What type of oil would you recommend? 2003 Dodge Dakota - 75,000 miles?

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Chris C

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My truck takes 5W-30. I just hit 75K miles and was thinking about switching to the high-mileage options on the market. Any suggestions about whether to go full-synthetic, synthetic blend, or something high-mileage/synthetic? Thanks.
 
Most of the newer vehicles recommend the 5W-30. Depends on what part of the country you live. 5W means 5 weight viscosity in winter, the next numbers represent the thickness when engine heats up. I don't have a problem with synthetic, but I have never used it because of the price. I have put 250K miles and more on several vehicles with regular detergent oil with no problems. 75K is low mileage. I live in the hot south and use 10W40. I also run a 1000+hp
drag car on regular motor oil. Hope this helps.
 
your mileage is not considered high. never use a synthetic unless u are using alot of oil. It expands all the rubber seals and will cause your engine to use oil if it isn't now. stick with 5-30 til it hit's over hundred thousand
 
Honestly this is really a "To each there own" Kind of situation some people will tell you Synthetic, some standard, it just depends on your preferences. Your best bet is to stick with the recommended oil by the manufacturer.
Now if you want to go synthetic, stick with in the weight recommended for your vehicle ie: 5W-30, 10W-30, etc... A high mileage formula probably isn't necessary for your mileage and I would only worry about that if you are seeing some minor leaking. The high mileage Oil helps to condition seals and break down some of the built up gunk in the engine.

Hope this Helps!

-LeeZ
 
I would tell you to run 5w-30 synthetic in your rig.....the guy talking about it expanding your seals makes no sense. In order for oil to expand your seals it would need to be able to absorb into the seals...however with that expansion it would also promote the seal rotting out.....so no, synthetics will NOT expand your seals.

However the use of synthetics have man made compounds in them that reduce the breakdown properties in the oil reducing friction in your engine, making it run longer. There is NO such thing as full synthetic oil. They say that, but its a marketing ploy. If it was completely synthetic, you would never ever have to change it. Since it would never breakdown....the natural oil properties are what breaks down. So they just add more synthetic to the natural oil. I run Shell synthetic 5w-30....

So all in all.....run 5w-30 forever in your vehicle. Running thicker oil in your car past 100k will actually do more damage than good...making the engine work harder since the oil is thicker. Most people that run the thick stuff do it because they are trying to slow it down from leaking all out so fast...or they just dont know any better.
 
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