Anyone change their own oil?

[Daniel Nathan]

I've been using Grease Monkey for oil changes every 5k miles; full synth oil change runs around $120. This cost, and the oil threads I've seen here, made me wonder how many truck owners change their own oil.

Do you change your own oil?

I do my own oil changes. It saves me a chunk of change compared to $120 at Grease Monkey for full synthetic! I use Motorcraft 5W-30 synthetic blend, a Motorcraft filter, and it’s about $40-50 every 5k miles. Takes 30 minutes with a jack and basic tools. Plus, I know it’s done right.

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[FaaWrenchBndr]

Yes.
I’m 58
Bought my 1st gas powered machine at 12, a 3.5hp Briggs go cart. Bought my 1st car three days before I turned 15, a 62 Nova

I’ve always changed my oil. No one has ever done that for me. For me, it’s not about saving time or money. It’s about maintaining a vehicle properly and getting under it to check everything over.

 

[KBKEITH]

I do my own changes like many others do here and for all the same reasons. My last change cost $45.98. Six quarts of Pennzoil Ultra Synthetic and a Motorcraft oil filter and ~30 minutes of my time.

 

[Dingus1234]

Good grief, we get it.
Back to the topic at hand:
from what I’ve found elsewhere, best practice for doing DIY oil changes with a vehicle that’s still under warranty seems to be that you should:

• keep clear copies of your receipts when buying oil, filters, and parts.
• Keep legible records of the date and odometer reading when the work was done.
• Ensure you’re buying parts that match Ford’s specs for your model.
• Ensure you are actually doing the work correctly. Tons of resources available for this.
• File away a couple pictures. This couldn’t hurt, but also doesn’t seem critical.

Seems to be no guarantee that you won’t run into a fight should you have your engine grenade. Ford may come back and make things difficult for you, and you may have to fight them on it.
Keeping good records makes sure you can prove you did the work, which will make it easier to fight for your rights under the warranty, should you end up in that situation.

 

[Pelican]

Quicklane does the works package every 3 to 3.5k miles. I used to religiously; however, rotating tires with a floor jack is a PITA and so i dont anymore.

 

[Elevatorman]

Were truck owners. Does any of us NOT change our own oil? Baffles my mind. I put nothing but royal purple HPS in my 3.5l ecoboost and my wife's 2.0l ecoboost. Im done in less time than it takes to drive to jiffy lube. Costs 70 dollars to put one of the absolute best oils in our vehicles including a motorcraft filter. So im putting a much higher quality oil than any synthetic you could even buy at jiffy lube, saving time and a good bit of money. Don't get caught up in only buying these very limited newest emissions rated oils, there's much better quality oils available. Keeping that engine and turbos unworn as is possible and running like new as long as possible is the goal. I change every 3k miles no matter what.

 

[Elevatorman]

As for a log, I keep a small notepad in my glove box I note date and mileage of any service. I never even thought of trying to upload info to an online fordpass. Does that cross reference with carfax? I think anyone buying my truck in the future would be fine seeing the log in the glove box

 

[js312]

Quicklane does the works package every 3 to 3.5k miles. I used to religiously; however, rotating tires with a floor jack is a PITA and so i dont anymore.

I don't mind rotating the tires on the truck. I jack up the rear differential and put jack stands under it, then jack up one front corner at a time.

My wife's CX-5 is more annoying because the jack points to get the whole back or front off the ground are tougher to get to.

 

[BigShasta]

I've been using Grease Monkey for oil changes every 5k miles; full synth oil change runs around $120. This cost, and the oil threads I've seen here, made me wonder how many truck owners change their own oil.

Do you change your own oil?

Every time, every vehicle I have.

 

[Andrew65]

I do it myself. Too many bad experiences at dealers. Twice had them forget to tighten the drain plug and lost over a quart on my subaru. Two other times they didn’t replace the oil filter. One of my wife’s cars came with a few free oil changes when we bought it. Every time was a three hour wait even with an appointment. My mom had the dealer forget to tighten the lug nuts on more than one occasion during an oil change and tire rotation. I just don’t want the stress of having anyone do anything I can easily do myself.

Did the first oil change on my F150 last weekend. The oil filter (3.5L) was a P.I.T.A. But otherwise it was easy. $50 for full synthetic and a Ford Motorcraft filter. Had asked two local dealers for a quote, was considering it during the warranty period, but they quoted $175…no thanks.

 

[js312]

Did the first oil change on my F150 last weekend. The oil filter (3.5L) was a P.I.T.A. But otherwise it was easy. $50 for full synthetic and a Ford Motorcraft filter. Had asked two local dealers for a quote, was considering it during the warranty period, but they quoted $175…no thanks.

Get yourself a t-handle ratchet. That with the right socket for the filter makes it so much easier. This video shows what I'm talking about -

 

[Andrew65]

Get yourself a t-handle ratchet. That with the right socket for the filter makes it so much easier. This video shows what I'm talking about -

Thanks for that! Will order one for next time. I had one of those three prong tools but damn I think a gorilla installed the one that was already on there. Absolutely mangled the filter getting it off.

 

[js312]

Thanks for that! Will order one for next time. I had one of those three prong tools but damn I think a gorilla installed the one that was already on there. Absolutely mangled the filter getting it off.

My factory one was really bad, but surprisingly the ones after that weren't much better and I put them on so I know I didn't tighten them excessively. Either way, that tool makes it easy.

 

[jhelrey]

I might start having to due to costs and the hassle of scheduling it.

 

[Paul Neubauer]

I might start having to due to costs and the hassle of scheduling it.

If I had Ford change my engine oil, filter, both fuel filters and top off the DEF, it would easily be a $600+ visit instead of $275 doing it myself.

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