10,000 mile oil changes, really?

[dhrandy]

Does anyone know what oil (brand / type) Ford uses if you purchase the maintenance plan from them? I'm guessing regular oil-type-oil rather than synthetic, but candidly I don't know . . . .

This is the 5.0, but it's in the manual for each engine. Looks like Motorcraft Synthetic Blend. I think the only thing that changes is the amount for each engine.

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[blkZ28spt]

I do ~5k on our EcoBoosts

 

[KBKEITH]

Amsoil synthetic for all my vehicles, only the best.

I used Amsoil in all my vehicles for a good 25 years or so. Good stuff, never an issue - even with extended drain intervals.

 

[Lippy]

Does anyone know what oil (brand / type) Ford uses if you purchase the maintenance plan from them? I'm guessing regular oil-type-oil rather than synthetic, but candidly I don't know . . . .

They use a synthetic blend. I prefer to use Mobil 1 Extended Performance, which meets the proper Ford spec and is a better oil than synthetic blend.

 

[LA1401]

This is from the Amsoil website:
Must new cars be broken in using petroleum oil?
Answer: No. AMSOIL synthetic motor oils can be safely used during break-in. In fact, many vehicles, including the Dodge Viper and Chevrolet Corvette, are factory-filled with synthetic oil.

Wonder if one should change the oil right away & put in synthetic, especially in those trucks that have sat for a few months waiting on chips?

 

[Dmusick757]

They use a synthetic blend. I prefer to use Mobil 1 Extended Performance, which meets the proper Ford spec and is a better oil than synthetic blend.

I went today and they asked if I wanted to use a synthetic blend or full synthetic. I opted for the full. It cost 77.00 at my ford dealer but I just used my ford points

 

[Bryan Simon]

I had mine changed at 2500 and then at 5000.
From here on out it will be at 5000 intervals or if it gets to sitting for a long time, annually.
I have done the 5000 thing for about 40 yrs for the vehicles that do not spend a lot of time in in city traffic or heavy work.
A couple of the cars only get a change every other year (less than 3000/yr)
All of the “commuters” do their commuting without getting near the city traffic. Pretty much unencumbered cruising.

 

[Dmusick757]

I had mine changed at 2500 and then at 5000.
From here on out it will be at 5000 intervals or if it gets to sitting for a long time, annually.
I have done the 5000 thing for about 40 yrs for the vehicles that do not spend a lot of time in in city traffic or heavy work.
A couple of the cars only get a change every other year (less than 3000/yr)
All of the “commuters” do their commuting without getting near the city traffic. Pretty much unencumbered cruising.

Yeah I think 5000 for me also. I'm scared to go 7500-10000

 

[imnuts]

Does anyone know what oil (brand / type) Ford uses if you purchase the maintenance plan from them? I'm guessing regular oil-type-oil rather than synthetic, but candidly I don't know . . . .

Motorcraft oil, and from what I can find, Conoco-Philips blends it for them. As far as Synthetic Blend vs Full Synthetic, unless things have changed in the past couple years, many "full synthetic" oils sold in the USA are actually blended oils. They can still be good/great oils, but it may not be on-par with oils that have no conventional base stocks in them.

 

[F-150 Prius]

Synthetics are fine for 10,000 miles under normal use, light towing.
Keep an eye on the dipstick and top up, but don't over-fill.
Funnily enough, "severe" use is also very short start-stop driving (causing atmospheric moisture to condense in the crank case) not just heavy loads and towing.
The main thing is the turbo bearings in terms of oil quality, but again, synthetics withstand turbo bearing temps. If there's a synthetic blend in there now, I'd prefer to replace with a full synthetic 5/30 (or 0/30 for severe winter) because it will protect the turbos.

If you're curious, get an engine oil analysis.
https://www.blackstone-labs.com/
We used to routinely EOA every engine we had (most of which were factory stock racing spec, nothing wild) and the synthetics were fine (the test was mostly to see if we had telltale signs of bearing, valves, rings, or the gearbox/transaxle.)
Given the way the PowerBoost uses oil during run-in, the main thing is to keep a bottle around and top up during the first 10,000 miles. The PowerBoost in my truck used about half the length of hi-lo crosshatched area of the dipstick in the first 5000 miles, but doesn't seem to have used any more, now at 8000+ miles. The usage meter says 40% oil life remaining. I'll swap it at the dealer at 10,000 miles and get everything else checked (e.g. battery connectors, undercarriage rust, transmission shifting.)

https://parts.ford.com/shop/en/us/f...-oils/motorcraft-sae-5w-30-api-gf-5-8682937-1

Motorcraft® SAE 5W-30 Synthetic Blend Motor Oil(U.S.)
XO-5W30-Q1SP(U.S.) CXO-5W30-LSP6(Canada)
Specification: WSS-M2C961-A1

The full synthetic from AMZN
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NU6ZPQ

 

[diesel97]

Synthetics are fine for 10,000 miles under normal use, light towing.
Keep an eye on the dipstick and top up, but don't over-fill.
Funnily enough, "severe" use is also very short start-stop driving (causing atmospheric moisture to condense in the crank case) not just heavy loads and towing.
The main thing is the turbo bearings in terms of oil quality, but again, synthetics withstand turbo bearing temps. If there's a synthetic blend in there now, I'd prefer to replace with a full synthetic 5/30 (or 0/30 for severe winter) because it will protect the turbos.

If you're curious, get an engine oil analysis.
https://www.blackstone-labs.com/
We used to routinely EOA every engine we had (most of which were factory stock racing spec, nothing wild) and the synthetics were fine (the test was mostly to see if we had telltale signs of bearing, valves, rings, or the gearbox/transaxle.)
Given the way the PowerBoost uses oil during run-in, the main thing is to keep a bottle around and top up during the first 10,000 miles. The PowerBoost in my truck used about half the length of hi-lo crosshatched area of the dipstick in the first 5000 miles, but doesn't seem to have used any more, now at 8000+ miles. The usage meter says 40% oil life remaining. I'll swap it at the dealer at 10,000 miles and get everything else checked (e.g. battery connectors, undercarriage rust, transmission shifting.)

https://parts.ford.com/shop/en/us/f...-oils/motorcraft-sae-5w-30-api-gf-5-8682937-1

Motorcraft® SAE 5W-30 Synthetic Blend Motor Oil(U.S.)
XO-5W30-Q1SP(U.S.) CXO-5W30-LSP6(Canada)
Specification: WSS-M2C961-A1

The full synthetic from AMZN
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NU6ZPQ

Just add on to your point extended idling is severe also for all you PB owners powering your house or camping

 

[F-150 Prius]

Just add on to your point extended idling is severe also for all you PB owners powering your house or camping

I think for RV or household backup, it's probably not a worry (because the engine remains at operating temps) though I imagine using "Eco Idle" would help keep the oil pressure up and the emissions down, and reduce total gallons per hour burn rates. Ford mentions extended idling and must have a decade of ecoboost idling in emergency/police/fleet to know if there's oiling issues (so far, I think most failures there are intake/head/valve coking.) The good thing (or at least what I tell myself) about RV camping use is the next thing the engine does is drive a long run home (that's when I'd drain the oil in the driveway while everything was hot … and a great excuse to not help lug bags back into the house …)
I'm going to keep an eye on this forum over the next year. If people start to report problems, we'll have to adapt. Otherwise, I'm confident in synthetic oils and I don't see any gain in more frequent changes (certainly not more frequent than 5000 miles or annually.)

 

[diesel97]

I think for RV or household backup, it's probably not a worry (because the engine remains at operating temps) though I imagine using "Eco Idle" would help keep the oil pressure up and the emissions down, and reduce total gallons per hour burn rates. Ford mentions extended idling and must have a decade of ecoboost idling in emergency/police/fleet to know if there's oiling issues (so far, I think most failures there are intake/head/valve coking.) The good thing (or at least what I tell myself) about RV camping use is the next thing the engine does is drive a long run home (that's when I'd drain the oil in the driveway while everything was hot … and a great excuse to not help lug bags back into the house …)
I'm going to keep an eye on this forum over the next year. If people start to report problems, we'll have to adapt. Otherwise, I'm confident in synthetic oils and I don't see any gain in more frequent changes (certainly not more frequent than 5000 miles or annually.)

extended idling is extreme that's why they give you an hour meter

 

[blkZ28spt]

This is from the Amsoil website:
Must new cars be broken in using petroleum oil?
Answer: No. AMSOIL synthetic motor oils can be safely used during break-in. In fact, many vehicles, including the Dodge Viper and Chevrolet Corvette, are factory-filled with synthetic oil.

Wonder if one should change the oil right away & put in synthetic, especially in those trucks that have sat for a few months waiting on chips?

I always change the oil of any engine shortly after I get it. Including brand new. I don't know when the engine was assembled, I don't know what manufacturing leftovers might be in the oil, I learn my way around the object/engine in question a little bit, and I know what is in it and when it went in.

I changed the oil on my truck at something like 250 miles.

I've changed small engines (generator, lawnmower) after 20 minutes of running and got a bunch of metal shavings off the magnetic drain plug and out of the pan. Now, I'm sure the automakers do a better job, but...it's a damn $50k-$70k truck probably, I am more than happy to spend $35 changing the oil and filter right away.

 

[Jus Cruisin]

Mine is in for some warranty work at 4400 miles. I had them do an oil change while it's there. No special oil for me. Bulk oil is fine. Been using dealership bulk oil in everything but my Corvettes (Mobil 1 spec) for 20+ years.

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