Changing the oil in the Hemi!

[DSMLVR]

Personal opinion:
The 100,000 maintenance thing is a MARKETING ploy and should not be the goal you set with your vehicle. I guess if you lease your vehicle and will never see it again, it would be ok for YOU, but not for the vehicle. I would HATE to be the one who had to remove those plugs after they have been in the vehicle for 100,000+ miles.
While I don't have a 300/Magnum, I have a Pacifica. I have coupons from the dealer for FREE oil changes for the first 3 years. I ,personally do all my own work and While I appreciate the coupons, I change my oil myself. That little extra TLC for my Baby. Maybe I connect too much to my vehicles. I know I can tell you the birthday(day bought and day built) of my past 5 vehicles. Now, all I have to do is remember the birthdays of my 3 children.
I know, to each his/her own.

P.S. Great write up on the oil change procedure.

[CottyGee]

Excellent thread.

The trans service interval is - NONE! They're out of their minds if you ask me. I think the trans may even be sealed - some of that kind of thing is happening these days. The 5-speed trans doesn't have a trans dipstick - didja notice that?? That bites IMO.

If the trans is in fact sealed, you can rest assured MINE will have an aftermarket retrofit, and the trans will be drained, pumped, the filter/screen changed/cleaned every 30,000. So will the powersteering pump, the radiator, and the brakes (except instead of pumping, it'll be chemical flushes).

Fluids are the lifeblood of any car. They're just too cheap to not change them - and changing fluids can do so much... There's a chance when doing this that the service is unnecessary. But in not doing these fluid changes, there's a chance the services ARE necessary. THAT can be a very expensive chance to take.

The car will probably run 70,000 miles without an engine/trans failure and 36,000 miles without any other component failures, following the prescribed maintenance intervals - which is exactly what is in the best interest of the manufacturer. They'd like your car to dematerialize after the warranty expires so you'll hafta buy another one! (But not TOO soon after the warranty expires - extend at least 10% beyond the warranty!) <---Prolly the content of some super-secret engineering memorandum...


EDIT: Oh! Hafta agree on the plug interval thing. My dad's shop encounters these all the time... Something happened, a plug got fouled due to bad fuel, etc. and the computer directed the coil to increase the intensity of the spark to compensate. The electrode eventually recedes all the way into the insulator! The plug gets so hot that it eventually WELDS itself into the head. The technician encounters this, and advises the manager who calls the customer and asks what to do - if we try to FORCE the plug out, there's a good chance we'll ruin the head. If we leave it alone, the car won't run right.

Some of these end up being $1,500-3,000 sparkplug changes, which incidentally includes replacing a head...

[BrilliantBlackHemi]

Originally Posted by II kings 9:20

Bosch Platinum 4 is all I use (except Alfa, and of course my Citroen and Peugeot Diesel). Frankly , I think most platinum plugs are good for 100K. These so called 100K tune ups are all because of platinum plugs. It is a good idea to loosen and re-torque the plugs (never over tighten a plug) to prevent galling/seizing which makes for extremely difficult removal at 100K. Tune ups are an archaic term which should only be used for old cars with points, condensers, caps, rotors etc. With fully electronic ignitions and coil on plugs (a SAAB invention) there is no "tune up". There is nothing to tune other than plug replacement. The "miracle" of 100K tune ups is nothing more than electronics and platinum plugs.

Anyone actually put or think Bosch Platinum +4s will go into the 5.7L HEMI?

[II kings 9:20]

Just completed my second oil change at 3063 miles, spilled nary a drop! 4 qts Castrol syntec 5W20 and 3.5 of Amsoil 5w20 synthetic, oversize Amsoil SDF 15 filter. Heads up to all self oil changers. Make sure the rubber oil filter gasket does not stick to the block , visually inspect the filter and block to be safe. I bought a Merkur XR4ti with a new engine after this happened to the owner, rubber on rubber seal equals no seal when it comes to oil filters. This happened to me on a 92 Park Ave., just reached up and peeled the rubber off the block. I never checked before running into the guy I got the Merk from, would have ruined the 3800. YES YES YES , I ALWAYS put a film of fresh oil on the gasket, keep in mind I have only heard of this once and have seen it once.

[jeepgrady]

Why would you mix two different brands of oil when doing a complete change? I could see if you were just topping off, but I would never mix when doing a change. I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with the oil, it's just that each manufacturer has their own blends/additives.

[II kings 9:20]

I was waiting for that question, what took so long? Since I had 3.5 qts of Amsoil 5w20 to use, I just mixed them. Since both are compatible with all synthetics and conventional oils it won't matter, I figured the important thing was to have the 5w20 and synthetic. I don't expect to top off, so no point in letting my Amsoil go to waste.

[Tha187um]

Im glad I bookmarked this... off to my first oil change

Did I mention that neither autozone or discount auto have the part # for the oil filter? well, actually, they don't have the car in the system period So I'm glad FH made it clear that it was the 300M filter thanks a million!

[Tha187um]

ok, Done... wow... did anyone here have an EXTRA TIGHT oil filter??? I mean, everything was tightened to the extreme... the 4 screws were so tight that the washers were cutting through the plastic cover

The oil filter felt as if it was bolted down... with the wrench I had to put so much pressure to it and had to do ONE FULL turn in order to loosen it up, then it was still tight that I had to put some pressure to take it out by hand...

The drain plug felt ok... put it this way, I used half the force to loosen up the drain plug than I used to loosen up the oil filter, thats how bad it was...

everything else went fine, I didn't think the engine cover came off so easy... thanks for everything everyone...

[jeffp]

Originally Posted by Tha187um

ok, Done... wow... did anyone here have an EXTRA TIGHT oil filter??? I mean, everything was tightened to the extreme... the 4 screws were so tight that the washers were cutting through the plastic cover

It sure was! Had to get an endcap type wrench for the filter as the band type wrench did not have enough leverage. I do the oil changes my self if I can just to be able to get under the car and visually check the front end and make sure that the gorillas don't overtighten the filter and oil plug. If it leaks, I'd never know until it fills up the cover and leaks onto the floor.

[Tha187um]

I jammed my fingers twice ... I had the endcap wrench as well and still found it difficult... I liked that the draing plug had the rubber seal on it, that should help to prevent any leakage... I guess I'll be checking the cover in a week or two to check for oil drops.