First road trip in our Jeep Wrangler Rubicon and its first oil change

45.27 litres consumed over 410 km which translates into a fuel economy number of 9.05 km/l.

BHPian Vikram Arya recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Okay, 2,000 kms are up and it’s time to post an update. It has been seven weeks since I took the delivery and I have been driving it on and off. The current odometer reading is 2,108kms.

The City out here uses a mix of grit, sand, and salt on the public roads to improve traction in icy conditions in the winter however that takes a heavy toll on the vehicle.

That's how the undercarriage looked after the coating

To protect the Jeep I got its undercarriage coated by a product known as “Krown”, this was done by the authorized partner of Krown in the city. I did my research and this turned out to be one of the products most favored across North America, especially in the states where they get a lot of snow & ice. The life of the coating is one year and it has to be reapplied well before the onset of the winter in order for the product to cure properly. $180 per year is not bad but we'll see how it performs.

A couple of weeks ago we decided to take it out for a long drive in the Kananaskis country. It was a 335 km round trip and we left a bit late at 10 am. You have to take the rural highway on the Southwest side and drive about 70 clicks to reach Highway 541 which meanders through rolling hills and the Rockies, goes through a mountain pass, and hits Canmore, a small, sleepy little town at the foothills of Banff.

We had a late lunch at a small village by the name of Longview at a restaurant owned by a Moroccan gentleman, food was sumptuous and we were famished. Longview is a sleepy little village with a population of 297. I love visiting these villages out in the countryside where life seems to have slowed down quite a bit.

At about 1:30 pm we left Longview and headed on to Highway 541. This drive turned out to be a hidden treasure with mountains on one side and a small river on the other.

The traffic was sparse and the speed limit was 100 which I had no intention of breaching. This beautiful highway is interspersed with a number of trailheads and recreational areas and we could see a number of vehicles parked in the parking areas and their occupants somewhere up in mountains hiking.

We had not planned for a hike and were not prepared accordingly so decided to stop at a few places to marvel at the scenic beauty and sip coffee from a flask. After spending a few blissful hours in this pristine area we headed back and were home by 9 pm.

The next day I took the Jeep for refueling and got these figures: 45.27 ltrs consumed over 410 kms which translates into a fuel economy number of 9.05 kmpl. Almost 80 percent of this distance was covered with air conditioning on at a steady clip of 90/100kmph. I'm very much impressed but these are numbers for a highway drive with minimal disruption in speed, I'm quite satisfied nevertheless.

Last week I noticed that the odometer has crossed 2,000kms and as the protocol that I always follow with my new vehicles, the first oil change takes place around 2,000kms to purge all the metal particles as the mating metal surfaces seat. Jeep recommends an oil change interval of 16,000kms or 12 months whichever is earlier, well that’s not going to happen on my watch. Oil will be changed every 8,000kms religiously. The monitor was showing 84% oil life remaining (that doesn’t move me).

This 3rd gen 3.6ltr V6 calls for 5 quarts of 0W-20 (API-SP). I picked up a jug of the recommended juice and an oil filter for the job.

As I was getting ready to do the oil change, I realized 11 inches of ground clearance has another added advantage, I don’t have to jack up the vehicle (it’s a pain especially on the Beemers, especially with their plastic jack points, seriously BMW?). I needed a 13MM socket (3/8 inch drive) for the oil drain nut, a 23MM socket (1/2 inch drive) for the oil filter housing cap, a drain pan, 1/2 inch and 3/8 inch torque wrenches, and a pick set to pull out the gasket on the oil filter housing cap.

I noticed that the oil was fairly clean as it was draining. The viscosity of the oil was like water but having spent 25 years in the oil companies, I know this should not be a concern (how a lubricant seems to flow at room temperature has nothing whatsoever to do with its ability to protect the subject engine; there’s much more to a modern-day lubricant than its appearance – this is very contentious so let’s get off this topic).

Job completed, Oil life monitor reset at 100%

Fresh juice in and the Jeep was ready for another 6,000kms at which point this will be done by the dealer including 5 subsequent oil changes (every 8,000kms) along with tire rotations; this is part of the Jeep Wave program.

Next week I’m headed to the US border, 300 km from my place to pick up a host of goodies for the Jeep. These have been shipped by various vendors who don’t ship to Canada or in some cases charge an exorbitant fee for doing so (so much for the NAFTA agreement).

After I get the goodies, the description and their installation will be the subject of a subsequent post.

So long brothers, drive safe…

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