Oil change interval on a Cummins 250 ? ?

[jason@snakeriver]

What would be the recomend oil change interval on a Cummins 250 in a 800 series ???
Under moderate conditons, who many hours or miles ? ? ?

 

[jwaller]

twice a year or even once a year if your not putting more than 20k miles a yr on it.

 

[jason@snakeriver]

We only put about 1000 to 1500 miles a year on a truck. We run 5 - 800 series. Tom

 

[BKubu]

JWALLER is correct...even if you are not driving a truck a lot, the oil the should still be regularly changed. The data plate on the dash says to change the oil every 3,000 miles, unless you are operating in an extreme environment in which case you would need to change it more frequently.

 

[tmbrwolf]

The LO states 6 months or 6000 miles whichever occurs firstnder AOAP, but I have fire departments that only change it once a year and they seem to do fine In the Army in the AOAP program I saw trucks that didn't get it changed for 3+ years, as long as it passed analysis.

 

[timntrucks]

i would change mine more often if i could afford it. i think once a year would be enough. and dont forget to check all the oil levels and grease it up then TIm

 

[BEASTMASTER]

the road trucks change their oil every 10,000 miles and they run a hell of a lot harder than our toys. don't waste you're money ,i'd go 10k or even 15k miles .you are'nt going to punish you're truck anything like thos road runners.

 

[emr]

do the oil analysis...change it when it needs to be changed, save money, get a very very complete info check on everything in the engine at the same time, they run about 18 bucks,warm up the truck let a small amout run out fill the little container and mail it, all included in the 18 bucks paid. i do em once a year. dont throw good oil away, i have for so many years im now sick over it since i do this, wish i was smart enough to have done it when it first became available..oh i do the coolant also, it will amaze U how much they will know about your engine and coolant, .Randy

 

[jwaller]

the road trucks change their oil every 10,000 miles and they run a heck of a lot harder than our toys. don't waste you're money ,i'd go 10k or even 15k miles .you are'nt going to punish you're truck anything like thos road runners.

you are comparing apples and oranges. a truck that sits all year(1000-1500 miles/yr is sitting nearly all year) creates a lot of condensation inside the motor and the oil is hydroscopic itself. yes the oil absorbs water and degrades it's ability to do what it does.

I run mine a lot(1k miles/month) and when on the highway it's 100% wot all the time(tires and only 240hp) until I get off the highway. you cant possibly run it any harder than I do. newer diesels also run much much cleaner than our old trucks too. we contaminate the oil with excess diesel and that degrades it. we also dont have near the filtration that new OTR trucks do.

so yes every 6 months or at a bare min once per year. if you cant afford that then you need to sell the truck to somebody that can properly take care of it.

when you do change it pour it in the fuel tank and burn it. dont waste it.

 

[fstfrdy]

they company i work for still run the old equipment we have a 1980 peterbilt with a cummins big cam 350 and we run 10,000 miles between oil changes. but if you are worried about the cost i would do as the others have suggested. get the oil analysis, just change the filters out when you do the analysis and top off the oil a good lab can tell you the amount of water and metal particulates in the oil and give you an aproximate life expectancy of the oil based on the rate of breakdown compared to a sample of new oil of the same brand

 

[madsam]

I think telling people "if you cant afford that then you need to sell the truck to somebody that can properly take care of it. " is to extreme. It think it is up to the owner of the truck to decide what is 'proper' as they will have to pay for any damage that is caused. I think I should maintain my truck as well as I can, but if the engine blows because I don't change oil enough, I will have to pay for the rebuild or new engine. Just from the different opinions on this thread, I would say what is 'proper' is debatable.

The Freightliner truck I ran in 2002, 10K miles was less than a month. They changed oil every 15k, but they were newer engines, Detroit Series 60, 430hp.

Another thing that enters into it is the humidity of where you live. Here in the west, water in the oil is not as much of an issue. Dust and dirt are more of an issue. How hot your engine runs, and how hard your engine runs.

I do not think anyone wants to abuse their trucks, hence the original question.

 

[ARMYMAN30YearsPlus]

The old highway trucks ran luberefiner bypass filters and they extended the oil change interval. I am looking for an old one to put on the M818