Should-do diesel mods for longevity?

[gweaver]

Question for you diesel gurus- Just purchased my first diesel and I'm wondering if there are any must-do mods for longevity. I live in CA, so removing emissions stuff is a non-starter, but I've been reading that an 'oil bypass filter' and maybe an additional in-line fuel/water separator might be good ideas. Any thoughts or comments? The truck is new, so whatever I do can't void the warranty.

Also, since I'm new to the diesel world, if you've got suggestions for particular brands of filter/oil/etc, I'd appreciate it.

FWIW, I've done a little research on the oil bypass filters, and have found three brands that look promising- 1World, Amsoil and Frantz. Thoughts and opinions on those or other brands appreciated. Any other input related to taking care of the engine is appreciated as well.

Thanks,
Greg

[98 Saleen Cobra]

I live in CA and I'm deleted and tuned. But I'm in a smog exempt county.. I wouldn't worry about the oil bypass filter stuff.. Most of the trucks now have great filtration with the stock oil filters..

I run only AMSOIL in all my vehicles.. My 96 rolla even gets it and it has 210k miles on it.. Doesn't miss a beat and the engine is as smooth as a sewing machine.. IF you go with the oil bypass do the amsoil one..

I am deleted and tuned and I still change my oil at the recommended interval with amsoil as well. I don't do extended because I drive the truck so little it's about 2 a year if that. I also do fuel filter changes with it. Even though they are ever 20k.. They are cheap and I do my own work.

Where in Norcal? I'm in Brentwood, the Norcal Brentwood.

[Thrall]

Presuming you mean new or almost new truck. Most of the old reliability mods you hear about are just that....old.
The one exception may be deleting the egr and if you're inclined, deleting the emissions, but that's a no go where you're at and frankly they're pretty reliable systems in the def/scr trucks.

Fuel filtration is on par now....didn't used to be the case. Keep relatively fresh def in it if it's a garage queen, but if you're daily driving it that's not an issue either.

Oil bypass? Pffft. Unless you're going OTR with it and putting on 150k a year or something, totally unnecessary. You already bought a 300-400k mile engine? Plan on the rest of the truck needing to go longer than that?

The best reliability mods you can do is drive it and keep up on maintenance.

[gweaver]

I'm in Cotati, Sonoma County. Vehicles have to be smogged here. At least gas vehicles do. Never had a diesel, but I can't see why the county would exempt diesel and not gas, given how much they love to take our money.

Yup- just checked on the Smog Check website. Not only am I in a 'smog check' area, but it's listed as 'enhanced' meaning inspections every 2 years.

Oh well, such is life.
G

[h_2_o]

good maintenance and good oil, i personally prefer rotella t6 but that is me. if you ever have questions on oil go over to bobistheoilguy.com that is a rabbit hole you will lose some time in.

[gweaver]

Thrall- Truck will be brand new. It will be a daily driver and weekend hauler (well, every other weekend, anyway), I figure 14-16K miles a year. Plan to run it around on weekends to let the catalyst filter do it's thing to clean itself, and to enjoy having a truck with plenty of power for a change. Just want to make sure I do what's right, so I can avoid potentially wallet-busting repairs down the road.
G

[gweaver]

H_2_o- I know T6 is synthetic, and given the change interval, I have no problem paying the premium. Just need to figure out when I can switch- how much break-in time on dino do I need to give the engine before switching to synth. I'll check the oilguy website, see how quickly my head starts to hurt.
G

[Thrall]

Thrall- Truck will be brand new. It will be a daily driver and weekend hauler (well, every other weekend, anyway), I figure 14-16K miles a year. Plan to run it around on weekends to let the catalyst filter do it's thing to clean itself, and to enjoy having a truck with plenty of power for a change. Just want to make sure I do what's right, so I can avoid potentially wallet-busting repairs down the road.
G

For sure.
My only/biggest concern would be fuel/injectors and the injection pump. And at that, I wouldn't be concerned other then to make sure you're running the reccomended best filtration that meets or exceeds OE requirements and don't make a habit of pulling fuel from old farm tanks or super low volume stations (potential for water). Idk what all the new engine filtration requirements are but imagine 2 micron.

Preference for who's fuel system is best is another thing. Ram is old school bulletproof Bosch CP3. Ford is newer and reportedly less reliable Bosch CP4.xx. GM dumped the CP4 in favor of a new this year Denso system.

[gweaver]

Guess I should have put that in my original post- truck is a Ram with the 6.7 Cummins.
G

[MC25]

Yeah the CP4 has a very weird failure rate. I wouldn’t really worry about it unless you were deleted and tuned on the performance tune 24/7. But stock, I wouldn’t worry about it. 5yr/100k warranty covers that I believe.

[98 Saleen Cobra]

For what you're doing with the truck, keep everything stock. Run good oil. AMSOIL or Rotella are both great. I wouldn't worry about the CP3/CP4 pumps either.. Until you get into serious modifications (which it sounds like you won't) you have nothing to worry about.. All the truck now are decent with the DEF/EGR/SCR setups.. Good fuel, good oil, recommended changes (or more often), good DEF and she'll last a long time.

If and when you get it, and if you need help let me know. I know my way around diesels pretty well and we are somewhat close to each other..

[SSMoose]

My family’s business ran diesels in E-250 vans for 30+ years. These were on the road 5 days a week. We never modified anything, changed fluids and filters on factory schedule, had very few problems. Maintenance is the key. Your MCOCD should be enough to get you well over 300,000 miles with very few problems.

[VP46]

I live in CA and I'm deleted and tuned. But I'm in a smog exempt county..

Are you sure you're exempt? I'm not trying to call you out just thought maybe they changed the law for your county (I tried checking everything around your ZIP and ll point to enhanced):

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/vr/smogfaq

"There are six counties that require smog certifications within certain Zip Codes only. These counties are:

El Dorado, Placer, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Sonoma.

Follow this link to determine which Zip Codes are included."

[roadster02]

Mobile 1 Turbodiesel full synthetic, change filter at 5,000 miles and add a quart, run till 10,000 and make a complete change. As far as mods, can't help ya there, I have a 7.3 Ford so I'm 17 years behind.

[98 Saleen Cobra]

Active military with my truck registered in Modoc County. I'm sorry it's not exempt.. But I only have to do it 1 time for the vehicle.. Not every time I renew the vehicle. So I did it once and I'm good.