equipped with a 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 engine is a spacious, powerful, and smooth mid-size SUV. You can help make your Durango more reliable by practicing regular maintenance, like changing your own oil at home—the Durango’s oil capacity is 7 quarts or 6.6 liters.

Performing simple maintenance on your vehicle, like changing your oil, can help to keep your cost of ownership low by avoiding expensive garage prices. Changing the oil in your 2016 Dodge Durango is simple enough, but before getting started you’ll need to check out your Durango’s owner’s manual to determine its oil capacity as well as what type of oil you should be using.

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2016 Dodge Durango 5.7L Hemi engine oil capacity

So, you want to change your oil at home—the first thing you’ll need to determine is how much oil you are going to need to complete an oil change for a 2016 Dodge Durango equipped with a 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 engine.

The Durango’s 5.7-liter V-8 engine has an oil capacity of 7 quarts or 6.6 liters. You’ll need to be careful not to confuse your engine’s displacement—the 5.7-liter volume its eight cylinders take up—with its oil capacity, which refers to the amount of oil you’ll need to complete an oil change. While both of these metrics are measured using liters, they refer to very different qualities of your Durango’s engine and should not be considered interchangeable.

What kind of oil does a 2016 Dodge Durango 5.7L Hemi need?

Knowing how much oil you need to buy won’t do you any good if you don’t know what kind of oil you need to buy for your 2016 Dodge Durango’s 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 engine.

That’s right—there’s not a one-size-fits-all motor oil that works for all vehicles, so instead of just grabbing the first five-quart bottle of motor oil you see at the store, you’ll want to look specifically for MOPAR SAE 5W-20 synthetic motor oil. This is the brand of motor oil recommended by Dodge in the 2016 Durango owner’s manual.

What exactly does SAE 5W-20 mean in terms of motor oil? Well, the numbers in an oil’s grade are a reference to that specific oil type’s viscosity—i.e., how thick it is—while the “W” refers to winter.

The number 5 preceding the W suggests that the oil has a relatively low viscosity at 0°F, while the 20 suggests that the oil’s viscosity is relatively low at the other end of the spectrum at 212°F. The ‘SAE’ that precedes the oil grade simply stands for Society of Automotive Engineers, the entity that codes oil viscosity.

All of this is to say that 5W-20 synthetic motor oil performs well in a wide range of weather conditions, both hot and cold. Because this type of oil has a low viscosity at most temperatures, it is less likely to cause wear and tear on the 2016 Dodge Durango’s 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 engine.

MORE:

Ultimate FRAM oil filter guide

How often to change the oil on a 2016 Dodge Durango 5.7L Hemi

Once you’ve got seven quarts of your motor oil of choice in hand, you’re ready to

change your oil

Or are you? Dodge recommends that drivers change the oil in a 2016 Durango every 3,000 to 5,000 miles—however, for less frequent drivers, changing your oil every six months might be a better metric to ensure you’re not changing the oil too frequently.

That being said, you should be performing regular maintenance checks on your Durango, including a check on the engine’s oil levels at least once a month or after every other refueling. This will help you to monitor your Durango’s oil levels more accurately than by simply measuring the distance or time between oil changes.

Between regular checks on your Durango’s oil levels, keep an eye, ear, and nose out for these common signs that you might need to change your oil:

Dark brown or black motor oil (clean oil should be light brown or amber in color)

Coarse or gritty motor oil

Engine is making strange,

unfamiliar sounds

Smells of burning, smoke, or oil while operating

Alterations in how your vehicle performs

MORE:

Dodge Durango towing capacity

How to change your oil and oil filter

The first step for any oil change, of course, is to gather all of the materials you’ll need to finish the job, including a filter wrench, drain pan, socket wrench, replacement oil filter, and 7.0 quarts of your 5W-20 synthetic motor oil of choice.

To make the oil changing process faster and easier, you’ll want to warm your engine up before getting started. Idling the Durango’s engine for a few minutes should be enough to get the oil up to its normal operating temperature, allowing it to drain more quickly. Once everything’s nice and toasty, shut off the SUV’s engine, prop the hood open, and follow these steps:

Locate and remove the oil fill cap

Get underneath the engine, remove the oil drain bolt and washer, and use a drain pan to catch the old oil

Remove the old

oil filter

and replace it with a new one

Replace the oil drain bolt using a new washer and tighten it to 29 lb-ft

Refill the engine with 7.0 quarts of your 5W-20 motor oil of choice

Once you’re finished you can check your new oil level using the dipstick. After changing your oil, it’s a good idea to turn on your car and let your engine run for about 30 seconds before you check the oil level. This will give you a more accurate measurement, and you’ll be able to top it off if necessary.

Next, you’ll want to run the engine again for a few minutes to make sure that the engine isn’t leaking oil and that you’ve secured the drain bolt properly. If all of this has been done correctly, the

oil pressure light

on the Durango’s dashboard will turn off.

Finally, be sure to dispose of your old dirty oil by emptying the drain pan into a sealed container and delivering it to your local recycling center when it can be properly disposed of. Emptying the motor oil on the ground or into your garbage bin is not only bad for the environment but can also prove dangerous to local pets and wildlife.

Don’t forget regular insurance policy maintenance

Performing your own oil changes at home is a great way to save

time

and money on maintaining your 2016 Dodge Durango 5.7L Hemi. But the savings don’t have to stop there—you can save even more on your vehicle’s ownership costs when you update your car insurance policy using the

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