Oil Changes

[HunterSmith69]

Afternoon all and hope y'all are having a good weekend.

 

I recently (2 weeks ago) purchased a 2018 Sierra 2500 HD with the diesel engine. I must admit I am new to the diesel world and have questions regarding oil changes. I prefer to do my own oil changes and am used to changing the oil for gas engines. I would change my oil every 12k miles as the oil manufacturer recommended. For my new 6.6 Duramax, how often should I change the oil (aka miles and/or months), what oil would one recommend, and what filter should I go with? I want to make sure I do this right to avoid voiding warranties and making sure my truck lasts as long as it can.

 

Thank you in advance, answers and recommendations are greatly appreciated.

[Colossus]

Many of us duramax owners tended to go off of the oil life monitor or would go every 8000 miles.  Oil wise, the most popular choices were the Mobil and Shell Rotella but most major brands will get you by just fine.  Use a premium filter.   I like the NAPA line (Wix) Gold or Platnium.  

 

Some decent reading here:

http://www.duramaxforum.com/forum/maintenance/139850-what-best-oil-6-6-duramax.html

 

Change your fuel filter about every 10,000-15,000 miles as well.  I also use the NAPA fuel filters. 

 

Tranny spin on filter (external) every 15,000 miles.  Allison or NAPA. 

Go check in with the folks over on duramaxforum.com and continue to check in here as well. 

[HunterSmith69]

Thank you very much, I appreciate it. Not wanting to follow the oil life monitor because I only have 900 miles on truck and it says I have only 70% left. Basically meaning it wants me to change ever 3k miles so I think I'll stick with your rec of 8k miles.

[Colossus]

While it is not testing the oil itself, the OLM does tend to be reasonably accurate.  GM's OLM is one of the best in the industry, in fact.  That being said-  I would do your first oil change at 2000 miles, then go to the longer interval.  Also plan on changing out your front and rear diff at about 5000-10000 miles as well, it will be worth it, trust me. 

[Black02Silverado]

All good info posted above.  Going 8k on an oil change is good as well.  With all the emission equipment on these diesels now, there is more of a likeliness of fuel getting into the oil. 

 

Following the OLM isn't a bad idea.  You state that you are at 70% and only 900 miles.  It can change over time and go longer on the oil change than 3k like you think.  You will see as you put the miles on it.  Changing out at 2k for the first oil change is a good idea as well.

 

Running a good filter is important on a diesel since soot is a by-product and is a major wear item in the oil.  Cummins did a study a long time ago and found that if you can reduce the soot level in the oil the engine will last a long time.  That is why by-pass oil filters for diesels came on the market to help keep the oil clean and get rid of as much soot as possible.

[HunterSmith69]

17 hours ago, Black02Silverado said:

All good info posted above.  Going 8k on an oil change is good as well.  With all the emission equipment on these diesels now, there is more of a likeliness of fuel getting into the oil. 

 

Following the OLM isn't a bad idea.  You state that you are at 70% and only 900 miles.  It can change over time and go longer on the oil change than 3k like you think.  You will see as you put the miles on it.  Changing out at 2k for the first oil change is a good idea as well.

 

Running a good filter is important on a diesel since soot is a by-product and is a major wear item in the oil.  Cummins did a study a long time ago and found that if you can reduce the soot level in the oil the engine will last a long time.  That is why by-pass oil filters for diesels came on the market to help keep the oil clean and get rid of as much soot as possible.

Specifically which filter would you recommend?

 

Thank you for your tips

[HunterSmith69]

23 hours ago, Colossus said:

While it is not testing the oil itself, the OLM does tend to be reasonably accurate.  GM's OLM is one of the best in the industry, in fact.  That being said-  I would do your first oil change at 2000 miles, then go to the longer interval.  Also plan on changing out your front and rear diff at about 5000-10000 miles as well, it will be worth it, trust me. 

Thank you. Why would you recommend changing rear diff at 5-10k miles?

[Colossus]

Front and rear diff, assuming you have a 4WD.  From posts on here and from own personal experience, those who waited to do the first change out of those fluids until 30,000+ miles found the fluid to be quite dirty and murky with a decent amount of shavings in there, from the break in.  Getting it done sooner, I believe, will lead to a longer service life from those diffs.  I'd probably do the transfer case as well.  I'm still in the air on using the AMSOIL products, but many on here have sworn by it for their diff's, so maybe talk with Nick, who posted above, to get you set up with some good fluid. 

 

Specifically as far as oil filter goes:  the NAPA Platinum

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/PFL47202

 

Call them up first or stop by your parts store and take your VIN info in with you so that they can be sure it matches your engine.  Not sure if oil filters have changed (size wise) on the newer Duramax vs the previous gens that I drove. 

 

 

[HunterSmith69]

That makes sense, I will be sure to do so and appreciate the heads up from you guys. I do indeed have 4x4 (besides my hunting lease, it has become a necessity just to pull my bass boat out of some lakes due to their ungodly steep boat ramps).

[Black02Silverado]

6 hours ago, HunterSmith69 said:

Specifically which filter would you recommend?

 

Thank you for your tips

AMSOIL's  Ea052 is a good choice along with a Donaldson filter.  You would have to look up on the Donaldson site to see which filter fits your application.  They are both high quality filters.  Also if Wix offers an HD filter would be a good choice.

[Lgetz]

On both my previous Duramax trucks I used Mobil Delvac 1300 oil and AC Delco PF2232 oil filters.  Never had any oil related issues with either truck.   2 friends have also used the same combo on 4 other Duramax trucks without issues either.

The company's 2015 2500HD Denali Duramax has 90K miles using the same oil and filter with no problems.  Another 2009 Silverado Duramax has 196K miles without issue on the same oil and filter combo.  Friend just changed his factory fill at 1,000 miles on a new 2018 Sierra Denali Duramax he purchased to the Delvac, AC Delco combo.  We follow(ed) the OLM which generally translates into 7K-9K miles of driving.  Everything is readily available at Wally World and priced around $38-$41 plus tax if you purchase the Delvac in the 2.5 gallon jug.  

On subject of diesel filters for piece of mind change them every 12K-15K miles.

We all purchased AC Delco fuel filters on Ebay for about $30-$35 each.  They have the new AC TP1015 filter as well for the L5P engine.  Just make sure to verify it is a genuine AC filter if you go that route.  

[HunterSmith69]

23 hours ago, Lgetz said:

On both my previous Duramax trucks I used Mobil Delvac 1300 oil and AC Delco PF2232 oil filters.  Never had any oil related issues with either truck.   2 friends have also used the same combo on 4 other Duramax trucks without issues either.

The company's 2015 2500HD Denali Duramax has 90K miles using the same oil and filter with no problems.  Another 2009 Silverado Duramax has 196K miles without issue on the same oil and filter combo.  Friend just changed his factory fill at 1,000 miles on a new 2018 Sierra Denali Duramax he purchased to the Delvac, AC Delco combo.  We follow(ed) the OLM which generally translates into 7K-9K miles of driving.  Everything is readily available at Wally World and priced around $38-$41 plus tax if you purchase the Delvac in the 2.5 gallon jug.  

On subject of diesel filters for piece of mind change them every 12K-15K miles.

We all purchased AC Delco fuel filters on Ebay for about $30-$35 each.  They have the new AC TP1015 filter as well for the L5P engine.  Just make sure to verify it is a genuine AC filter if you go that route.  

Thank you for the tips. So then if I change oil every 8k, changing fuel filter every other oil change best bet (though that would be 16k miles opposed to 12 - 15k, that ok?)

[Lgetz]

Quite welcome sir.

By no means am I an expert on the matter but feel 1K miles more/less isn't going to put the injectors at grave risk.  Point is to mind the fuel filter and change it on a regular basis.  Provides cheap insurance against costly injector replacement down the road especially if you intend to keep your Duramax for an extended period.

[HunterSmith69]

Good points. And I definitely plan on keeping this truck until it cannot drive anymore so I want to make sure I give it the best chance for that.

 

Thank you

[Epsilon Plus]

Keep the fuel filter recommendations at the top of your list. The fueling system is really the heart of the diesel and the most likely system to give you any expensive trouble (other than the exhaust emission systems) if anything.