[pjfsu331]

I was reading through my manual as I was wondering about the oil change interval on my Dart.

The car has an engine oil change indicator system, meaning it constantly monitors the quality of the oil and alerts you to change it when needed. According to Dodge "the interval may fluctuate depending on your personal driving style."

My question to my fellow owners is how long did it take for the oil change indicator to illuminate? I just rolled over 5,200 miles and 6 months with the original oil and no message yet. I think it would be pretty awesome if I could get away with only one or two oil changes a year.

 

[JoshMHam]

I was reading through my manual as I was wondering about the oil change interval on my Dart.

The car has an engine oil change indicator system, meaning it constantly monitors the quality of the oil and alerts you to change it when needed. According to Dodge "the interval may fluctuate depending on your personal driving style."

My question to my fellow owners is how long did it take for the oil change indicator to illuminate? I just rolled over 5,200 miles and 6 months with the original oil and no message yet. I think it would be pretty awesome if I could get away with only one or two oil changes a year.

Mine lit up around 8500 miles after 5 months. Lots of highway miles.

 

[Bob Lincoln]

My wife's Chrysler 200 issued a change oil light at 4,300 miles, even though the scheduled interval is 8,000 miles, and we had already had it changed at 1,400 miles. I'm told that the algorithm depends on how hard the car is driven, and she's a bit of a leadfoot compared to me. So it doesn't depend on chemical measurement or any direct sensor input.

To reset, turn the ignition to ON with engine off, floor the gas pedal 3 times within 10 seconds and turn key OFF.

 

[Dave Z]

Details -> http://www.allpar.com/news/index.php/2012/07/chrysler-quietly-added-oil-change-computer
http://www.allpar.com/news/index.php/2012/07/17855

 

[jd_1138]

I'd be kind of leery about waiting over 6K miles even if the indicator hasn't came on yet. Oil does 3 things -- lubrication, cleaning, and cooling. Especially if you plan on keeping the car a long time and getting your money's worth out of it. Sure, the manufacturer may say it's ok to wait until the "change oil" light comes on, but remember they are in the business of wanting to sell you a new car every 100k miles and not 200k miles. Just sayin'.

 

[Doug D]

I'd be kind of leery about waiting over 6K miles even if the indicator hasn't came on yet. Oil does 3 things -- lubrication, cleaning, and cooling. Especially if you plan on keeping the car a long time and getting your money's worth out of it. Sure, the manufacturer may say it's ok to wait until the "change oil" light comes on, but remember they are in the business of wanting to sell you a new car every 100k miles and not 200k miles. Just sayin'.

Need to keep in mind today's regular oils are much improved over the last few years. That's why some new models have a max of 8K miles between oil changes. I have no problem going 5-6K between oil changes. In fact, I've had three EEK's (1 GTS, 2 Acclaims) that collectively logged over 800K miles on "dino" oil - no engine problems. My Ram has 173K - all on dino oil changed every 5-6K miles.

The oil change indicator on our 2010 Journey SXT will come on at 6K (actually about 5500) when we do a fair amount of highway driving. In every day use, it reminds us at about 2500 miles (gives you 500 miles warning).

 

[moparknighthawk]

I have changed the oil in my 2000 Dodge Neon ES every 5,000 miles since brand new. I have 233,000 miles on it now. No engine related problems ever.

 

[jd_1138]

I have changed the oil in my 2000 Dodge Neon ES every 5,000 miles since brand new. I have 233,000 miles on it now. No engine related problems ever.

That's awesome. Oil changes are vital. The engine in your Neon with 233k miles is probably in better shape than the average 2000 Neon with even 120k miles because it had regular oil changes.

My neighbor is a service writer at a local Toyota dealership. He says that people regularly come in with Toyotas with like 12k-15k miles on them and the engines are blown up. They bought a brand new car and never bothered to change the oil but now want Toyota to give them a brand new $5,000 engine under warranty. If there's sludge and other tell tale signs that the oil was never changed, and there are no oil change receipts, then sorry -- they have to bust out their checkbook and learn a hard life lesson.

 

[Makoyouidiot]

I know I'm new here, but we were one of the first folks to buy a Dart (it was one of the first ones to come to Texas, participated in the Texas Motor Speedway dealer demo). My first oil change light came on at 3500 miles, 80% highway, second time came on at 8000, swapped then from Mobil 1 to Royal Purple, at 10,500 now, know how to change the oil and reset the timer myself, not planning to change again till 15k, then every 8k after that. My wife mainly drives the car to work, I've been driving it a lot more lately, and while she's a bit of a grandma driver, I'm more Jeremy Clarkson-ish.

 

[Route66Guy]

Route66Guy: newer multiair turbo, dealership wants $60 for oilchange. Where to buy filter and where is it located? at 3K miles and doing the Power Tour in June. Thx.

 

[pjfsu331]

Route66Guy: newer multiair turbo, dealership wants $60 for oilchange. Where to buy filter and where is it located? at 3K miles and doing the Power Tour in June. Thx.

Picked the model off another forum and the price from Amazon, not sure how accurate it may be.

Fram ExtraGuard Oil Filter
1.4L - CH9713 http://www.amazon.com/FRAM-CH9713-Cartridge-Oil-Filter/dp/B006G7AM7C/ref=au_pf_ss_1?ie=UTF8&Make=Dodge%7C40&Model=Dart%7C300&Year=2013%7C2013&carId=002&n=15684181&s=automotive

I'm creeping close to 7k miles and still haven't received the warning. I check the dipstick every time I gas up and it doesn't look bad at all.

I may give in to paranoia and change it at 7500 regardless of warning light. Ha.

 

[browens1534]

We're sitting at around 8300 miles and no oil change notification... Just scheduled oil change for Friday morning at dealer. Hope they can fix some of the dead pedal feel too...

 

[Dave Z]

I'm thinking the first change should be at 4,000 or so -- early, that is -- and then successive changes, you just wait for the computer to tell you.

 

[Bob Lincoln]

We had the oil changed on my wife's 200 at about 1450 miles and again around 7,000 miles. The warning light came on at about 4300 miles and I reset it, and it hasn't been on since. It now has 13,500 miles and it's time for us to have it changed again. We bought a 4-change and 2 tire rotation contract for $85, which expires next spring.

 

[pjfsu331]

Rolled over 7k, no notification. Like I said before the oil still looks clean. I still plan on scheduling at 7500 if the light doesn't come on. Plus I received a coupon from my dealer that expires soon.

 

[Dave Z]

I'm still thinking about synthetic vs dyno (okay, forest) juice for the 300 (V6). Tempted by synthetic if these changes are so far apart, I want synthetic in winter.

 

[browens1534]

The Pentastar doesn't require synthetic??

 

[Dave Z]

Nope. The 1.4 turbo is, I think, the only one that does, I could be wrong.

I put in synthetic since it'll probably be on this oil into winter.

 

[pjfsu331]

The Pentastar in my fleet '12 Grand Caravan just prompted me to change the oil close to 7500 miles.

 

[Dave Z]

... about the same distance they used to recommend on the old Sundance...