I recently purchased a pre-owned 2021 Ram 1500 Classic with the 3.6L engine. I read the owner’s manual and performed the first oil change myself. The manual that came with the truck states it requires 5W-20 oil and 5 quarts, which is exactly what I added.
Unfortunately, I did not check the dipstick immediately afterward. After running the truck for about 15–20 minutes, I checked the dipstick and found it was dry. After doing more research, I discovered that Ram may have listed the wrong oil capacity in some manuals because the newer generation uses a smaller oil pan that takes 5 quarts, while the Classic 3.6L actually requires 6 quarts.
I have been very worried about it. Do you think I could have damaged the engine by driving/running the truck for about 30 minutes with only 5 quarts instead of 6?
Thank you in advance for any advice or feedback.
Probably not for one quart low. Did you get any kind of low oil pressure warning in the instrument panel? Any bad noises?
You'll have other things to worry about with that engine, for example:
(Although the model cutoff for the lawsuit is 2020 it is very likely that 2021 engines will have the same problem, especially early production models.)
