Oil change interval

[Doubletrouble]

 It won't be long and it'll be that time. I recently bought this truck, previous owner used regular rotella. I am considering full synthetic rotella oil. In the manual it says 7500 miles between changes, would that extend if synthetic is used?

 For those of you that run synthetic, what interval do you change yours? 

 Just a curious question to see if the extra expense has more advantage than just better oil. Thanks 

[AH64ID]

Oils are a lot better today than they were in 2001. Even my 2005 TJ has out dated and too short of OCI's. 

 

What does 7500 miles look like for you? How much towing, city, hours, months?

[Doubletrouble]

 I honestly do not tow much at all. My truck is truly overkill for what I need. I mainly drive to and from work about 35 miles round trip, about 20% is "city" . 7500 miles would probably last me about 5 months maybe? 

[AH64ID]

At 10K mikes I would do an oil sample and see what it looks like. 
 

You should be able to get 12-15 miles out of the oil with that kind of use. 
 

I do recommend the Donaldson DBL7349 oil filter. It’s performance is unbeatable. 

[Doubletrouble]

Never heard of that brand. Are those available at any common auto parts store or online?

[dripley]

I have run dino oil in mine since with good results but I am not knocking sythetics by any means and @AH64IDknows them well. It does not sound like you are hard yous with your use. Change mine anywhere from 7500 to 10000. A lot of highway miles on mine these days but idle alot also. Good oil and a good filter will treat you right. I ran Rotella for many years and for the past few Delo 400. I run this as filter. @AH64ID turned me onto these a while back. Not sure how they are with synthetic.

[AH64ID]

That's the filter. It's not as easy to find, but they are around. I usually find the best price on Amazon these days and buy them by the pair. There is a pair on Amazon now for $27.  

 

If you don't want to spring for a oil analysis then dumping at 10K is not going to be an issue. 

 

 

[dripley]

Just google the filter number and many options formthem will pop up. I got my last at filterspro.com i believe. Bought 6 or 12 of them for about 12 bucks apiece to the door IIRC.

[Doubletrouble]

Where would I take the sample for analysis? And what does that results from it tell you? Sorry, new to diesels, never did this on a gasser.

[AH64ID]

Oil analysis will tell you the health of the oil based on contaminants and oil life. You would need an analysis with TBN, as that's the oils ability to fight off the acids that are a byproduct of combustion. It's usable for gas too, just not as common. It's helpful when trying to establish extended oil drain intervals. 

 

Without an aux filter it's harder to sample. Some will change the oil and get a sample from the stream mid drain, others will use a siphon tube down the dipstick. 

 

You could also run a slightly higher quality full synthetic and just change it every 12 months, or 15K miles without analysis. Amsoil is what I run and change my oil every 12 months, but rarely hit 15K on it. Amsoil is an extended drain interval oil, so it doesn't need to be tested within their published extended drain intervals.

 

It just depends on the effort you want to put into it.... also nothing wrong with conventional oil and 7500-10000 mile dumps like @dripley does. I prefer synthetic myself, but lots of people just run what's cheapest. 

[dripley]

3 minutes ago, AH64ID said:

It just depends on the effort you want to put into it.... also nothing wrong with conventional oil and 7500-10000 mile dumps like @dripley does. I prefer synthetic myself, but lots of people just run what's cheapest

You calling me cheapskate? Super Tech is cheaper. 

Delo is about $1 gallon cheaper than Rotella, so maybe I am.

All in fun my friend.

[Doubletrouble]

 One needs to save some where, maintenance can be expensive.

[AH64ID]

1 minute ago, Doubletrouble said:

 One needs to save some where, maintenance can be expensive.

 

and time consuming. 

 

I spend more per oil change, but do them less frequently. All of my vehicles are on a 12 month OCI. Last time I did the math I spend less in the end, both in time and money. 

 

Heck the latest Cummins comes with a 12 month/15K mile OEM OCI, up from 6 months/15K miles... Personally I think they should have been at 12 months a long time ago. 

[Doubletrouble]

My buddy has a 2013 with the 6.7 (he's the one that talked me into mine) and he changes his every 5000 I believe. I thought it was a bit excessive but it's his truck.

[AH64ID]

2 minutes ago, Doubletrouble said:

My buddy has a 2013 with the 6.7 (he's the one that talked me into mine) and he changes his every 5000 I believe. I thought it was a bit excessive but it's his truck.

 

That is most likely excessive, unless that's over a 12 month interval. 

[IBMobile]

I'm like @dripley and run Delo 400 15w-40 oil and change it between 7500 and 10,000 but that can be over a 2 year time since the truck gets driven between 4500 and 7500 a year.   

[dave110]

1 hour ago, AH64ID said:

 

and time consuming. 

 

I spend more per oil change, but do them less frequently. All of my vehicles are on a 12 month OCI. Last time I did the math I spend less in the end, both in time and money. 

 

Heck the latest Cummins comes with a 12 month/15K mile OEM OCI, up from 6 months/15K miles... Personally I think they should have been at 12 months a long time ago. 

That makes me feel better. I could never get a definate answer on the time part of it. People still seem stuck in the 3 month OR 3000 mile days. My truck only sees about 6k a year and I just couldn't see dumping oil twice a year so I've been doing once a year changes for a while now.

[AH64ID]

7 hours ago, dave110 said:

That makes me feel better. I could never get a definate answer on the time part of it. People still seem stuck in the 3 month OR 3000 mile days. My truck only sees about 6k a year and I just couldn't see dumping oil twice a year so I've been doing once a year changes for a while now.

 

Perfect. 

 

Regardless of miles the oil will start to deteriorate it's TBN the first time it's used after changing. That continues even with the engine off, which is where the timeframe comes from. Without a UOA it's very important to change it once a year even if the miles are low. 

[Doubletrouble]

 Who does this analysis? Where would I take the sample after collected? 

[AH64ID]

I use Oil Analizers Inc. They are who my local Cummins uses. 

 

I've also used blackstone, but they cost more for TBN and I was not at all impressed with their testing or analysis.