Service Intervals

If you’ve purchased a diesel truck anytime since 2007 you need to read your owner’s manual very carefully about oil changes

Back in the good old days you changed engine oil every 3,000 miles and that was that. Boy, have times changed. Now most diesel pickups have extended the oil changes out to 5,000 miles in normal service.

The caveat is manufacturers have added so much towing and handling capacity to today’s pickups that some of them now have stipulations about “severe service.” If your jobs or driving style meet these severe-service criteria – as detailed in the owner’s manual – those extended service intervals may not apply.

There’s also a new layer of technology on diesels manufactured after 2007 that require a new type of engine oil.

Don’t be a SAP

The new emissions-compliant diesels since 2007 require lube oils that are low in sulfated ash, phosphorous and sulfur. These are called “low SAPS” oils.

Failure to use low SAPS oils will cause your diesel particulate filter to fill with ash sooner, and cleaning the DPF can be an expensive maintenance item (See “DPF Cleaning” on Propickupmag.com.)

Thanks to increased turbocharging and EGR rates, the new engines also run hotter and put more soot into the combustion chamber. To combat this the oil companies developed a new and more robust oil formulation, the American Petroleum Institute’s CJ-4 standard.

In addition to being low SAPS, CJ-4 oils offer better heat and oxidative stability. It’s critical you only use oil that has the CJ-4 or higher rating or the engine warranty goes down the drain with the used oil.

Synthetics extend service

Better oils and better engines are the reason oil-drain intervals now sit comfortably at 5,000 miles in some situations. But does that mean you can go further than that on full-synthetic or partial-synthetic oils?

The moment the automotive OEMs say “yes,” we’ll say “yes.” But for now, they say “no.”

Synthetics and partial synthetics are superior oils in many ways. The base oil molecules are more uniform in size, thus reducing friction inside the engine.

They’re also great for lower viscosity formulations (such as 5W30), which is essential when you want to start your diesel in temperatures below about 15 degrees Fahrenheit.

But what all diesel engine oils share in common when it comes to longevity is their low tolerance to soot.

It’s critical you only use oil that has the CJ-4 or higher rating or the engine warranty goes down the drain with the used oil.

And there’s the rub: Today’s EGR engines create more soot, and although a lot of it is controlled by DPF filters and other technology, a certain percentage of the soot generated in the combustion chamber inevitably winds up in the oil.

Are the premium priced full synthetic oils worth it? It’s a question we get all the time. If you buy your lube oil by the barrel to maintain your dozers, backhoes, skid steers and the like, you need to do a careful cost-benefit analysis.

But, if you’re maintaining a personal truck or just a few trucks used in your business, synthetics can be your friend.

A lot of you don’t always have time to change oil at the scheduled interval or you occasionally stray into severe duty territory, and here synthetics will at least give you a better margin of error.