Oil change, factory 7.5 to 6 quarts, better MPG?

[Thiskers]

Changed my oil around 2800 miles myself. Went with mobile 1 fully synthetic since it met the specifications and did my 16 year old F150 good the entire run.

After reading all the threads, decided to try just running the 6 quarts. After a few fill ups and closing in on 800 miles with the new oil, I'm getting a full mile per gallon more. Previously I was at 16 mpg flat (traffic, hilly area, not much interstate, few long runs without stop lights). Now I'm at 17 mpg with the same driving routes and driving style. Still occasionally use sport, but generally always in normal GOAT.

Anything thing the bronco could be a bit bogged down by running 7 instead of 6 or could the switch to fully synthetic account for that much of an improvement?

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[Vanimalious]

First oil change? Engine past the break in period I would assume. Wife's ranger did the same thing after the first oil change. Would be my guess anyway as an at home mechanic.

 

[Strykerwsu]

I had to put in 6.75 as 6 was below the first dot. I let it drain for an hour while I put on the differential skid but didn’t feel comfortable running at 6.5. This whole oil fill amount is ?????????

Havent put on enough miles to see if any difference in mpg

 

[cowman]

2.7... 2 door OBX... all factory no mods..... 7,558 miles... always running 7 qts... 22.3 mpg hand calculate.... I don't think the amount of oil gets you more or less mileage....

 

[Quitefrankly]

Just after break in period you'll stabilize. Not really based off an immediate oil change at 1k miles - prolly wait till 2500 miles

 

[Thiskers]

Yeah maybe getting past the break-in period helped. Guess the fresh oil just helped gain efficiency back. Right before I changed the oil, I was still sinking down in mpg on my "trip 2" tests.

 

[Fmuguira]

Watched a Engine Tech dyno show and they d take a qt out, do a dyno pull, take another qt out, do another pull and HP kept improving due to oil whip, less windage/friction on crank.

So gas mileage will likely increase due to less parasitic loss: until it doesn’t ….. think ceased up !!

 

[cbrenthus]

It's the weight reduction from having less oil that gets you the extra mpg. Just wait until you spend $1000 on carbon fiber grab handles, you'll be putting prius's to shame

 

[Tricky Dick]

Watched a Engine Tech dyno show and they d take a qt out, do a dyno pull, take another qt out, do another pull and HP kept improving due to oil whip, less windage/friction on crank.

So gas mileage will likely increase due to less parasitic loss: until it doesn’t ….. think ceased up !!

This is definitely a thing. The rotating assembly churning through oil robs a surprising amount of power.

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