Just a simple oil change

Why is it the simplist things end up being so difficult? A week or two ago my girlfriend asked me to change the oil in her truck for her, as I had voluntarily suggested I do it after the last time she took it to an oil change shop. Aside from a couple of times when I was younger, I've always changed my own oil in all of my vehicles. I don't know what it is, but I simply don't like others touching my cars, and if need be, I have my friends who are mechanics do the work. Yeah, I'm one of them people who are sorta funny about their cars, as to me, they aren't just transportation. Even my 1990 Regal had a sort of sentimental value to me.

So having bought the oil and filter last week, I made it out to the gargage to change her oil today. After lying down on the creeper and checking out the clearance, it looked like there was plenty of room without jacking the truck up. Shouldn't take more than 10 minutes tops, or so I thought. I drained the oil, replaced/tightened the plug, then moved to the filter. Immediately I thought something was not right. Just by looking at the el cheap-o filter installed by the 10 minute oil change place I could tell it wasn't the same as the Mopar filter I had picked up. This long skinny filter was the polar opposite of the short fatty I had bought. I remained hopeful that perhaps the aftermarket one simply differed from the stock filter. When I tried to install the Mopar filter, all hope vanished, as there was no way this one was going on.

I was baffled, as the owner's manual called for part #5281090. These Dakotas came with either a 3.7 V6 or 4.7 V8, though I figured during an age where interchangeability between different engines is the norm, they simply must share the same filter. I looked on the internet with zero success. I tried Chrysler dealerships in metro Detroit, though all the parts departments around here closed at 1pm. So, I resorted back to Murray's, where I bought the filter from. In their defense, I didn't approach the counter and ask which filter the first time around. Why bother, as I had the owner's manual which stated the correct part number, right? Well, while on the phone, the parts guy found a different number, went and opened the box, and described a filter that compared to the one I removed, as opposed to the new one I had bought.

A quick trip up to Murray's got me the right filter, as well as the latest issue of Popular Hot Rodding magazine (I'm a sucker for car magazines). With the new filter installed and 5 quarts added, the 10 minute job was completed...about 1.5 hours after I started. A lesson was learned however, and I placed the top of the oil filter box in the owner's manual, so next time I know which filter to get without trying to go by the manufacturers recommendation.