2008 Dodge 3500 Cummins oil weight

[dnewton3]

All the "modern" variants (Ford, GM, Ram) do this; it's not unique to the Cummins. It's not even unique to diesels; my 1994 Ford 5.8L gasser F-150 with the towing package had a liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger in the return coolant line. They used a sandwich filter mount to route the oil to the cooler and back. Which necessitated a "shorter" filter than the standard FL1A; hence it used an FL820 for clearance issues.

Overall, L-to-L is a great way to manage the fluid temps.

Kind of like Goldie-Locks; we want it just right. Not too cold and not too hot.

As it should be.

 

[rossn2]

Why not plug the engine block heater in over night? Then you don't have to worry about the 15w-40 oil???

 

[bullwinkle]

Or get a stick-on Wolverine pan heater (like I have on my somewhat leaky 7.3 F-450), then you can run 15W40 year-round. I've even considered carrying a deep-cycle battery from the boat with an inverter to use on job sites when I can't plug it in.

 

[TiredTrucker]

Ditto. I use pan heaters on every vehicle I have owned for the last 3 decades. Makes startup on gas or diesels so much nicer.

 

[demarpaint]

+2 on the pan heaters, they work great.