Just bought a 96 Dodge 1500 from a guy. The truck has 165,000 miles on it but runs pretty well. The guy I bought it from hasn't owned the truck but a couple of years and hasn't put many miles on it since he bought it. He is just in a pinch for money and practically gave it to me. Unfortunately, he has no idea how the truck was serviced before he bought it and he just took it to the local quickie oil change place while he owned it. I have always used synthetic in all of my vehicles but I am a little hesitant to do that with this particular truck. Would I be better off just going with a regular conventional 10w30, a high mileage oil, or my normal route of PU or PP? By the way, I won't be driving this truck much at all, probably less than 3 or 4000 miles a year. Just when I need to haul something. Thanks for the input
1996 Dodge 1500 V8
- Thread starter Nitrohaulic
- Start date
- Status
Must have the 5.2
Since PP is relatively cheap why not buy a 5 qt jug at wallys and a good filter.
I run xW-30 in my 5.9 what ever flavor of synthetic I choose, Amsoil, Mobil 1, PP and change one a year.
Watch the belly pan gasket under the intake, look down the THrotle Body and if oil you need to remove the intake and change it, most use the Hughes kit.
I would also change the coolant and other fluids as a precaution.
Since PP is relatively cheap why not buy a 5 qt jug at wallys and a good filter.
I run xW-30 in my 5.9 what ever flavor of synthetic I choose, Amsoil, Mobil 1, PP and change one a year.
Watch the belly pan gasket under the intake, look down the THrotle Body and if oil you need to remove the intake and change it, most use the Hughes kit.
I would also change the coolant and other fluids as a precaution.
probably Pennzoil conventional if it was mine. No need for syn-
Could either be a 5.2 or 5.9. Doesn't really matter, its the same block, heads, etc. Just the crank and main bearings are different (bigger bearings and longer stroke) in the 5.9
I'd run something like MaxLife or another good synthetic blend high-mileage oil, personally. Beware the intake lower plenum gasket- if it starts pinging/detonating like crazy under light acceleration its almost a sure sign that the lower intake plenum is leaking, allowing crankcase air and oil mist to get drawn into the intake charge. The fix requires pulling the intake, but other than that one glitch, these are 300,000 mile plus engines with any kind of decent maintenance at all.
Kit for repairing the intake:
http://www.hughesengines.com/Index/products.php?partid=26190
I'd run something like MaxLife or another good synthetic blend high-mileage oil, personally. Beware the intake lower plenum gasket- if it starts pinging/detonating like crazy under light acceleration its almost a sure sign that the lower intake plenum is leaking, allowing crankcase air and oil mist to get drawn into the intake charge. The fix requires pulling the intake, but other than that one glitch, these are 300,000 mile plus engines with any kind of decent maintenance at all.
Kit for repairing the intake:
http://www.hughesengines.com/Index/products.php?partid=26190
The plenum gasket job on these is a total PITA. I did it on my Jeep about a month ago. Other than that, the engines hold up well.
Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Could either be a 5.2 or 5.9. Doesn't really matter, its the same block, heads, etc. Just the crank and main bearings are different (bigger bearings and longer stroke) in the 5.9
I'd run something like MaxLife or another good synthetic blend high-mileage oil, personally. Beware the intake lower plenum gasket- if it starts pinging/detonating like crazy under light acceleration its almost a sure sign that the lower intake plenum is leaking, allowing crankcase air and oil mist to get drawn into the intake charge. The fix requires pulling the intake, but other than that one glitch, these are 300,000 mile plus engines with any kind of decent maintenance at all.
Kit for repairing the intake:
http://www.hughesengines.com/Index/products.php?partid=26190
I will 2nd this overall. I owned a 94, 97, and 2001 Ram 1500 which are basically the same truck as your 96. One w/ a 318( 5.2L )and 2 w/ the 360( 5.9L ). I hope you got the 360. The 318 is a very good motor but it was really underpowered in my Ram. The 360 was a lot better suited to the heavy truck.
Definitely a high mileage oil. Do a couple short OCI's initially to be sure you aren't removing a bunch of crud and blocking the filter. I like Valvoline MaxLife.
Could either be a 5.2 or 5.9. Doesn't really matter, its the same block, heads, etc. Just the crank and main bearings are different (bigger bearings and longer stroke) in the 5.9
I'd run something like MaxLife or another good synthetic blend high-mileage oil, personally. Beware the intake lower plenum gasket- if it starts pinging/detonating like crazy under light acceleration its almost a sure sign that the lower intake plenum is leaking, allowing crankcase air and oil mist to get drawn into the intake charge. The fix requires pulling the intake, but other than that one glitch, these are 300,000 mile plus engines with any kind of decent maintenance at all.
Kit for repairing the intake:
http://www.hughesengines.com/Index/products.php?partid=26190
I will 2nd this overall. I owned a 94, 97, and 2001 Ram 1500 which are basically the same truck as your 96. One w/ a 318( 5.2L )and 2 w/ the 360( 5.9L ). I hope you got the 360. The 318 is a very good motor but it was really underpowered in my Ram. The 360 was a lot better suited to the heavy truck.
Definitely a high mileage oil. Do a couple short OCI's initially to be sure you aren't removing a bunch of crud and blocking the filter. I like Valvoline MaxLife.
Thanks for all of the input. The truck is the 5.2 318. I would have preferred the 360 but the guy I bought it from is a preacher and was hard up for cash. I got it for $500 so I couldn't complain about the engine. It's a regular cab 2WD automatic. It's not the most powerful thing in the world (I'm used to a highly modified Cummins Diesel) but since I had to trade my 2500 for a more family frienly Nitro, any truck is a welcome addition. It looks like I'm gonna give Max Life a shot. I've never been a Valvoline fan but I respect the opinions on this forum and Max Life is getting great reviews every where I search.
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked
- Locked
- Locked