[Shawn]

I'm at 6500 miles and i'm showing 14% oil life remaining, I will wait until the service light comes on, before scheduling service for my first of 2 free maintenance appointments. For those with more miles driven, how many miles prior to your first service?
Thanks

 

[Rockcrawlerdude]

Changed it out at 5k

 

[Burgess159]

Think we changed ours at 6,500. We're at 11,000 now and it says we still have about 45% life. I need to check the oil though and see if I've lost any, since some say their trucks consume a little.

 

[Shawn]

I've checked mine a few times and glad to say its not consuming oil.

 

[Rockcrawlerdude]

Mine doesn't seem to be using any. I will continue to do 5,000 mile oil changes due to towing a lot and just generally flogging the truck.

 

[EKarlW]

Had mine changed at 7200 with no oil use up to that point.

 

[CleverUserName]

The 7,500 mi OCI is a basic guideline. Your actual interval may be longer or shorter depending on how you drive and other operating and environmental conditions.

If you really want to know the ideal OCI get a blackstone kit and have your used oil sampled. Have the TBN checked also. It's around $40 total for the test. I did this with my TDI once, and discovered that the "manufacturer recommended" 10K interval was way to long and now I change it every 7k.

Also, consider using a "real" 5w40 truck oil. Like Rotella T6 or M1 Delvac ESP. If you know about what FCA did with the oil spec for the RAM Ecodiesel then this may make sense... especially to you guys who tow with your 2.8. Low ash oils like dexos2 do not have the additives required to protect your engine or to maintain the TBN for extended duration OCIs.

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/

 

[Rockcrawlerdude]

The 7,500 mi OCI is a basic guideline. Your actual interval may be longer or shorter depending on how you drive and other operating and environmental conditions.

If you really want to know the ideal OCI get a blackstone kit and have your used oil sampled. Have the TBN checked also. It's around $40 total for the test. I did this with my TDI once, and discovered that the "manufacturer recommended" 10K interval was way to long and now I change it every 7k.

Also, consider using a "real" 5w40 truck oil. Like Rotella T6 or M1 Delvac ESP. If you know about what FCA did with the oil spec for the RAM Ecodiesel then this may make sense... especially to you guys who tow with your 2.8. Low ash oils like dexos2 do not have the additives required to protect your engine or to maintain the TBN for extended duration OCIs.

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/

Thanks for your recommendations. As @Burgess159 pointed out, I have a rebuttal for everything. I will continue to use the ultra low ash pennzoil platinum euro L full synthetic 5w30 dexos2 and change it out every 5k miles. It's the lowest ash oil on the market that I know of and runs $7/qt. Low ash oil is for the health of the diesel particulate filter and related equipment. I also won't be spending $40 more per oil change for sampling. Sampling won't do me any good in an engine that's covered under powertrain warranty

 

[CleverUserName]

I don't think you understand how this works.

You do the oil sampling only once at whatever OCI you want. This will give you baseline numbers which can be used to calculate the ideal OCI for your vehicle.

You don't need to sample again unless you change brands of oil. Some smart people do it as part of periodic preventative maintenance too. Sampling will show increases in wear metals and oil dilution from antifreeze and fuel before there are any other telltale signs.

It's cheaper to do this than pay extra money for oil that may not need to be changed yet. Especially at $7 a quart and $15 a filter.

Apparently FCA realized that protecting the Ecodiesel's engine is more important than manipulating the CAFE MPG results. Low ash, lower viscosity oils like Dexos2 dont provide the protection you need for high engine loads like towing. If your that concerned about oil vapor entering the engine, use a catch can on your EGR. We all learn from From FCAs mistakes.

 

[Rockcrawlerdude]

What are you referring to when you say:

. If you know about what FCA did with the oil spec for the RAM Ecodiesel then this may make sense...

What did they do with the oil spec?

 

[Rockcrawlerdude]

And what is a catch can? Where does its go and what does it do?

 

[Rockcrawlerdude]

I've done some reading on the internet and I took my intake apart. Oil in the turbo inlet at 8,500 miles. You can see it in the mouth of the turbo and in the pipe that connects to the turbo. I'm guessing it's sucking oil vapor through the small breather tube?

 

[CleverUserName]

Yes the oil vapor comes from your pcv return line. The catch can condenses the oil vapor where it can be collected and prevents it from entering the intake.

This video will explain why FCA changed the Ecodiesel spec to T6

 

[Rockcrawlerdude]

So if you add a catch can you keep the oil vapor out of the intake and therefore don't have to worry about the ash content of the oil as much?

 

[CleverUserName]

So if you add a catch can you keep the oil vapor out of the intake and therefore don't have to worry about the ash content of the oil as much?

Exactly. Some catch cans have filters and should be sized correctly for the pcv flow under full boost. Racor makes a nice can w/ filter for around $220.

 

[Rockcrawlerdude]

Ok well you have enlightened me and schooled me. I have a bunch of this oil here but after I use it all up I may switch. I'm looking into a catch can as well. Thanks

 

[EKarlW]

My 2 cents; I did some preliminary research prior to this thread on some of the topics touched and here are my observations:

Oil: Per GM the 2.8 should only be fed oil that meeds the DEXOS2 or in a bind the ACEA C3 specification and so far the only non GM oil I can find that meets that criteria is Mobil1 5-30 ESP. I'm sure the Delvec and Rotella products will work but while I have an engine and DPF under warranty will be playing it safe.

My first personally done oil change will be with the Mobil1 ESP product

As for the oil catch can; I read that most any one that had a baffle in it was best and the apparent inlet size for Colorado *should* be 19mm 3/4". You can pay anywhere from $25 (ePay) - to $300 or more but from the videos I've seen just go with the ePay China stuff since this is a passive trap device and no real difference exists between a really expensive or a cheaper one except for possibly some vehicle specific mounting brackets and hose kits (which can add up) . There is a lot of informative web information/videos on them. As for need? I'm not so sure the turbo doesn't benefit from a little oil else the factory would have provided the trap like they do for fuel filters. I imagine the need would be if you have a lot of oil from a worn engine or are using a non-low ash oil that will make it to the DPF.

Just for grins I have ordered a oil trap from China for evaluation - but don't expect me to do anything with it for a while since it will need a custom bracket and hoses - and a lot of incentive on my part.

 

[Burgess159]

Rotella T6 would be a lot cheaper, I think, to get. It would definitely be easier to get ahold of though, I used to get it all the time at O'Reilly's in town for my 2004 Duramax. I do agree with RockCrawler on the part about keeping down the ash content for the DPF, which is why I will probably go with the Euro L for now. At such time when I delete the truck and tune it, I would be more likely to run the T6 oil then. I might try one of the catch cans though, eventually. I wasn't sure how they worked, but after you guys explaining them, I think I might. Someone on here shared that they had got one from Mighty Mouse, I believe was the name of the company? They don't have one on their website for our engine, but it does say on there that the guy can custom make you one for any engine I believe.

 

[Rockcrawlerdude]

Im not foolin around with oil in my intake. I hate blowby. I'm getting a catch can kit from Mighty Mouse solutions. He's great to work with. He has a kit available but it's not on his website yet. You can see pics of it installed in his gallery, and I will put up pics when I install it.

 

[CleverUserName]

My 2 cents; I did some preliminary research prior to this thread on some of the topics touched and here are my observations:

Oil: Per GM the 2.8 should only be fed oil that meeds the DEXOS2 or in a bind the ACEA C3 specification and so far the only non GM oil I can find that meets that criteria is Mobil1 5-30 ESP. I'm sure the Delvec and Rotella products will work but while I have an engine and DPF under warranty will be playing it safe.

My first personally done oil change will be with the Mobil1 ESP product

As for the oil catch can; I read that most any one that had a baffle in it was best and the apparent inlet size for Colorado *should* be 19mm 3/4". You can pay anywhere from $25 (ePay) - to $300 or more but from the videos I've seen just go with the ePay China stuff since this is a passive trap device and no real difference exists between a really expensive or a cheaper one except for possibly some vehicle specific mounting brackets and hose kits (which can add up) . There is a lot of informative web information/videos on them. As for need? I'm not so sure the turbo doesn't benefit from a little oil else the factory would have provided the trap like they do for fuel filters. I imagine the need would be if you have a lot of oil from a worn engine or are using a non-low ash oil that will make it to the DPF.

Just for grins I have ordered a oil trap from China for evaluation - but don't expect me to do anything with it for a while since it will need a custom bracket and hoses - and a lot of incentive on my part.

The oil vapor mixes with soot from the EGR and creates a placque that accumulates in your intake, turbo, inter cooler and piping. Over the long term it's will cause problems. If you can eliminate the vapor, EGR or both you can eliminate the placque.

Like FCA, GM spec'd out Dexos2 to boost fuel economy numbers for the 2.8. It is not suitable for towing or other high engine load applications.

Both T6 and Delvac ESP have an ash content of 1%. It's not significantly higher than what is allowable under Dexos2.
Another thing to consider is that all modern full size diesel trucks in addition to the Ecodiesel all have DPF, SCR and EGR. None of them are spec'd with an 5w30 low ash oil. This is oil used for passenger cars like my TDI.

I guess you 2.8 owners who tow need to decide if you want to protect your warranty or protect your engine.