bought a diesel tow rig need advice

[fdsa487]

so I ditched my 5.3 z71 and bought a 05 cummins 4x quad cab... So the dealer did all the fluid changes before I bought it.

I was bored today so I went to napa to get the oil, oil filter, and fuel filter, it cost $85.00 wow!!!! It takes 12 quarts of 15/40w.

If I have to do this every 3k miles I'm going to go broke with the cost of diesel fuel.

It used to cost 30$ to do a oil change on the chevy gas engine.

So I think I read somewhere that some guys did oil changes @ 15k miles.
?1 do I need to use synthetic to do that
?2 do I need to still change the oil filter @ 3k miles
?3 what interval do I change the fuel filter at

I am religious about fluid changes so it would be hard to actually change the oil at 10 or 15k miles

Any advice helps
its my first diesel sorry about the ignorance

50/50 city highway
10% with a heavy load

 

[tcm glx]

so I ditched my 5.3 z71 and bought a 05 cummins 4x quad cab... So the dealer did all the fluid changes before I bought it.

I was bored today so I went to napa to get the oil, oil filter, and fuel filter, it cost $85.00 wow!!!! It takes 12 quarts of 15/40w.

If I have to do this every 3k miles I'm going to go broke with the cost of diesel fuel.

It used to cost 30$ to do a oil change on the chevy gas engine.

So I think I read somewhere that some guys did oil changes @ 15k miles.
?1 do I need to use synthetic to do that
?2 do I need to still change the oil filter @ 3k miles
?3 what interval do I change the fuel filter at

I am religious about fluid changes so it would be hard to actually change the oil at 10 or 15k miles

Any advice helps
its my first diesel sorry about the ignorance

50/50 city highway
10% with a heavy load

I have a diesel, WK Grand Cherokee, and I do a oil change every 10k now....with synthetic oils....

 

[GrimmJeeper]

congrats, you bought one of the most reliable diesels ever made, you're going to love that truck :cheers: be warned tho the transmissions are not know for being the most reliable in those trucks.

my buddy has one he changes it every 10k on chevron dello 15w40, and its cheaper to buy it by the gallon. more important than keeping up on your oil changes is to find out what the interval is for changing the fuel filter. condensation builds up water in the tank, and it is collected in the fuel/water seperator, usually built into the filter.
good luck, and if you want to hop it up or put a programmer into it to get better fuel milage and better towing let me know, my buddy runs a diesel performance company and he's just starting out, www.darkstardiesel.com he says he'll do his best to beat anybodys price

 

[ChiXJeff]

Oil change intervals on an '05 are 7500/15000 or higher.

 

[fdsa487]

congrats, you bought one of the most reliable diesels ever made, you're going to love that truck :cheers: be warned tho the transmissions are not know for being the most reliable in those trucks.

my buddy has one he changes it every 10k on chevron dello 15w40, and its cheaper to buy it by the gallon. more important than keeping up on your oil changes is to find out what the interval is for changing the fuel filter. condensation builds up water in the tank, and it is collected in the fuel/water seperator, usually built into the filter.
good luck, and if you want to hop it up or put a programmer into it to get better fuel milage and better towing let me know, my buddy runs a diesel performance company and he's just starting out, www.darkstardiesel.com he says he'll do his best to beat anybodys price

Awesome thx I'll check that out

 

[GrimmJeeper]

Awesome thx I'll check that out

the web link wont help you much his page isnt up yet, but if you want his number to talk about what you can do to your truck PM me, or you can email him from that link on the page. good luck with your new truck, if i had the dough i'd pick one up as well.

 

[waxer]

Rule #1, don't count on the dealer for doing what they said they did.

Double check and take a look at the fluids. One thing about diesels is you can do an oil change with fresh oil, run the engine for 5 minutes, and the oil will already be black. This is normal.

Amsoil is a popular oil amongst diesel truck owners. Synthetics are the best. Yes pricey, but the intervals for changing are a lot longer than dino oils.

You can expect to see approx 15-18MPG on that CTD, main factor being driving style. If you're light on the pedal, you'll see much better mileage. Diesel's are VERY sensitive to a heavy foot when it comes to MPG's.

You never stated, but was this an automatic trans or a manual?

 

[waxer]

One HUGE tip when it comes to maintenance... almost forgot

Filter items are very expensive, and you can save TONS by ordering your filters from fleetfilter.com

They sell Napa Gold filters for nearly 1/2 the price Napa charges for them. Take a look and you'll be surprised.

 

[jjmat3]

Try running the following combo and using used oil analysis to run the oil out to 25K+ miles, change the filters and top off then go another 25K+ per the UOA. People have been doing it for many years w/ no problems.

Amsoil BMK25-EA Cummins Engine Dual Remote By-Pass Mounting Kit
Amsoil AME1G-EA SAE 15W-40 Synthetic Hvy Dty Diesel and Marine Motor Oil
Amsoil EAO80-EA Absolute Efficiency Oil Filter
Amsoil EAA189-EA Absolute Efficiency Air Filter

I hear Dan at gerroffroad.com can get you the best deal on the products right now.

 

[GrimmJeeper]

I hear Dan at gerroffroad.com can get you the best deal on the products right now.

PM "Gerr" he's here on :cheers:

 

[fdsa487]

thanks guys! Good advice I'll be checking into the amsoil website now

 

[FordGuy]

I look at the oil changes like this. How much does it cost to replace the engine? cheap insurance. I change my Diesel's oil every 5-6k. With Ford and Chevy the injectors are fired by a high pressure oil pump, when you try and create 2500 psi with engine oil that has been run for a lot of miles the oil foams, no matter how much money you spend on oil it can not remove the contaminates and correct the acidity levels in the old oil. We service up-wards of 25 Diesels a day, and see the guys who do 15k oil changes I must really thank them, they pay for my Jeep. Maybe I could talk more into it then I could put coil-overs and link the rear!!!!!

 

[Original_MudButt]

My 2500 Duramax/Allison tells me when its time to change the oil........

:anon:

 

[89er]

Amen to FordGuy - I have a 02 Superduty with the 7.3. I change the oil every 5 to 6K. I do it myself and it is not too bad to do. The 7.3 takes 15 quarts. I buy Chevron Delo by the case at Costco for around $60 for 6 gallons, Motorcraft Oil filters from Wal-Mart for around $10. And I change the fuel filter every other oil change.

Check out http://www.ginosgarage.com/ . He has pretty good prices on some of the things you might want or need.

If you decide to put any kind of tuner on your truck make sure to do the airflow improvements as well. And also make sure you have a EGT (Exhaust Gas Temp) gauge. Without the increased airflow your EGTs will go up and you may be replacing a burned up turbo which isn't cheap. Most often a good tuner with the airflow improvements will show an increase in fuel mileage (if you can resist mashing the skinny pedal too much).

Good Luck with your new toy!

 

[FordGuy]

Other than the Factory oil, No Doubt the Delo is fantastic, Have many fleets who run Delo like So. Edison, they have light Duty trucks with mileage exceeding 400,000.

And please put a Gauze filter on, that will also help sponsor my Jeep!! I make a lot of money from dusted turbo's

 

[Loose_Nuts_Enterprises]

i change mine out every 5K, unless I'm doing a lot of heavy towing. I have a trailer that weighs around 18K pounds with the jeep in it, so when we're doing a lot of prerunning and racing, I try to change it at 3k. And never, ever, use Fram filters on your truck. The filter media can come out of those and plug oil gallies and burn up your engine.

I would look at getting an EGT gauge as soon as possible, and with your 24V engine, also look at getting a fuel pressure gauge. Your truck has an electric lift pump which are prone to failure. When the lift pump goes, it will take the injector pump with it.

Go to www.dieseltruckresource.com and you will find all the info you'll ever need. It's like the for Dodge trucks.

Congrats on the new truck....you'll love it. I know i love mine.

-Dan

 

[fdsa487]

One HUGE tip when it comes to maintenance... almost forgot

Filter items are very expensive, and you can save TONS by ordering your filters from fleetfilter.com

They sell Napa Gold filters for nearly 1/2 the price Napa charges for them. Take a look and you'll be surprised.

1/3 the price at fleetfilter thank toy very much! Now I can afford synthetic!!!

Its an automatic trans

 

[fdsa487]

i change mine out every 5K, unless I'm doing a lot of heavy towing. I have a trailer that weighs around 18K pounds with the jeep in it, so when we're doing a lot of prerunning and racing, I try to change it at 3k. And never, ever, use Fram filters on your truck. The filter media can come out of those and plug oil gallies and burn up your engine.

I would look at getting an EGT gauge as soon as possible, and with your 24V engine, also look at getting a fuel pressure gauge. Your truck has an electric lift pump which are prone to failure. When the lift pump goes, it will take the injector pump with it.

Go to www.dieseltruckresource.com and you will find all the info you'll ever need. It's like the for Dodge trucks.

An exhaust temp gauge ?

Congrats on the new truck....you'll love it. I know i love mine.

-Dan

 

[89er]

Ya - You need an Exhaust Gas Temp gauge.

The turbo inlet uses flow from the engine exhaust to turn the turbo. Under normal flat conditions you expect to see 400 to 500 degrees at the turbo inlet. When going up hill towing a load you are burning more fuel and therfore the EGT goes up. With a tuner you are basically dumping even more fuel into the engine to get more power, so the EGT goes up even more.

If you have a EGT gauge you can monitor the EGT and you can back off the throttle before you do any damage. If you run EGTs at the inlet above 1200 or so degrees for any length of time you WILL burn up the turbo.

 

[FordGuy]

Ya - You need an Exhaust Gas Temp gauge.

If you have a EGT gauge you can monitor the EGT and you can back off the throttle before you do any damage. If you run EGTs at the inlet above 1200 or so degrees for any length of time you WILL burn up the turbo.

Yea, its really cool when the valves stick in the guides too!!