GeneralClortho
Active Member
- Messages
- 108
- Reaction score
- 135
- Points
- 43
There are those that preach an oil change is not needed after the first 500 miles or so for break in. The manual does not say to do so, and even the technician at the shop double checked with me to make sure I was serious when I brought the truck in with 650 miles on the clock. He said, "You don't need to change the oil on these new trucks this soon." I replied, "That what I am told, but please proceed." He smiled and nodded. I am a bit old school when the break in periods were critical in engines, having rebuilt a few on my own, but the norm these days seems to be headed towards the opposite mentality.
When to took delivery of the truck, I observed the engine was louder than I expected at idle. I am not talking of exhaust, but the engine itself, the mechanical whir of internal parts, was noisy. It reminded me of the big CAT engines running natural gas in the oil field. When stopped at a light, I could feel the idle was not the smoothest either but not bad compared to vehicles I drive. After a couple of weeks, I accepted this must be a big Hemi thing and tried to shove it to the back of my mind. But, a tiny voice in the back of my mind was tapping me on the shoulder saying, "You need to change the oil after 500 miles. Get that crud out of there. You know what you have to do. Do it...do it."
I changed the oil today with the Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 0W-40 per the manual and after reading quite a bit on the subject. After done, I left the shop and headed home to let a bunch of air they had added back in my tires. I like to run the E rated 35s at 50 psig front, 40 rear, low pressure light be darned. When home, using my gauge, I let a gob of pressure out of the tires and fired up the truck to compare the pressures it was reading against my gauge.
I hopped out to make the comparison and it happened
My ears twitched with pleasure, there it was, the truck was idling much more quietly. I don't mean maybe or barely, I mean a whole lot more quiet. It was enough that even though I was not thinking about it or expecting it, I noticed almost immediately. The idle is also noticeably smoother. For those that know engines, have built them, have knowledge of all the mechanics of what is going on in there, this is a big deal. When you can actually hear the difference in the quality of lubrication of the rotating parts, it is significant. The little voice has moved on to some other pressing issue like how much beer I drink or what temperature the HVAC is set at the house, or maybe the....
When to took delivery of the truck, I observed the engine was louder than I expected at idle. I am not talking of exhaust, but the engine itself, the mechanical whir of internal parts, was noisy. It reminded me of the big CAT engines running natural gas in the oil field. When stopped at a light, I could feel the idle was not the smoothest either but not bad compared to vehicles I drive. After a couple of weeks, I accepted this must be a big Hemi thing and tried to shove it to the back of my mind. But, a tiny voice in the back of my mind was tapping me on the shoulder saying, "You need to change the oil after 500 miles. Get that crud out of there. You know what you have to do. Do it...do it."
I changed the oil today with the Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 0W-40 per the manual and after reading quite a bit on the subject. After done, I left the shop and headed home to let a bunch of air they had added back in my tires. I like to run the E rated 35s at 50 psig front, 40 rear, low pressure light be darned. When home, using my gauge, I let a gob of pressure out of the tires and fired up the truck to compare the pressures it was reading against my gauge.
I hopped out to make the comparison and it happened
My ears twitched with pleasure, there it was, the truck was idling much more quietly. I don't mean maybe or barely, I mean a whole lot more quiet. It was enough that even though I was not thinking about it or expecting it, I noticed almost immediately. The idle is also noticeably smoother. For those that know engines, have built them, have knowledge of all the mechanics of what is going on in there, this is a big deal. When you can actually hear the difference in the quality of lubrication of the rotating parts, it is significant. The little voice has moved on to some other pressing issue like how much beer I drink or what temperature the HVAC is set at the house, or maybe the....