install the drain plug. Now you'll want to fill the crankcase with fresh oil. Open the fill cap on the valve cover. Use a wide-mouth funnel and fill the crankcase with 3 gallons of engine oil. Again the oil typically is 15w-40 petroleum-based. Synthetics are not required for summer usage. Winter time with temperatures below -5*F consistently you need to switch over synthetic 5W-40 for winter time operation. 

After filling with oil and the oil cap is replaced on the valve cover. Start the engine up and watch the oil pressure gauge and verify there is oil pressure within about 10 seconds. If no oil pressure shut it down and investigate why the oil pressure isn't coming up. Once you see oil pressure get back out of the cab while it's running and verify the oil filter is not weeping or leaking. Then shut down the engine and allow to stand for a few minutes and check your level again to make sure it shows full on the dipstick.