Maintenance Schedule, Pretty Minimal?

[Steven]

I went through the manual and it looks like very low maintenance requirements. Here is my question, it says 6k oil changes, no severe maintenance track, so what does everyone think about that? If we do 6k oil changes, do you think we risk lifetime warranty problems?

Personally, i have always done 3-4k oil changes, myself, using mobile 1 synthetic. Overkill, maybe, but my durango has 130k and my ram 2500 (diesel) has 160k, no problems, thus far.

Is it just me, or is the manufactuer finally telling the truth about maintenance requirements? Funny thing is, the dealership said I still have to do a 3k oil change, required.

Steve

[Hit-By-Thunder]

I went through the manual and it looks like very low maintenance requirements. Here is my question, it says 6k oil changes, no severe maintenance track, so what does everyone think about that? If we do 6k oil changes, do you think we risk lifetime warranty problems?

Personally, i have always done 3-4k oil changes, myself, using mobile 1 synthetic. Overkill, maybe, but my durango has 130k and my ram 2500 (diesel) has 160k, no problems, thus far.

Is it just me, or is the manufactuer finally telling the truth about maintenance requirements? Funny thing is, the dealership said I still have to do a 3k oil change, required.

Steve

Stev, I swear by full synthetic. It still breaks down the same but the friction is way less.

I had a 2000 7.3 power stroke diesel supercab 4X4 yada yada yada. Now when it is 30 below 0 (Celcius) the truck with dino oil did start with some encouragement and the glowplugs were cycled 2 times before starting. It took about 7 minutes before I could feel a slight difference in heat coming through the defrost vents. Now with Delo 400 full synthetic the same truck, same cold morning, truck started with ease and it took 14 minutes to get the same amount of heat out of the vents. Oh and I was using the clock on the stereo for time so the minutes may be off a few seconds but at least you can tell the difference it made.

I USE SYNTHETIC

Rob

[Mopar54]

I started looking over the maintenance schedule myself. One thing that is curious is that the spark plugs in the 2.4 L 4 Cyl engine need to be replaced every 30,000 miles while the 3.5 L V6 Engines only requires spark plugs being changed at 102,000 miles. So, by the time you need to replace the spark plugs on the SXT or RT Models, you will have had to change plugs 3 times already on the SE.

Heck, this required service (and added cost of this service) may end up making the difference in cost between the SE and SXT.

[radon360]

I went through the manual and it looks like very low maintenance requirements. Here is my question, it says 6k oil changes, no severe maintenance track, so what does everyone think about that? If we do 6k oil changes, do you think we risk lifetime warranty problems?

Personally, i have always done 3-4k oil changes, myself, using mobile 1 synthetic. Overkill, maybe, but my durango has 130k and my ram 2500 (diesel) has 160k, no problems, thus far.

Is it just me, or is the manufactuer finally telling the truth about maintenance requirements? Funny thing is, the dealership said I still have to do a 3k oil change, required.

Steve

No. Your lifetime warranty is not endangered if you properly follow the 6k change requirement. Just be sure to have the 5 year inspection done to keep the warranty in force. I suspect your dealership either didn't read the service notes for the Journey or they're looking to get you into the shop more often.

The technology in engine oil has improved to the point that it lubrication properties last longer and perform better (see link below). Additionally, engine machining tolerances have continued to improve over the years, resulting in less combustion soot getting into the engine oil. Seeing the increased interval doesn't surprise me, as it's becoming more commonplace on many other brands, too. I'm told that GM now recommends to change the oil when the car "tells" you to, which I am hearing is roughly 6 - 10k. My 2003 Cummins severe duty schedule calls for 7.5k (up from the 3,750 of the previous engine generations), even though I still change it about every 4k.

There's nothing wrong if you want to change your oil more often, other than you'll be paying for it. If you plan on using synthetic, it would probably support the position of going with the longer 6k interval. One other thing about synthetic that I'd recommend is that you use the recommended standard oil (with no modifiers like Slick 50) the first change or two to allow the engine to fully break in. Although the initial break in is 300 miles, the engine continues to "loosen up" for the first couple thousand miles. Synthetic is sometimes "too good" of a lubricant and can prevent engine parts from properly seating.

Story about oil change intervals:

http://www.boston.com/cars/news/articles/2...ange_intervals/

[Red Delta]

I started looking over the maintenance schedule myself. One thing that is curious is that the spark plugs in the 2.4 L 4 Cyl engine need to be replaced every 30,000 miles while the 3.5 L V6 Engines only requires spark plugs being changed at 102,000 miles. So, by the time you need to replace the spark plugs on the SXT or RT Models, you will have had to change plugs 3 times already on the SE.

Heck, this required service (and added cost of this service) may end up making the difference in cost between the SE and SXT.

Except that you will eventually need to replace the timing belt on the V6. I would imaging that won't be a cheap maintenance requirement. Spark plugs are easy.