6.4 hemi truck motor (silly srt oil requirement)

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Originally Posted by hemitruck
There are enough hemi engines, including the 6.4, that are having camshaft and lifter failures that you you might want to stick with recommended WT with the FCA certifications, esp during the warranty period.



By enough you mean less than industry averages.

OP if you prefer to use M-1 0W40 go ahead. But if price is a concern check for distributors in your area I bet you can get a better price.
 
The only thing I read was: FCA/SRT group & Shell worked together on the SRT 0W-40 oil & created the formulation with a large dose of Moly.
More then any other locally shelf stocked 0W-40 oil.

Me personally: If I had chosen the 6.4L instead of my 6.7L I would run the SRT 0W-40 Or Red Line.

You have a few other options but only a rare few have the Moly count within the formulation that FCA/SRT & Shell created the recommended oil with.

Good Luck on your Quest!
 
I've owned 2x 6.4L's, both SRT's, and neither of them consumed oil.

The 0w-40 requirement long pre-dates the "special" SRT 0w-40, which was produced to replace the Mobil 1 0w-40 spec'd for the SRT engines back when Chrysler wasn't under the FIAT umbrella. There's nothing inherently special about the SRT oil, it has higher volatility than the product it replaced and none of the approvals.

Looking at your manual, you are NOT required to use the SRT 0w-40. They RECOMMEND you use an oil that is approved to the MS-12633 material standard, but the only REQUIREMENT is that the you use the correct viscosity and that the product is Certified by the API:

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from pg 94 of my owners manual

"NOTE: A new engine may consume some oil during its
first few thousand miles (kilometers) of operation. This
should be considered a normal part of the break-in and not
interpreted as a problem. Please check your oil level with
the engine oil indicator often during the break in period.
Add oil as required."


It is odd this is common enough to print in the owners manual but none of you on BITOG (besides me) have this issue. Like I said the usage is tapering off so probably a non-issue. I just don't put a lot of miles on this and I think I got too impatient waiting on the consumption to stop completely.

put this in google "ram 2500 6.4 oil consumption" yet the motor seems to suffer no ill effects
 
I had a Scat Pack Charger and it didn't use a drop of oil and it was driven hard. First few changes I think I did the SRT oil but when realized it wasn't using any oil on first few changes switched to Mobil 1 0w-40 on third change and later. Engine noise was exactly the same and no change in consumption or lack there of. Your call, but maybe due to the consumption stick with the SRT Pennzoil just in case there is some issue that is causing the consumption.
 
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Originally Posted by milwaukee
from pg 94 of my owners manual

"NOTE: A new engine may consume some oil during its
first few thousand miles (kilometers) of operation. This
should be considered a normal part of the break-in and not
interpreted as a problem. Please check your oil level with
the engine oil indicator often during the break in period.
Add oil as required."


It is odd this is common enough to print in the owners manual but none of you on BITOG (besides me) have this issue. Like I said the usage is tapering off so probably a non-issue. I just don't put a lot of miles on this and I think I got too impatient waiting on the consumption to stop completely.

put this in google "ram 2500 6.4 oil consumption" yet the motor seems to suffer no ill effects


Acceptable oil consumption limits is in many owners manuals, I wouldn't be concerned because it appears in yours, nor expect it to be typical.
 
Interesting find from a 2016 post on bitog by a member that races a MOPAR mds v8.

He says drive it hard, they are known to use oil if driven easy.

I am probably the easiest driver in this county LOL. This thing drinks gas like crazy. If driven hard I would get 10mpg!

I am thinking this thing is breaking in slowly (consumption tapering off) because of the synthetic oil and the fact that I drive like a granny.


I bet one oci of 3k miles on conventional would have stopped all this.
 
Originally Posted by milwaukee
Interesting find from a 2016 post on bitog by a member that races a MOPAR mds v8.

He says drive it hard, they are known to use oil if driven easy.

I am probably the easiest driver in this county LOL. This thing drinks gas like crazy. If driven hard I would get 10mpg!

I am thinking this thing is breaking in slowly (consumption tapering off) because of the synthetic oil and the fact that I drive like a granny.


I bet one oci of 3k miles on conventional would have stopped all this.



Mine were broken in as per the manual and then were driven as per design: Hard. Try flogging it and see if it helps, but I would expect the consumption to taper off.
 
I do have to say I notice some of you are so eager to say you have never used a drop but all over the internet people with these engines (and many others) mention consumption to some degree.

I mean, numerous companies make HEMI specific oil catch cans to reduce oil getting sucked into the intake through the pcv system thus explaining some of the oil loss. It looks like a very common thing on the hipo hemi srt engines which mine is not.
 
Originally Posted by milwaukee
I do have to say I notice some of you are so eager to say you have never used a drop but all over the internet people with these engines (and many others) mention consumption to some degree.

I mean, numerous companies make HEMI specific oil catch cans to reduce oil getting sucked into the intake through the pcv system thus explaining some of the oil loss. It looks like a very common thing on the hipo hemi srt engines which mine is not.


They make catch-cans for every engine under the sun. You are searching for HEMI-specific devices so you'll get HEMI-specific results but be aware that this is pretty universal. Mustang 5.0L, GM LSx engines, Subaru's, name it, they make catch cans for it to deal with the "same issue"
wink.gif


Also, you search for a specific issue on anything that was produced in volume you will find myriad results. That's not going to be a valid representation of the percentage of affected units because you've literally just searched for the issue you are interested in. Of a percentage of affected products, the 6.4L is no more inclined to unusual oil consumption than any other engine.
 
None of the vehicles I have owned other than 1 has had any measurable amount of oil consumption on the dipstick between changes. The one that did was badly worn out and had bad valve seals. My current Caravan used 0 during the break-in and has used 0 between changes.

Even my high mile Santa Fe used 0 measurable amount between changes even with 300K miles (535K KM) on it when the camshaft failed.

I would be willing to take pictures every tank of gas if you want to see as it slowly darkens but the level never changes.
 
Ok, I appreciate the lesson on searching things on the internet and finding things related to the search terms LOL
 
Originally Posted by milwaukee
Ok, I appreciate the lesson on searching things on the internet and finding things related to the search terms LOL


You made a query, didn't appear to be pleased with the feedback provided by owners of the engine on this site, and then proceeded to Google the issue and subsequently seemed concerned that your targeted search for an issue on a mass produced engine yielded significant results
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I've simply tried to clarify that this should have been expected and is in no way is indicative of consumption being any more common on the 6.4L than it is on any other engine.
 
Originally Posted by OVERKILL
Originally Posted by milwaukee
Interesting find from a 2016 post on bitog by a member that races a MOPAR mds v8.

He says drive it hard, they are known to use oil if driven easy.

I am probably the easiest driver in this county LOL. This thing drinks gas like crazy. If driven hard I would get 10mpg!

I am thinking this thing is breaking in slowly (consumption tapering off) because of the synthetic oil and the fact that I drive like a granny.


I bet one oci of 3k miles on conventional would have stopped all this.



Mine were broken in as per the manual and then were driven as per design: Hard. Try flogging it and see if it helps, but I would expect the consumption to taper off.


This. When I babied my 5.7 it would burn a quart or so in an oil change. Beat it and it wouldn't burn a drop. Could just be a coincidence, but it seemed to burn pennzoil and not Mobil 1.
 
The internet oil lawyers will tell you anything around here but it boils down to how much risk are you willing to assume worst case if a warranty issue arises? Path of least resistance is to use what they call out by weight and FCA spec.
 
Originally Posted by OVERKILL
Originally Posted by milwaukee
Ok, I appreciate the lesson on searching things on the internet and finding things related to the search terms LOL


You made a query, didn't appear to be pleased with the feedback provided by owners of the engine on this site, and then proceeded to Google the issue and subsequently seemed concerned that your targeted search for an issue on a mass produced engine yielded significant results
21.gif
I've simply tried to clarify that this should have been expected and is in no way is indicative of consumption being any more common on the 6.4L than it is on any other engine.


Absolutely true. Classic case of the Net helping someone draw a poor conclusion based on limited evidence.

My 6.1 HEMI has over 100k miles that includes drag strip and road course workouts. Oil temps over 300 degrees in the summer at Homestead! Virtually always driven to the redline every time I use it.

No visible oil consumption ever. We also own a 14 RAM 5.7 that never moves on the dipstick.

And BTW, the "new" SRT spec oil is no gem, their original spec was always M1 0W-40 and it works quite well in these engines.
 
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Originally Posted by dave1251
Originally Posted by hemitruck
There are enough hemi engines, including the 6.4, that are having camshaft and lifter failures that you you might want to stick with recommended WT with the FCA certifications, esp during the warranty period.



By enough you mean less than industry averages.

OP if you prefer to use M-1 0W40 go ahead. But if price is a concern check for distributors in your area I bet you can get a better price.


Only guy I know who owns one put it on M1 0w40 from the first change … Doubt he has anything to worry about …
 
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