Of course you can change your own oil! You would need something to lift the vehicle up. A hydraulic jack is better than a scissor jack of course, I use a pair of ramps you can find on Amazon. You can use the stock Mopar oil or FCA recommend Pennzoil or Shell Helix as long as it meets their requirements (Chrysler Material Standard MS-6395). I use Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 5W-20 in my 14 Limited V6. The HEMI needs the same viscosity but needs a different oil filter than the V6. I use a K&N oil filter. The HEMI one are K&N #'s HP-2010, PS-2010, or SS-2010. The V6 needs a K&N # PS-7026. Hope this helps! Also an oil filter wrench for the HEMI might be useful for the HEMI. The V6 has a drop in one from above so you don't need one. Hope this helps!


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Of course you can change your own oil!


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^^AGREED^^

Piece of cake. Only thing I would mention is some on here have experienced difficulty removing the oil drain plug from oil pan. Search "oil drain plug" and you will find the thread.

Did my D's first oil change a couple months ago. What a pleasure the drop-in filter is on the V6.

 

My apologies for reviving this thread. I just purchased a gently used 2014 Dodge Durango SXT and did my first oil change using a K&N oil filter (PS-7026) - the filter didn't seem to "click" into the housing like I expected - is this normal for these filters?

Thanks in advance!

 

Oh and an oil drain pain, collection container (to take it to get recycled) and a funnel to put the new oil in can be found on Amazon for cheap. Also make sure to check the manual to see what else you need to do (normal checks for fluids and such) at the time of your oil change.


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I've been running Mobil1 5W-20 in my 5.7s from the beginning.. M1 apparently isn't MS6395 "certified" because FCA and XOM are having a minor pissing contest. But it is a perfectly fine oil (except possibly for the "high-mileage" variant, which I'd avoid)

Ramps are probably the easiest way to get the rig up to work under.

I use a 3/8 drive strap wrench to get the filter off.

The drain plug can be a pain, search in here for comments about adding a Fumoto valve.

 

The plug can be a pain but as long as you have enough patience and clearance you should be fine


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Buy a Fumoto Valve, it will make life 100x easier next time. I use synthetic pennzoil but that's me it's like $30 at Walmart. +1 for Ramps as gettin the bolt to loosen is a real PITA

 

If you don't have ramps, I use the curb. right wheels or front right wheel up the curb, gives plenty of working room, beside laying on your back...

 

It's easy to do, But as a thought check with your dealer to see if they are runing any specials. As I found with my Minivan the local dodge dealer was so close in price for an oil change that it became a why bother fight it solution. At the same time they do a vehicle check and keep the records. Just a thought

 

I wouldn't go to the dealer just to score the oil change as part of a 'special'. Doing it on your own just gives some a certain piece of mind... that it is done right.

 

did my last few on the R/T. Ramps for sure. I have raceramps HD, Awesome and expensive ramps.

Royal Purple HPS here. Definitely a easy change.

 

If I'm using a full synthetic oil how long will I be able to go between oil changes?

 

I have used Mobil 1 in all of my vehicles since it was introduced in the late 1970s. I keep it simple and change both oil and filter every 5,000 miles.

Some synthetics, including Mobil 1, will claim you can go up to 15,000 miles between oil changes, and you probably can. HOWEVER, you should recognize that even if the basic oil molecules don't break down as much as regular oil, there is no guarantee that the various additives are still in the engine long enough to do what they are supposed to do. I don't lose sleep if I miss an oil change interval in my older vehicle, but I never let it slide past 10,000 miles on the same filter and oil charge.

 

When I bought my truck it came with 4 free oil changes from fca every one else receive this ?

 

I bought mine used... They offered the first one free but I ain't driving 45 minutes to an hour to get it done.

Doing the oil change is easy, as for how long between them I've no idea. My oil change light came on in like 3,500 miles, it's still yelling at me... and I just changed it in June! The last time it went almost 7,500. I'll probably push this one to 5,000 and change it then.

Oh, and one weird thing about mine... It seemed to like to burn the pennzoil platinum, I had to add about 2 quarts in ~7,500. Doesn't burn a drop of valvoline synpower.

 

I'd say the Hemi is a bit of a pain to be honest.
Ramps needed due to the low valance...and there is a splash guard that really needs to be removed otherwise the oil from removing the filter will collect as the truck is now sitting on an angle because of the ramps.
If its your first oil change...make sure the old filter's seal is not stuck on the oil filter housing...verify with your eyes!
Mine was and I didn't see it as the splash guard makes it hard to do a visual.
The oil filter location is worse on this 2nd gen Eagle Hemi than the 1st gen 2003-2008 Hemi's.

 

+1 on the Mobil 1 5W20 synthetic.
I use the Royal Purple filter also.
I never have needed ramps to get under the front of my RT to change the oil..
I also had the filter gasket remain on the engine. I always wipe clean the mating surface and was surprised to find the filter there.
Following the advice posted in a similar thread, I put a plastic bag around the oil filter before removing it. This catches all of the oil that used to run down my arm when not using a bag.
When finished, switch the ignition to run without starting the car and press the gas pedal all the way down 3 times within 10 seconds to reset the oil life monitor.
Be sure to add the correct amount of oil. There is a TSB for 5.7L Durangos to replace the dipstick. If you fill it to the full mark with the wrong dipstick, you will be putting too much oil in the vehicle. I just add 7 quarts and call it good.

Have fun.

 

My '14 r/t has about 15K miles and have use Mobil 1 5/20 and wix filters. Put in fumoto on 1st oil change. I keep reading about guys using ramps and curbs. Not sure why. I do the oil changes very easily on my garage floor.

 

My big ass head don't fit
Also kinda claustrophobic. The ramps add just enough...

 

So should I go 5,000 , 7,500 , or 10,000 miles between oil changes?

 

I suggest reading the manual to answer this question. I used to be the type that changed every 3000 miles. Then newer cars and synthetic oil raised that to 5000 or 6000. The Durango manual says to use the on-board notification system, but never exceed 10,000 miles. Simple enough for me. The only trick is making sure the wife tells me the light has been coming on.

 

No more 8,000 is what I'd say.

 

I bought myself an oil extractor pump recently. So much easier than draining the oil from beneath the vehicle.

 

Have you seen if any oil is left in the pan after you pulled as much as you could out the oil dip stick? Just curios to see how much if any oil is left in the pan.

 

There are the guys who like to change their oil and then their are the guys like me that bring it to the dealer. The dealer is so price competitive, it's not worth my time to do it. Add to the fact that if they screw something up, it's on them--not me. I have been letting the dealers change my oil for 20 years--no issues yet.

 

I think about changes at 8k, by 8500 I start the process

 

I use the OLM. Works out to 10k. Mines a v6. I use Pennzoil platinum 0w-20. OEM filter because I haven't found a good aftermarket one yet.

Hemi with good oil should have no problem going 10k. My old work truck is an 05 hemi with 200k miles on it. 5w-20 cheap Dino oil, 5k OCI. Still runs great. I probably could have been doing 10k OCI on that too, even with the cheap oil.

 

I have no idea how you could change the oil on an R/T without jacking it up or ramps. I just use my floor jack and put jack stands under it to gain just enough clearance to get under it and see what I'm doing. I haven't had any issues with the drain bolt, the filter is a bit of a pain because it is so far up there. I just hand tighten mine, I have a strap wrench but it's too hard to get it to latch on up there with the limited space with the shield by the filter. I will have to try the bag trick next time as I see no other way to avoid the oil running down my arm while unscrewing the filter unless I remove the entire plastic shield which I would rather not do more work than necessary. I've been using a Purolator filter and Quakerstate synthetic 5W-20. I change my oil around 6,000 miles, or about twice a year for me, the computer said I had 39% life left, but that's just always when I have changed my vehicles synthetic. Probably overkill but rather have clean oil than dirty. I also just learned (since the oil change) about the dip stick issue. Sure enough mine is the wrong one so I'll be heading to the dealer next week. What I find odd is I filled the engine to the full mark. When I was checking the dipstick yesterday, I noticed the oil level is now at the low mark. Where did all that oil go in just a few days? Needless to say, I did not put more oil in since the new dipstick will be longer, hopefully it won't be over filled, but I can't for the life of me understand where that oil went!

 

Never trust a jack. Jack it up and then use blocking or use sturdy ramps. Drain oil when the engine is hot. Check the level as you near the capacity so as not to overfill. Some makes recommend new drain crush washers. Put a film of oil on the filter gasket. Let the engine run a few minutes and check for leaks at filter and drain plug. Your reward is the satisfaction of doing it right.

 

Not sure what you mean by click...every oil filter change I have done goes on smooth and tightens with no clicks.

 

Thanks Rocky - I was specifically referring to the K&N filter - the OEM filter that I removed had plastic hardware inside the filter that fixed it to the oil filter cap cap - the K&N filter didn't seem to have this and thus didn't really "snap" into place.

 

The V8 uses a normal spin on filter, I believe the V6 uses a replacement filter.

 

I just changed my 2016 R/T and didn't have to use ramps. I was around 30% and 7400 miles but the oil started looking a little dark from previous times that I had checked it so I decide to change it. It was also coming up on 1 year of ownership. I fit under the front pretty easy and everything was easy to reach. The oil came right out of the hole in the plastic belly pan skid plate, great design. The filter had a little funnel looking thing under it so the oil out of it made it out of the plastic belly pan hole as well! Next time I would poke a hole in the oil filter and let it drain before removing it, a lot more oil came out when I took it off then I thought would come out of there. Still didn't get all over everything though, just my hand and arm. I used a big pair of channel lock pliers to get the oil filter started off where I could turn it with my hand, didn't have a filter wrench or socket to fit it. Walmart didn't have the Dodge filter, had a bunch of Dodge filters but not the one I needed, so I ended up getting a Fram Synthetic filter, it was 8 dollars. The K&N filter was pretty cool, it had a nut type thing on it so you could use a wrench to get it off but that wasn't worth $15 bucks to me. I am not a big K&N fan either, great they make an air filter you can run on special applications out in the open but an airbox and good old fashioned filter is better in my opinion for the daily driver. Cleaning the K&N filters is a pain in the neck. I used 7 - quarts Valvoline Full Synthetic Oil - 5w-20, it was the only oil I could find that met the specs listed in the owners manual, couldn't believe that. I am more of a Mobile 1 / Castrol oil fan but I stuck with what the book said. I ended up buying 2 - 5 quart jugs for $22 dollars each because the quarts of oil were 8 dollars each! New oil filter, put the oil plug back in, 7 quarts of oil filled it perfect on the stick. Air cleaner looked fine, the cabin air filter was really clean as well. Very easy job, you can purchase a wide mouth container with a good lid to dump your used oil in and take it back to one of the car parts stores that will take used oil and dispose of it properly. Save yourself a lot of money and you can take some of that money you save to run synthetic oil in your vehicle.