first 1000 mile factory oil change? worth it?

[1stCar76Bronco]

Interesting, this came up today. I’m currently sitting at Ford for the initial oil change. I’ve always been a believer in the low mileage initial oil change. However, time and schedule got in the way this time.

I’m sitting at 2700 miles, go to ford for the service and I’m told it’s not necessary, ford sets oil changes at 5k. Just surprised they no longer recommend the initial 1k change.

Anyway, I’m here so I’m getting it changed but they seem surprised.

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[Kk1340]

We are picking up the wife's bronco today and I plan on changing it at 1000 miles. 2..3 engine. Any recommendations on oil to use. German sports car guy so I use liqui moly in my cars.

 

[Erock]

I’ve always done 3k followed by 5K intervals. No real reason for it, just what I came up with as a teenager after building my first engine. Have never lost an engine to bearing or cam/lifter wear failure.

 

[pdilecce]

I was bored, and so did the 1000-mile change. I cut the filter open and found some metal shards in the filter media. Small, but they were there. Normal I guess.

The front driver-side skid plate bolt appeared to be cross-thread from the factory. Impact had a hard time backing it out.

I found an oil spot on the skid plate. I'm hoping it came from checking oil. I could not see any leaking.

 

[SHANUT]

just hit 1000 miles and i remember reading somewhere it might be a good idea to change early to get the factory "grit" out of the engine.

Any truth to this lore? 2.7 btw.

Oil changes are practically free. And getting the crap out of your engine from the first thousand miles is a good idea in my opinion. I know oils are better than they used to be but I’ve driven over 2,000,000 miles and broken in many new vehicles, and I have literally never had a mechanical failure or repair of any kind and I owe most of that to breaking them in gently and changing the oil early and often. Some will laugh, but I don’t care because my vehicles don’t have issues.

 

[Foxbody Barra]

I always do my first change at 1k the latest and 5k after. You won’t find a single mechanic that rebuilds engines anywhere that will tell you to wait for the factory oil minder. People that tell you it’s fine don’t work on cars.

 

[TCB-1]

Just got a 1k change on mine. Overkill? Maybe, but I'm OCD

 

[CarGuy]

just hit 1000 miles and i remember reading somewhere it might be a good idea to change early to get the factory "grit" out of the engine.

Any truth to this lore? 2.7 btw.

There is no downside, other than spending a few bucks. I always do a a break-in oil change between 500-1000 and check the oil and filter for any metal.

 

[Jackcolt]

Absolutely do it early. I changed mine at 1,000 and sent a sample to black stone for analysis. The factory fill was the wrong viscosity for my 2.7 according to the report. They said the factory fill was 5W20, instead of the ford spec 5w30. Lab results at 3,000 miles show a significant reduction in metals and fuel contamination…and the correct viscosity…since it put it in myself. As the the dealer jacking up skid plates that’s a real issue. They just did it to my daughters 4Runner on an oil change…cross threaded a bolt…chuck it in the trash and let her drive it home 2,000 miles missing a bolt.

 

[GoHack]

Just bought a new 2025 Badlands w/the 2.3L I4 engine, and the 7 spd. manual.
I plan to do her early as well using Ford's Full Synthetic oil.
Certainly, it can't hurt.

Eventually going w/Amsoil 5W-30 Full Synthetic, w/their oil filter, at around 5000 miles.

Have already christened her offroad, making sure everything worked OK, and to get her dirty as well.

 

[SingleTurboFD]

Anyone that tells you not to do your first oil change early has no idea what they’re talking about and generally shouldn’t be trusted on engine related topics.

 

[GoHack]

If anything folks, just do the oil filter change itself at around 1000 miles, and be sure to add the oil lost during the filter change itself.
I used to do this when I changed my own oil on a new vehicle.
At 1000 miles, the manufacturer's installed oil is still good.
As for the oil filter, it could contain particles from the engine manufacturing process, as well as any break in materials.

Use at the very least, an OEM oil filter, but better yet, go w/a very good quality brand and not some cheap $2 oil filter.
There's more than enough selection of good quality oil filters out there.
If people are going to spend good money on oil, then do the same when it comes to the oil filter as well. That's equally, if not more important.

Finally, I recommend going w/100% Synthetic oil, mainly due to the Turbo's. They not only get very, Very, VERY hot, but spin at extremely high RPM's, something in the order of over 100,000 + rpms.

 

[crenca]

At 1000 miles, the manufacturer's installed oil is still good

As @CarbonSteel showed by objectively testing - so not a mere opinion - Ford's factory fill has already sheared out of grade by 1000 miles.

Besides if you're already puting in the effort to change the filter just go ahead and change the oil...

 

[Scott R Nelson]

Anyone that tells you not to do your first oil change early has no idea what they’re talking about and generally shouldn’t be trusted on engine related topics.

So how are you supposed to tell the difference long term?

I follow Ford's recommendations for all of my cars. I waited until 7500 miles on the Bronco. What difference am I going to see compared to doing it at 1000 miles? And when should I expect the issues to start showing up?

Should whatever issue you're claiming have showed up already on my 2014 Escape that has had ALL of its oil changes each 7500 miles. It wasn't until past 110,000 that a "needs service" warning came on earlier than expected with that one.

So what difference does it really make to do it early?

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