Haven't read the group much lately here, but always was able to find the help I needed here before, and I had a few questions for y'all on the Cummins diesel.
I just bought an '05 2500 earlier this year, and they took care of the first oil change for me, but it's that time again, and I'm a little lost. I had a 360 gas engine in a '94 1500 before, and got to know it pretty well, but I cannot find the oil filter on the diesel yet. I also noticed that the drain plug looks to be a square indention rather than a normal bolt head, so it looks like I need a new tool. Anyone have any ideas on either of these for me?
Additionally, I'm supposed to have the engine block heater installed, but it didn't come with the cord to hook it up. So I've got the cord now, but I don't know where it hooks into the heater at. Can anyone point me in the right direction?
Thanks for your time, and hope y'all have a great Christmas!
Oil filter is located at the top passenger side front of the engine. The pan plug is a 3/8" square, so if you have a ratchet and extension, you are set. You will want to change the fuel filter at some point as well. Use the appropriate socket to remove the cannister lid. Using a square socket will crack the boss, and lead to a headache.
The engine heater cord should plug in just aft of the oil filter on the passenger side of the block.
As Max said, it's on the passgner-side front. You can access it from below with a 93mm end-cap wrench and long extension, or from up top with a strap wrench. Just remove the air box (easy enough to do), and you'll have easy access to the filter.
Watch your torque when putting the plug back. It's only 44ft.lbs. Several people have cracked their plug by over-tightening.
As for the fuel filter, use a 1-1/8" socket to unscrew the lid. Befoe you do that, aim the clear drain tube that comes from the bottom of the canister into a coffee can (I extended my drain hose - used a 3/8" hose barb repair kit, and a length of 3/8" air hose), then open up the yellow drain lever. Now when you back off the canister lid, the canister will drain out (if it didn't already drain when opening up the lever). Remove the lid, and the filter comes with it. Pull the filter off the lid, remove the O-ring from the lid (new filter comes with new O-ring), put new O-ring back onto lid, lube it with some oil or diesel fuel, snap new filter in place, and put the lid back. DO NOT FORGET TO CLOSE THE YELLOW DRAIN HANDLE. Tighten the lid "just snug" - but make sure there isn't a gap between the lid and the canister housing. Now turn the ignition to 'ON', and momentarily 'bump' the key to START. This will activate the fuel pump, and will fill the canister with fuel. Once the pump shuts off (about 30 seconds), start the truck. It may run rough for a few seconds - it may even stall. If it does, just re-start it. Once the air purges out, it'll smooth out.
Fuel filter changes should be done anywhere between 10,000 and 15,000 miles. That usually works out to every other oil change. Buy only Fleetguard fuel filters (and only Fleetguard Stratapore oil filters). Geno's Garage
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is the popular on-line source for these. Geno's gets $12.95 for a fuel filter, and as you read above, it takes about 10 minutes to change out. Most dealerships charge over $100 for this service.
By the way - you'll use 3 gallons of oil on an oil change. Plan accordingly :) Use a 15W40 oil rated for diesel use, and stick with a name-brand oil. Shell Rotella-T, Mobil Delvac 1300, Valvoline Premium Blue, or Chevron Delo
Alrighty, I think I know what I'm doing now. Thanks guys. Found the plug for the block heater, just gotta run the cord now. The oil filter looks to be a bit of a pain to get to, but I'd noticed it before, just wasn't sure that was it. I'd already bought a Wix oil filter for this change, but I notice you recommend Fleetguard. Any reason you recommend them over others, and is there any problem using this Wix this time and getting those ordered for next time.
On those Fleetguards, I'd read this on that site - "At Geno's Garage, we took time to analyze the filter purchasing quantities of our customers. Predictably, in a given maintenance interval (i.e. a 30,000 mile period), the oil filter is changed four times, the fuel filter two times, and the air cleaner is changed once."
That looks to be an oil change every 7,500 miles? Is that where you typically change yours? I'd been still aiming for 3,000-5,000 miles for changes. Equals out to a fuel filter change every 15,000, like you said. And is the fuel filter located inline from the tank? Hopefully not located in the tank, like on my old '94 with the 360 gas.
Bought a case of six gallons of Rotella-T 15W40, so I'm set there.
If I'm gonna remove the air box to get to the oil filter anyway, I'd been looking at getting an aircharger kit like this one
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from K&N toput in there, and that would be a good time, I imagine, since I'd haveit out anyway. I'd also seen one from AIRAID, I believe it was. Anypreference of one over the other? I've had good luck with K&N so far,and figured on sticking with them, but just didn't know if there wereany noticable differences. Thanks again, guys!
No, the Wix should be fine. I (and many others) recommend Fleetguard because it's what Cummins recommends. They're a high-quality filter, and won't give you any problems. Other lesser-quality filters have been known to come apart and cause problems.
You can certainly do that, but it's wasteful. Cummins rates the engine for
15,000 mile oil changes under light duty, and 7,500 mile oil changes under a HD maintenance schedule (which most people actually fall under - check your owner's manual).
Nope - the fuel filter canister is located on the driver's side of the engine, towards the back.
Perfect. My only complaint with Rotella is that it tends to stink for a bit after an oil change. Because of that, I switched to Delvac 1300, and the smell went away.
No. Cummins requires a filter with 99.5% first-pass efficiency. The K&N is well below that. If you want to go with a re-useable filter, I highly recommend a filter system from Scotty Air Systems,
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which uses a UNI dual-layer foam filter. Scotty is extremely diligent about filtration, and has done extensive testing and oil analysis to find the best filters for his airboxes.
I'll check into the Fleetguards from here on out, then. I know they Midwest Kenworth place just across the highway carries them, too, and one of the guys at O'Reilly's mentioned them to me just a day or so ago as being what I should look at using, too. Not sure what Midwest Kenworth asks for them, but I checked with prices for Wix and such I can get at O'Reilly's, and that package from Geno's is cheaper, so I'll probably just order from them.
I did check my owner's manual, even before I posted anything here... It still says 3000 miles. In fact, it has very little relating to the diesel engines at all in it. So thanks, you've convinced me that I was right in the first place, I got the wrong manuals. Going back to the dealership later today to pick my truck up, and I'm gonna get the right manuals from them. It'll make a lot more sense with those.
Was also thinking about picking up a service manual, since Chilton doesn't have one for the truck yet. Anyone got any experience with those? I was pretty good with the Chilton's, but I'm just afraid the service manual is going to be like a foreign language to me.
On that Scotty Air system, there's a tube there in the top left hand of the picture
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Is thata replacement for the silencer that comes stock in the tube runningfrom the airbox? I'll probably look into one of these, too. They seemto run not too much more than the K&N and such anyway. Thanks again for your help! And if y'all have any other suggestions for me, I'd be glad to hear them. The only other thing I'm looking at now is something like Banks' High-Ram intake, and maybe working on the exhaust a bit. Not trying to ramp up my hp and torque too much, but I wouldn't mind a bit extra. The thing pulls the trailers great at the moment anyway.
In addition to getting the proper owner's manual, go to
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and click the link on the left for the '05 Manual' - this is a .zip file of several .PDFs, including the entire Factory Service Manual. This has the full maintenance schedule, complete wiring diagrams, and full service procedures for everything on the truck. It's an extremely valuable resource, even if you only intend to do routine maintenance.
No - that's probably the piece that attaches the filter to the plastic airbox.
Nope - only a few dollars more. If I wasn't running a twin-turbo system, I'd still have my Scotty 3 on my truck.
I have one, and the only reason I bought it was that it looked nice. Don't expect any performance gains from it, despite the hype from Banks.
The combination of a better-flowing air intake and a better-flowing exhaust will certainly let the turbo spool up quicker. If you live anywhere in the snow belt, a stainless steel system will hold up much better. MBRP offers a nice 4" cat-back system in stainless steel.
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