When are you guys doing the first oil change? Some say 1500 miles to get all the break in residue out, some later. I always waited till 3k then every 4k after that. The manual says 6k but I never wait that long.
I change it when the change oil message comes on. Have changed it 3 times in 28 months. I also track my car. 2800, 4900, 8200 miles. If you use synthetic oil and don't track your car, 6k to 8k miles is good but I wouldn't let go over a year.
I will probably do every 4k miles. I'm only going to put an avg of 500 miles on it a month so that'd be the same as going 8 months without changing it and that's about right.
I changed mine at about 1500 miles, then again at 3000. Ever since then, I've just been changing it after the "Oil Change Required" alarm goes off, which has been between 5500 and 6000 miles per change with my driving habits.
Todays motor tolerances are so tight there's no need to change your oil BEFORE the oil change warning system says to, which depending how you drive will probably be between 6,000-9000 miles.
The oil doesn't get dirty because the gases aren't bypassing in the combustion chamber like they do on older motors. You can change your oil sooner but your just wasting your money and it's not needed.
I've talked to about 4 or 5 different Chrysler engineers and service managers about this and they all say the same thing, not needed and they don't do it on THEIR personal vehicles which to me is the most important answer!
BTW......it doesn't say in the owners manual to do the first oil change at 500 miles, at least it doesn't say that in my 2014 manual.
I did mine early the first oil change (736 miles) for one reason and one reason only. The factory puts the filter on with 70 lb/ft of torque and I figure the longer it stays on there and the more cool/heat cycles it goes through, the higher the chance of the gasket sticking to the car or the filter getting even harder to remove when it comes time. So I just wanted to get the factory filter off ASAP to avoid issues on my first change in trying to get the filter (installed by the infamous 800 lb gorilla) off.
Surprisingly, at only 736 miles, the oil was kinda dirty. Not black, but a very dark caramel.
So I just wanted to get the factory filter off ASAP to avoid issues on my first change in trying to get the filter (installed by the infamous 800 lb gorilla)