Oil Change. How often do YOU do it?

[zip89105]

I'll take my chances the way I'm doing it. As for the dealer lying, that's debatable. It could very well be their experience with Ford's in Las Vegas. Last thing I need is to be 100 miles into one of my long distance trips and have the IOLM come on because I became dependent on the indicator to advise me of an oil change. The manual says get the oil changed within 2 weeks or 500 miles of when the warning happens. I won't be able to complete the trip one way before that 500 miles expires. Even worse, you can't get the oil changed at any of the two dealers I've used near my CA home or NV home without waiting two or more days minimum for an appointment. No surprises doing oil changes the way I'm doing it, and I'd rather change the oil too often than not enough. This might be wasteful to some, but not to me. The oil & filter gets recycled anyway.

[akirby]

Didn't say you were wrong to change it on your schedule but the dealer is wrong and it's not debatable. Ford is very clear about the warranty requirements in the owners manual.

[zip89105]

Anything is debatable. This entire forum is a debate.

[akirby]

Opinions are always debatable, but in this case you're talking about a written contract - the warranty guide and the owner's manual. The warranty says to follow all scheduled service. The owner's manual clearly states that the service schedule for oil changes is to change it when the IOLM says to change it, not to exceed 10K miles or 12 months. If you do that and Ford tries to deny a warranty claim based on that then you can sue them and win every time.

 

Again, I'm not saying it's not a good idea in your situation. And I'll even give the dealer a break and say that they're simply following the old guidelines pre-IOLM where there was a different schedule for severe service. The reason Ford doesn't do that any more is that the IOLM algorithm takes that into account now - idling, heat, etc. So it may in fact tell you to change the oil at 5000 or 7000 miles instead of 8K or 10K.

 

In short, following the IOLM IS following the severe service schedule. And if you'd prefer to do it sooner that's ok.

[zip89105]

Other points of interest I read in the manual are if the IOLM is prematurely reset or becomes inoperative, have the oil changed every 6 months or 5000 miles, not to exceed one year or 10,000 miles between oil changes. Also of note with no mention of the IOLM, folks in certain Middle East areas need to change the oil every 3000 miles, and if they're not using SN or SM blends to change the oil every 1800 miles.

 

So I digress, every 6 months or 5000 miles, whichever comes first, is wrong, however every 6 months or 5000 miles, regardless of which comes first, is noted in the manual should the IOLM become inoperative. I just find the 6 month/5000 mile schedule works for me. Mark the calendar, make the appointment, and its done for the next 6 months as I don't drive enough to probably ever see the IOLM activate, and I'd prefer to not leave the same oil in the crankcase for a year.

[akirby]

I'm sorry if I seem argumentative, but I'm a stickler for accurate facts. I agree in your circumstances your schedule makes sense.

[zip89105]

No problem. It's debatable!

[timwil56]

I changed my oil today and despite my previous post, I went with Mobil 1. One thing I noticed on the dip stick when the car was new and after my first dealer oil change, the oil level was over filled and the oil showed about 1/8 inch above the notched out max level on the dip stick. When I changed today, I put in 4 quarts, waited a couple of hours to check and the level was within the notch, right at max. It always bugged me that it was overfilled, so I'm glad I checked it after 4 quarts. My guess is the factory and dealerships have automatic oil filler systems that are pre-programed and they may overfill a little due to residual in the hose or calibration.
Forgot to add, first change at 2409 miles because dealer free first change was expiring and second today with Mobil 1 at 6740 miles.

Edited February 6, 2017 by timwil56

[akirby]

4 quarts seems really low.

[timwil56]

4 quarts seems really low.

The oil capacity for the 1.5L is 4.3 qts., the .3 (along with the residual) must put it over the max level.

 

As a side note, the filter on the 1.5L is in an inconvenient, but not impossible location to access. I was able to get my filter wrench in there and turn the filter about a 1/4-1/2 inch at a time. Once it was loose, it wasn't bad coming off, but tightening it was a minor inconvenience at 1/4 inch at a time. I'm glad I made a sharpie mark on the filter, so when finger tight I knew when I made it around one full rotation. Also, the aero shield now has 10mm screws rather than Torx screws.

Edited February 6, 2017 by timwil56

[akirby]

Sorry I missed that it was a 1.5L.

[mustangphil302]

OK my good people. Here is what I have logged in so far

 

Vehicle purchase date 5/27/16

 

 

65,736 Mobil 1 on 5/28/16 Initial oil change as new owner

 

73,529 Mobil 1 7/29/16 - Driven 62 days and 7523 miles since last oil change

 

80,774 Castrol Edge High Mileage 9/25/16 - Driven 58 days and 7245 miles

 

89,896 Castrol Edge 12/3/16 - Driven 69 days and 9122 miles

 

97,963 Castrol Edge 2/5/17 - Driven 64 days and 8067 miles

 

 

 

As I said in OP, 95% of my driving is done on the highway. My IOLM is pretty much 1%=100 miles. I changed the oil yesterday, drove ~420 miles and IOLM shows 98%, so a little better than 1% per 100 miles at the moment.

[timwil56]

OK my good people. Here is what I have logged in so far

 

Vehicle purchase date 5/27/16

 

 

65,736 Mobil 1 on 5/28/16 Initial oil change as new owner

 

73,529 Mobil 1 7/29/16 - Driven 62 days and 7523 miles since last oil change

 

80,774 Castrol Edge High Mileage 9/25/16 - Driven 58 days and 7245 miles

 

89,896 Castrol Edge 12/3/16 - Driven 69 days and 9122 miles

 

97,963 Castrol Edge 2/5/17 - Driven 64 days and 8067 miles

 

 

 

As I said in OP, 95% of my driving is done on the highway. My IOLM is pretty much 1%=100 miles. I changed the oil yesterday, drove ~420 miles and IOLM shows 98%, so a little better than 1% per 100 miles at the moment.

It looks like you have a pretty good oil change schedule in place based on miles. I think using full synthetic, 8000-9000 miles is a good range, despite what the IOLM states. Before I reset mine after 4331 miles, the IOLM read 57%, so 43% depleted and that's consistent with your 1% per 100 miles estimate.

 

mustangphill, where are you in AZ, I have a home in Sun City where I am now until Friday and where I'll be moving next year after I retire.

Edited February 7, 2017 by timwil56

[mustangphil302]

I live in South Chandler, so completely opposite end of Phoenix from you. I work in Farmington NM Monday through Thursday, hence so many miles driven in short time. I leave home Sunday afternoon and come back Thursday night

[timwil56]

I live in South Chandler... I work in Farmington NM...

Wow, that's a heck of a drive, nearly to Colorado.

[zip89105]

Interesting about the 1% per 100 miles driven IOLM number. I took a look at mine and sure enough, in 3100 miles driven it registered 68% oil life remaining. Now I'm really 2nd guessing if it really monitors the oil as advertised or if it is just a mileage counter since the same percentages with different driving habits are being observed. Of that 3100 miles, 2400 of them were two long trips of all highway driving; the remaining 700 miles are all city driving over a period of 4 months since my last oil change.

Edited February 8, 2017 by zip89105

[sirtanon]

I live in South Chandler, so completely opposite end of Phoenix from you. I work in Farmington NM Monday through Thursday, hence so many miles driven in short time. I leave home Sunday afternoon and come back Thursday night

 

... and I thought my daily M-F 110 mile commute from Buckeye to Scottsdale was a big one. At least it's all highway, right? Makes for easy miles on the car.

 

I agree with timwil56 - You could EASILY go 8000-9000 miles on a fully synthetic fille, and honestly, if it were me, I'd have no problem stretching it to 10,000 miles, or more.

 

I just ran a 9,000 mile OCI on my 2010 with the 2.5 using Pennzoil Ultra Platinum and a Fram Ultra filter, and I only pulled the trigger at 9,000 instead of going the full 10,000 because I had done quite a few short trips during the 9,000 miles.

[WWWPerfA_ZN0W]

Monitor hours, not miles. Idling, remote start, stopngo all eat into hours but not miles.

[akirby]

Monitor hours, not miles. Idling, remote start, stopngo all eat into hours but not miles.

 

Is there a video for that? :happy feet:

[WWWPerfA_ZN0W]

Easiest way is to use Trip 2. It rolls over at 100 hours though, I believe, so you will need to take note of that. Videos? You mean something like this?

[akirby]

Uh no - I was on the "Edge" of sarcasm if you know what I mean.....

[Frank F]

In general, for those abiding by the oil life remaining system, and those that reset it at each oil change, what distances are you getting out of the oil?

My 2017 Fusion Hybrid is the first vehicle to have such where I can observe (and set) the percentage remaining. That said, I can't be certain that the dealer I purchased the car from reset the monitor when he said they changed the oil. So I'll go 5k to 6k on the oil to get me to a "baseline" in which I'll try the oil life / monitoring system after.

Anyone seeing 5k miles or less intervals for severe driving conditions? Anyone not see it indicate change time at 10k miles? If I read correctly, I believe 10k miles is the maximum on any Ford engine in a year before change highly recommended.

Edited March 14, 2017 by drolds1
Topic merged with existing thread by moderator

[timwil56]

I change my own oil so I know it's been done right, not overfilled, filter tightened properly, all the screws reattached on the aero shield, filler cap replaced... The times I had it done at the dealership, even if the tech had reset it, the first thing I do before leaving is reset it again. As far as intervals, under normal conditions, I'll be changing mine between 7000-8000 miles. There's another thread discussing the percentage is 1% for every 100 miles.

[Frank F]

If the 1% "rule" is true, that means everyone would see 10k miles reminder; regardless of vehicle usage type. If that's the case, then the person driving 0.6 miles (like I used to) one way to work will see the same "calculation" as the person driving 25 miles one way, all highway.

Which makes the oil change reminder worthless.

I assume no one has ever seen it come on before 10k miles?

[sirtanon]

On my 2010 Fusion SE, the reminder comes on like clockwork every 7500 miles. For this year, at least, the reminder is 100% mileage driven, and it would seem that 1% is 75 miles.