First Oil Change

[Bigcatfish]

Bought my first Jeep in July. When I bought it the guy said oil change every 3,000 miles. Today, the service guy said every 5,000. I know someone on this board knows the answer. How often?

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[Afternoon Spray]

According to the owner's manual "Under no circumstances should oil change intervals exceed 10,000 miles (16,000 km), 12 months or 350 hours of engine run time, whichever comes first." The 2020 user's manual said to change it after 4,000 miles if operated under "Severe Duty" which it defined as dusty or off-road environments or if it is mostly run in idle or low RPMs.

For me, I'd rather change it more often than necessary so I stick to every 6 months, which keeps me well below the mileage threshold.

 

[OVERLORD]

With the short trips I do, 3K.

Oil is cheap as compared to roller lifters, rockers and cam shafts.

Too, it's stupid easy to do oil changes on these.

 

[AmosMoses]

Change it every 5000 with good synthetic oil and a new filter. Its easy to remember your intervals when changing every 5000, no need to write it down but it is a good idea to log it in the back of your owners manual where pages are provided for notes. I put the date, mileage and what oil and filter I used. I also do this for other service items I do.

 

[Chasm]

My dealer is like "10k or trust the meter".
I'm like "no". I did ~2k for the first, I'm about to do the second at 5K, then I'll do every 5K. Easy to remember, easy to line up with the 10X other maintenance, but still save $ when compared to 3K on my old truck.

 

[Idlethunder]

Every 5,000 here same as tire rotations

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Bought my first Jeep in July. When I bought it the guy said oil change every 3,000 miles. Today, the service guy said every 5,000. I know someone on this board knows the answer. How often?

Sales people are poor references for maintenance. Even many in the shop just toss out their favorite numbers.
Here, they say 5,000 miles.
You can go by the oil life monitor it comes with and be just fine.

I point back to the 1970s with engines that flooded, had carburetors that didn't stay in tune, poor A/F ratios, timing that wasn't accurate and oil that was old technology - and the owners manual said 7,500 miles (unless towing, using for fleet and that sort of thing.
So even 50 years ago they said 7,500 miles - we have superior oils, engines that run far better Air/Fuel ratios - under tight computer control, and we still stick to old ways.

There's a member here who follows his oil life monitor, period, and has done fine.

So I guess pick one - this is a religion, whatever someone else does is of course correct!
Just ask 'em.

One of the last oil changes I did, (my prior JT) I sent a sample for analysis.
There was 7,100 miles on the oil
The oil life monitor said I had something like 15% life left.
The lab report came back great and said that there was still some life left in the oil and that interval was working well.

In other words - as long as you don't go over the 10,000 miles or what the oil life monitor says, stay with or under that and you'll be fine.

I keep a book of all service work - on all of my vehicles. The book stays with it, and I keep a list in a notes app in my phone as well so it's always handy.

 

[Mr._Bill]

On this truck, I did the first oil change at 3k miles. Since then, I have followed the oil life monitor and had the dealer do the Jeep Wave changes. It's now at 16k miles, the monitor is at 19%, and I have one change to use before February.

 

[MT1]

Bought my first Jeep in July. When I bought it the guy said oil change every 3,000 miles. Today, the service guy said every 5,000. I know someone on this board knows the answer. How often?

A factor may be are you talking just oil change, or oil change and tire rotation?

If you are using them (dealer/Jeep Wave) to change the oil and rotate tires, every 5k miles is a good idea. Tires are not cheap, and who knows, they might find something getting loose or otherwise help you out. If using the CDJR guys to oil change and rotate, which is a valid choice, 5K miles is my opinion.

Staying with just oil change intervals, the length depends upon how you use the machine. 3,000 miles at 10 MPH up and down dusty forest service roads is not the same as 3,000 miles on the interstate. The oil monitor helps with that, or you can monitor, using the trip meter, engine hours. Temperature is also a factor, so no easy answer is here.

There are many opinions. You will have to make your own.

From the manual:

Under no circumstances should oil change intervals
exceed 10,000 miles (16,000 km), 12 months or
350 hours of engine run time, whichever comes first.
The 350 hours of engine run or idle time is generally
only a concern for fleet customers.

 

[g2020]

Bought my first Jeep in July. When I bought it the guy said oil change every 3,000 miles. Today, the service guy said every 5,000. I know someone on this board knows the answer. How often?

Please see my post on Motor Oil & Oil Filter Service Intervals.

In my post, reviewing the attachments (pages from the owner's manual) is optional. The attachments just support the summary.

 

[Hootbro]

Oh goody, an oil change thread. Here is my 2 cents because it is the most important opinion here, forget everybody else.

The owners manual recommendation is a sufficient minimum. No harm in doing anything shorter than that. I do 3K-5K OCI's.

 

[RHINO79]

I like 3k or 6 months

 

[Lost1wing]

I am getting older and lazier. Changing the oil sooner than I used to is making more sense. That's crazy you ask? I would change oil on my vehicles at 10k or when the computer told me ( if equipped). I would still keep track of mileage for tire rotation. I was always doing something on the lift.

Now I see it a bit easier to just keep the tires and oil on the same schedule. With several vehicles, it easier to keep track. ShadowsPapa mentioned this as well. I didn't think I would like it but so far it is working out. I can look at the dash and tell right away when I need to change the oil and rotate. No need for the logbook that I keep losing.

 

[Mr Miami]

I do every 5k with tire rotation. I guess if I was using it for commercial towing, spending 90% of my time climbing rocks, or 90% of the time commuting to work daily on a highway 75 miles roundtrip at 60mph, I would reconsider the number.

But for the minimal price of changing the oil and rotating tires compared to what "could" wear out sooner, I have the peace of mind knowing that the oil and filter are not part of the equation.

At least in my neighborhood, dealers runs specials constantly for the oil/filer changes at $59.00 and rotations at about $25.00. Out the door, including their shop fees and taxes, it's still less than $100 (that's if you don't mind having to say no to their annoying offers for cabin filters, air filters and whatever else they are trying to upsell). When I'm not lazy, I go to my local Advance Auto or Autozone and get the oil and filter for about $40 and then later take it to a local tire guy for the rotation if I think of it.

I really don't worry about oil analysis, wondering how many more miles I could drive on the old oil or anything else related to the oil or tires. I must admit the service advisor at one of the dealers I go to is VERY cute and would be the only reason I would take one of my Jeeps in for service more often.

 

[Jrgunn5150]

48,000 miles and 4 oil changes.

0 camshafts.

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