I changed my oil at 1000 and again at 2500 miles without resetting the computer... My car is now at 5200 miles and the FSS says 2800 ... I don't believe the computer can guage the breakdown of the oil. I believe it is just a clocking mechanism used to remind you of routine maintenance.

PS: At 2500 miles I had my mechanic pull the oil pan and clean it before replacing the oil... Most engines will shed bits of metal during the break-in...

The next time I take it in for oil, (in the next 1k miles) I will also have the mech change my tranny fluid and rear diff. oil...

 

yes, o rings come with filter kit

 

Thanks for the oil change instructions;
I'm looking at my first oil change and decided to tackle it myself @ 10.000kilometers (6000miles).
I did not want to go back to Chry dealer and never thought of Mercedes dealer for filter. I have ordered filter from auto store and pickup today.
It will be interesting to see whether I get rubber 'o' rings with this. Apparently, the make is Fram.
Do you know how important it is that the 'o' rings be changed during the first oil change?
Has anyone else had any experience with aftermarket filters?

Thanks again for the great pics and info.

 

Just to let you know that the Fram filter I picked up today did include the 'o' rings. My order simply specified a replacement filter for 2004 Crossfire; it just happened to be a Fram replacement and included the rings.
Fram Part no. CH8481.

 

I performed my 2nd oil change on the car tonight. I followed the FAQ : http://www.dfwsbr.com/crossfire/faq/oil/ : for resetting the service meter and it all worked fine. I updated the faq for a spelling error and also added in the details on electronically checking oil level from inside the car.

BTW I was able to pick up the filter and 9 qts of oil from the dealer today. I only added 8 right now but will watch the oil level as time goes on. I was down 1qt after 6800 miles. I only put 8 in it on the last oil change. It makes since that some oil would be burned / broken down after that many miles. I will now check the oil level every 3,000 and add any oil necessary. However, I will only do oil changes at every 7k still. The oil wasn't all that broken down and it was pretty clean. I drive my car pretty hard too

Again : Oil capacity is 8.5 qts. I only add 8qts from the start and check later to add more. Even after driving around with 8qts for a week the electronic meter says the level is OK.

 

Thanks for the oil change FAQ, I plan to to put it to the test this weekend. Does anyone know what the torque specification on the drain plug is by chance? I am assuming the torque is approximately 15 ft-lbs or 2 kg-m, but I would like to have the Chrysler specification.

Thanks,

 

It is interesting you bring that up. I accidently flipped the original crush washer around the first time I did my oil change. I found out the next oil change that it was slowly seaping oil. Basically because it formed a groove on the bold head side, now was flat against the pan, yet allowing some oil to pass by. I would suggest replacing the crush washer every time you do an oil change. It is very easy for it to come off during the change and you could put it on backwards. No real damage will come of this, I just had to spend some time cleaning off the plastic cover under the oil pan.

I torque my drain plug by feel, however I'll look up the specs.

Just checked the manual:

Oil Drain Plug - 22ft lbs

 

I did my 1st oil change at about 3500k as I agree that the initial break-in period can produce some small filings. Just a note! If you have the supercharger, it would be wise to change your oil a bit earlier.

 

DFWSBR: Thanks for the torque spec. I missed it in the owner’s manual. I am a little sensitive since I had to replace an oil pan on my Intrepid thanks to my local 5-Star dealership, the same ones that put 5W-30W in my Crossfire on its first oil change. Now I have low profile ramps and will do all my own oil changes.

 

How much are you guys paying for a dealer oil change. My 1st one was $200 Cdn. Wow! What's that in USA dollars, about $20???? Who says Cdn's don't have a sence of humor?

 

I changed the oil this past weekend. Here is one thing you might want to add to the notes. There is a small alignment mark on the cap that holds the filter and a corresponding mark on the base. On my car it looks like a white paint mark. I didn't notice those marks when removing the cap but noticed them when tighting it.

 

I had my first oil change last week at my local 5-Star. I negotiated free oil changes for the entire 7/70 warranty period but I have to have them done at this dealer. I had some reservations about bringing it in after reading all the problems that people have had, so I quizzed the service manager before I gave him the keys. I waited for the car and checked the oil level and FSS when they brought the car around.....oil was overfilled, FSS not reset.

I hate educating a 5-Star service manager.

 

If they add 8.5 it will appear over full for a little while. It takes some driving around until the filter soaks up some of it. I only add 8qts and its fine for the entire 7k.

 

I hope they used Mobil 1 0-40 W.

 

Why wouldnt' they? It only has a sticker right by the oil cap that says "mobil 1 0-40".

 

They did use Mobil 1 0W-40 because when they reset the FSS they couldn't do it via the dash **** method. They had to use the computer interface connector and it asked what SPI rated oil was used during the oil change. MB has two different oils specified for the Crossfire and depending on which oil is used, the FSS will be reset to either 7000 miles or 8000 miles. So they had to bring out the empty bottles of oil to get the SPI number and to make sure that all 9 bottles had the same number (I demanded that!). But back to the the overfill, they had put all 9 quarts in, not 8.5, so they drained a half a quart (with me watching underneath the car). I had to let them know that with my NASCAR experience in working with Penske that I had some knowledge on changing oil!

 

I saw that the manual says you can change your oil every 7,000 miles but when i called the dealer they said that was only for peopel that live in the country and barely drive their car, etc. Do you agree??

 

The computer in the car will tell you when the oil has to be changer based on how you drive. Read the manual for instructions on how to see how many miles till your next oil change. Remember use Mobile 1 0-40 only.

 

I took my car in today to get the heated seat on the drivers side fixed and later got a call from the service manager asking if it was OK to do an oil change (only the 2nd one for the car). I knew my FSS still said around 4000. The guy at Chrysler said the oil should be changed every 4000 miles...which after reading every word this thread, I'm thinking that was total BS. After further thinking about it, hours later, i realized I barely had 3000 miles on that oil... I thought my dealer was awesome til they talked me out of 90 dollars. I guess its my fault for not knowing though...