Question about Maintenance

[BigFeet]

Would your standard Quickie Lube place have those, or should I buy 'em online?

Thanks for all the help, folks! I'll be a grease monkey yet!

Buy it yourself, or visit the dealer's service shop for them to take care of.

If you take it to a "quick lube" garage make sure they can answer your questions (what oil does my vehicle need? How much? What brand oil and filter are you using? Etcetera). Know the answers, and make sure they are not BSing you. If they start telling you "this" doesn't matter, or "that" is of no concern, you may want to reconsider their services. They should be able to alleviate any concerns you have, and some may ask you if you would like to witness the service.

Some garages are not worth it, and some are. If you can find the one that *actually* cares about their clientele, takes pride in their job, and is competitively priced... keep that one.

There is no harm in asking questions, and/or verifying competency.

Also, learning to do it yourself is a right of passage in the Jeep community... don't overlook this aspect and the joy/pride you may be missing out on.

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[Smurf]

learning to do it yourself is a right of passage in the Jeep community... don't overlook this aspect and the joy/pride you may be missing out on.

I just looked for a video online about how to do that, and didn't see anything. Does it involve resetting the computer and all of that?

 

[Majestic]

I just looked for a video online about how to do that, and didn't see anything. Does it involve resetting the computer and all of that?

3k mile oil changes have been outdated for decades. That was back when they made very conservative assumptions on very loose tolerance engines plus it gave dealers and service centers more business and chances to check other things on the car. That was also before synthetic oil.
Your Jeep has an oil life monitor. Even non oil life monitored cars will have you change at 7500 miles unless you’re using it for heavy commercial use.
To reset the oil life monitor just hit the “hold for reset” button when you get to the oil life screen on your instrument cluster.

 

[Eandras]

3k mile oil changes have been outdated for decades. That was back when they made very conservative assumptions on very loose tolerance engines plus it gave dealers and service centers more business and chances to check other things on the car. That was also before synthetic oil.
Your Jeep has an oil life monitor. Even non oil life monitored cars will have you change at 7500 miles unless you’re using it for heavy commercial use.
To reset the oil life monitor just hit the “hold for reset” button when you get to the oil life screen on your instrument cluster.

Do you really trust what the FIAT engineers developed as an algorithm for computing oil change interval? I don't, just looking at my 2021 Sport S with the auxiliary battery makes me think that they really have no clue what they are doing. Under the Fuse Box for a small battery. They could have developed something like the Genesis dual battery system which would be more reliable. I see engineers come up with some crazy crap that makes it difficult to come to a reasonable conclusion on how to do something. Fiat is not the only ones pushing the 10K oil change ,Toyota is as well. But if you talk to a mechanic that knows what they are doing they will tell you the oil is not the issue it is the oil filters that will get clogged with the crap and cause engine wear. The engine wear is what the automakers want. The engine wear will start now but becomes an issue when your power train warranty is done, This would be 5 years or 60k miles. So at 70K the engine will most likely need to be replaced or rebuilt. Most people will not put in a new engine at $15K cost or a used engine at $7K cost. They will buy a new vehicle. The dealers and automakers win on this not the consumer. The original 3K oil changes were because the oil would break down and get full of carbon because emissions were not as important as they are now. Sludge was a common issue with the conventional oil. When I was a conventional oil user I would add a quart of Automatic Transmission fluid about 100 miles before my 3k oil change and there was a lot of sludge that came out into the drain pain. The ATF has a lot of detergents in them that cleans. If you look at the cost of oil and filter you can get the MS-60395 standard for Pennzoil Full Synthetic 0w-20 oil from Walmart for $24.00 and a Mopar MO-349 oil filter from Auto Zone for about $10.00. So base don my 12k a year 120.00 for oil changes is not a high cost for for keeping an engine cylinders and rings in top condition. By the way the oil wiper rings are they issue they are tighter and more likely to get gummed up with the oil and cause the cylinder walls to get damaged.

This is just my opinion I am not trying to offend anyone.

 

[Yankee1019]

Another Q, since I am beyond new to car maintenance-- I know that you have to stick with the same type of oil. I'm assuming 4xe is synthetic? Do I need to know the letters and numbers?

Check your owners manual and use the oil type specified there. For you, just starting out, get the oil filter from the dealership’s service department. The owners manual will also tell you how to reset the oil life system.

Beyond that any YouTube video the shows you the process of an oil change should be good enough but it’s essentially drain old oil, replace filter, fill oil, reset computer.

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