How to Change Oil & Filters on a Ram 5500 w 6.7L Cummins Diesel - 1st Time with Costs 💵💰| e99

Gary did all of the oil changes on our previous vehicles and our 2020 Ram 5500 is no different. But the first oil change on a new vehicle can be… well… interesting.

In the video above, we’ll show you how to change the oil and filters on a Ram 5500 truck. We’ll cover the costs of this service (if you perform this yourself AND if you choose to go to a dealer) and show you some pain points on the first oil change on a truck (oh boy!)

BTW, this oil change was done in 2021 (since the truck actually sat for all of 2020). So no, we didn’t wait until 2022 to get our first oil change. But we did wait until we got near family. It’s all about the tools!

The worst filter to remove, right here….

Due to circumstances beyond our control, we are having to get our oil change at the dealer in 2022 while we wait on parts (perhaps another video on all of that).

Tools and Parts Used 🛻🛠

*Disclaimer* – these are the parts and oil we used for our 2020 Ram 5500, but you will need to verify if these would work on your vehicle. Trust but verify!

Engine Oil – We went full synthetic which helps us reduce oil changes to *almost* once a year (YMMV).

Oil Filter – We went with NAPA because we could pick it up locally.

Fuel Filter – Since we were still under warranty, we didn’t want to cause any possible issue so we chose OEM parts.

Fuel Water Separator Filter – Similar to the fuel filter, we chose to use the OEM fuel water separator. No sense in taking chances about Ram not paying for warranty issues…

Filter Wrench – This typically works great at removing filters. On the first oil change, though this might not be enough (as we shared in the video)

Filter Cap – Gary has a very old version of this, but this one might be better with it made out of aluminum. Possible future purchase once Gary’s one falls apart!

Costs: 💵💰

While it’s not surprising that you would save some cash by doing an oil change yourself, I was honestly shocked at how much things were these days. Luckily we only change oil about once a year!

Here’s where we landed (these are costs as of Nov 2022):

$78 – 12 Quarts Oil (at $26/gal)
$16 – Oil filter
$62 – Fuel water separator filter
$47 – Fuel filter

This totaled $203 with all free labor from Gary (woo hoo!). I thought that was expensive but wait… In contrast, the same oil change by the dealership (in Nov 2022) will cost us $640!

So, a cost savings of $437 isn’t too shabby at all! Though I’m crying just a little since we have to pay the dealer this time (more on that in a future video).

(Dealer Cost Update)

Well, I guess the estimate was actually incorrect. Here’s the exact costs we paid in Nov 2022:

$159 – Oil – was actually not synthetic so we’ll have to do an oil change in 4-5K miles. grrr
$25.75 oil filter
$25.95 labor – for oil change
$74.70 Fuel Water Separator
$132 Fuel Filter
$250 Labor to replace fuel water separator and fuel filter

Total cost for oil and fuel filter change was $667.40 + $27.40 sales tax = $695