I was reading the manual and it states that the oil should be changed at a certain mileage interval OR 12 months whichever comes first. My coach was in stock for nearly a year so the oil has been in it 12 months, however there is only 1700 miles or so on the engine. My question is two fold, one should I change it and two, does Cummins put some break-in additives in a new engine that I would lose the benefit of by changing with so few miles. Thanks

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Originally posted by Higgins:
I was reading the manual and it states that the oil should be changed at a certain mileage interval OR 12 months whichever comes first. My coach was in stock for nearly a year so the oil has been in it 12 months, however there is only 1700 miles or so on the engine. My question is two fold, one should I change it and two, does Cummins put some break-in additives in a new engine that I would lose the benefit of by changing with so few miles. Thanks

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No break in additives. In fact, Cummins doesn't add any oil. The engines are shipped "bare" to chassis builders i.e. no oil, no coolant, no radiators, etc. The time frame takes into account temperature cycling causing contamination and other such things. I personally have changed after one ear of ownership but a more conservative approach would be to start the season clean by changing now. Fluids engineers often argue for changing oil before going in storage and again when coming out so it would seem they would take the later conservative approach.

Thanks for the information, now that I know there were no additives, I will change it immediately and start it off on the brand I want to run, which is Mobil Delvac Super 1300 15-40.

I would call your dealers service center, some of the dealerships change the oil and filters during the PDI process if the coach is a year old or older.

Spike

I just took delivery (1300 miles)of a new 07, so my situation is similar to Higgins. Having no change at the PDI, rather than change now what about waiting until the 5000 mile mark when the initial Allison filter change is due?

quote:

Originally posted by Bob Russo:
I just took delivery (1300 miles)of a new 07, so my situation is similar to Higgins. Having no change at the PDI, rather than change now what about waiting until the 5000 mile mark when the initial Allison filter change is due?

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First, be sure you need to change tranny filter. The 5000 mile filter change has been eliminated for new units with high capacity filter - need to check your SN. I'm not a fluid expert but I don't think any damage would result. I'm sure that the vast majority of owners wait until first year anniversary.

quote:

Originally posted by Ecker:
First, be sure you need to change tranny filter. The 5000 mile filter change has been eliminated for new units with high capacity filter - need to check your SN. I'm not a fluid expert but I don't think any damage would result. I'm sure that the vast majority of owners wait until first year anniversary.

I have a brand new 2008 and I'm looking at the Allison Operator's manual and on page 52 it states "Allison requires all 3000 and 4000 product family transmissions to have the main filter (not the lube filter or the fluid) changed after the first 5000 mile or 200 hours of operation, whichever comes first". So it seems that there is still some type of 5000 mile rule.