03 Town Country, neglected on oil changes

[rastoma]

I know I should be smacked and no need to go into a long explanation of why it happened. But I have an '03 Town & Country with 3.8 V6.

Oil changes were done at 5-6k miles on average using various Dino oils that Wal-Mart put in (yes I've learned my lesson on Wal-mart oil changes, see my other post about my Blazer).

But this last go around it was around 10k-11k miles. I changed it myself and it was kinda thick and black as soot. I will not let this happen again.

I'm getting a handle on what is good oil and good filters to use after reading through these forums.

The van runs excellent, no smoking, doesn't burn/use oil. It's going to need an oil pan gasket which I'll do on next oil change which will be in 1k (2k since I changed oil).

So is there any extra TLC that I should do?

I read a lot about adding MMM. Should I add some? How much?

Anything else?

 

[stenerson]

Do you mean adding MMO? It helped do some good cleaning on my Ram truck along with gunk flush .

 

[daves87rs]

Some MMO or an Auto RX would be a good idea on this OCI...

 

[crazyoildude]

change your oil and use a good sm oil and a good filter and you will be ok
how many miles do you have on the clock what weight are you planning on using?
That engine is a good engine as for the transmission thats another story

 

[addyguy]

One 10k interval on dino ain't gonna do diddly. I've gone 8-9k on dino for over 2 years now, and my car runs just fine.

If you want some peace of mind, run some MMO, but it's not really necessary........

 

[PT1]

Try running some Pennzoil Platinum synthetic (Walmart). It has enough detergent to clean up that engine in 2-3 intervals. Nothing else is needed.

 

[Gary Allan]

I'd just go about your business with sensible oil changes. 6months usually works out for most.

 

[Bryanccfshr]

you did no harm. Since you have a leaky Oil pan gasket change it when you are ready to repait and then regular 6 month 6k will be fine. I have the 3.8 in my jeep and it is really easy on oil.

 

[rastoma]

Originally Posted By: stenerson
Do you mean adding MMO?


Yes.. that.

 

[rastoma]

Ok great.... thanks for the replies everyone. It's helped to put my mind at ease.

To follow up on some of the replies....

I used 10w30 Valvoline Durablend and a Wix filter from O'Reilley's.

Engine and trans has 124k.

I'm not used to hearing about these extended OCI

Growing up I'd hear dad, uncles, etc talk about oil changes and them doing them at 2.5k-3k at the most. As time went out I'd hear about MAYBE going 4k if it's all highway miles.

I just figured I significantly lowered the life-span of this engine.

 

[Rand]

Black oil is good.. It means the crud is in the oil.. not your engine somewhere.

not saying I'm comfortable with the black paint when I'm draining it but. I'd be more uncomfortable with oil that looked new after 10k miles...