Oil changes on extremely low milage

[in_venere_veritas]

I have a 2023 3.5L ecoboost. It's a garage queen, and mainly a toy. I just crossed over the 3,000 mile mark. I had an oil change in June, 2024 because that was around the one year anniversary of me buying the truck. The guys at the Ford dealer looked at me like I had grown a second head, but did the oil change. I'm going into the dealership next week to have the Ford Performance tune installed and was thinking of getting an oil change. Should I, or is that just flushing money down the toilet?

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[ThumperF150]

My 24 has 2,000 miles. I’m going today to buy oil and filter for engine. I will also do both diffs.

Then I will change oil and filter and rotate tires and grease all fittings at 5,000 miles and every 5,000 after that. Diffs and T-case will be every 20,000. Trans and coolant will be every 40,000

 

[dbtgt]

It is commonly recommended to change oil and filter annually on low mileage use cases regardless of miles actually driven.

 

[HammaMan]

Try to drive it at least weekly if possible. It helps lubricate seals as well as cover shafts in oil so that they don't rust. Vehicles and machines of all types don't take well to sitting. Yearly oil changes are wise though my first was done at 14 months or so and my 2nd was another 14mo later.

Additive packages can settle out of the oil as well so regular drives at least to the point where the motor gets fully warmed up is advisable. Wind it out a few times once warm as well.

 

[Davidwnuc]

Yes. Do it at least annually if you dont hit the mileage mark. My opinion.

 

[flatag]

The first 3 years of owning my XLT it was also mostly a toy. I drove it an average of 1500 miles a year. I did change the oil every 12 months even though it had low mileage because that’s what the spec calls for. This past year I drove it 10k miles. Feel like I’m abusing it.

 

[Hans Moleman]

People with low mileage and requesting oil / fluid changes, I wonder if some dealers pretend they did it by letting their vehicle sit for awhile without do anything before giving it back to the customer.

 

[Snakebitten]

If you change your oil at 3000 miles, that's at least indicative that your intentions are to take good care of your truck.
So since you are sincere regarding, you shouldn't object to driving that same vehicle on occasion, for no less a good reason.
And if/when you do, make sure you bring it up to full operating temperature.

 

[EdJ]

I have a 2023 3.5L ecoboost. It's a garage queen, and mainly a toy. I just crossed over the 3,000 mile mark. I had an oil change in June, 2024 because that was around the one year anniversary of me buying the truck. The guys at the Ford dealer looked at me like I had grown a second head, but did the oil change. I'm going into the dealership next week to have the Ford Performance tune installed and was thinking of getting an oil change. Should I, or is that just flushing money down the toilet?

Since I retired I don't drive much any longer either. The only way to really know what's going on is to have your oil analyzed. Blackstone will send you the sample kit for free, and they have a nice quick draw pump so you can suck the sample from the dipstick tube. This makes it easy to pull a sample before you take your rig to have the oil changed. Mail the sample to them in the pre-paid mailer they send in the kit, pay $40 for a standard sample, and in a few days they email you the report. See attach for the last sample from my truck.

https://www.blackstone-labs.com/

https://www.blackstone-labs.com/product/quick-draw-pump/

 

[HammaMan]

Since I retired I don't drive much any longer either. The only way to really know what's going on is to have your oil analyzed. Blackstone will send you the sample kit for free, and they have a nice quick draw pump so you can suck the sample from the dipstick tube. This makes it easy to pull a sample before you take your rig to have the oil changed. Mail the sample to them in the pre-paid mailer they send in the kit, pay $40 for a standard sample, and in a few days they email you the report. See attach for the last sample from my truck.

https://www.blackstone-labs.com/

https://www.blackstone-labs.com/product/quick-draw-pump/

That's the cost of an oil change....

UOA is good to find a baseline, but it makes zero sense to do anything other than change the oil vs continual UOA. Furthermore what will you do with the UOA results? Would you sell a vehicle based on UOA?

 

[Rossi6998]

Change at least once a year. Cheap protection for the engine (especially if you do it yourself).

 

[EdJ]

That's the cost of an oil change....

UOA is good to find a baseline, but it makes zero sense to do anything other than change the oil vs continual UOA. Furthermore what will you do with the UOA results? Would you sell a vehicle based on UOA?

Doing oil analysis with every oil change can help you prevent a catastrophic failure, for example if you start to see wear metals that indicate main bearings are on the way out you can replace them before you shell out the motor and ruin the block. It’s a valuable tool…in my USAF days we did oil analysis after every flight on fighter jets and if a sample proved bad the engine was pulled and repaired/overhauled as needed…

 

[Ford blue blood]

It's not just enough to drive it once a month you need to "heat soak" the drive train. That is take it on a 100 mile round trip that includes various loads along the way (hills, acceleration and steady higher load runs). Heat soaking gets rid of moisture, moisture is what causes things to go south.

 

[Mt.F150..]

I dump my oil every 6 months or 5k miles which ever comes first.

 

[Parthery]

The oil life indicator will pop up at 365 days and advise you are do for an oil change. The algorithim tracks mileage and starts/stops. The system is programmed if no resets for the time period to advise you need to get it changed.

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