Oil Change Frequency

[jbacon47]

FWIW, I paid for oil analysis by Blackstone labs at odometer 2000 miles (factory oil) and odometer 6000 miles (kirkland fully synthetic oil). 2.3L engine.

They told me nothing was out of ordinary in terms of engine wear and that the copper contamination indicated engine break in. They also noticed slight fuel contamination (0.5), but not enough to affect viscosity (my bronco sits for days). They said it would be safe to run the kirkland oil up to 6000 miles next oil change (odometer 12000). Because the viscosity was still good. I skipped testing my last oil change, but I plan to test my next oil change around 18000miles. I’m curious if they find more fuel and/or any coolant. I noticed my coolant is slightly below the low line (it’s always been close to low since it was new).

Overall I think it’s at least safe to change every 6000, but because my bronco sits so often and does short trips, it has a higher risk of fuel contamination.. I plan change it every 5000.

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[adam1991]

Do I trust rando internet guy or Ford’s engineers.

Let me think on that one.

That is a conundrum.

Or does Ford use rando internet guys for engineers.

 

[Smocaine]

Do I trust rando internet guy or Ford’s engineers.

Let me think on that one.

Random internet guys aren't trying to sell you a mid-to-high five figure vehicle every 3 years.

Some of them might try to sell you Amsoil, but that's only because it's Mary Kay for men with the multi-level marketing.

Who stands to make more money off of you?

 

[CarbonSteel]

My 2.7L engine suffers from fuel dilution, and I suspect many of you have the same issue (the only way to confirm is with a UOA that utilizes gas chromatography to determine fuel concentration). The iOLM (intelligent oil life monitor) does not account for fuel dilution, and the only way to mitigate it is to change the oil. Almost without exception, the iOLM in my Wildtrak indicates that I have far more than 50% oil life remaining when I change it, but that is not the case. There is some life remaining, but it is certainly not good for another 5K miles or more.

The only reason my oil remains in grade is that I am using an oil with a viscosity of 12.2 cSt at 100°C. However, even then, you can see how it is reduced due to dilution. If I were using an oil like Motorcraft SynBlend (aka factory fill) that has a viscosity of 10.8, there is a good chance it would not be a xW-30 oil at the end of the run--the factory fill was a xW-20 at only 1,000 miles. Given that I have a HO twin-turbocharged engine, running less than a xW-30 is not a wise move.

You can see my UOAs to date below:

Link to my UOAs

 

[Quicklime]

My 2.7 turned 53,000 yesterday. Mobil 1 EP since new. I average about 4400 miles before I can't take it anymore and change it... But you could eat off of the inside of that engine. And, it runs better now than it did when it was new.

 

[archerscreek]

Ford makes money selling vehicles, yes. But they sell as many vehicles as they do, not because their cars and trucks break down right after their warranties expire, requiring the owners to buy new ones, but because numerous Ford owners have their vehicles fly past 100,000 miles with zero issues. So the happy owners keep buying Fords for themselves and their businesses. And then their kids keep buying Fords, on and on. So Ford isn’t going to recommend infrequent oil changes knowing that doing so would prematurely trash people’s vehicles. Those people would then buy from other manufacturers.

I’ve had zero issues with my 3.5 Ecoboost, over 120,000 miles, changing oil between 5000 and 10,000 miles. For the Bronco, I’m sticking with that.

 

[Sgt Badlands]

Internet mechanics just want to justify their wasteful spending on frequent oil changes and oil analysis. They have no scientific data to back it except for their own experience. I’m at 40k miles. Was using the Motorcraft semi synthetic as recommended. Usually changing around every 7k miles. I switched to full synthetic last oil change. My engine runs just fine. I would imagine ford engineers know better than some random bro on the forum.

 

[LSW]

Internet mechanics just want to justify their wasteful spending on frequent oil changes and oil analysis. They have no scientific data to back it except for their own experience. I’m at 40k miles. Was using the Motorcraft semi synthetic as recommended. Usually changing around every 7k miles. I switched to full synthetic last oil change. My engine runs just fine. I would imagine ford engineers know better than some random bro on the forum.

Shouldn’t you continue only using the Motorcraft Synthetic blend and changing when the oil life monitor tells you to (at 10,000 miles most likely) then? Why the wasteful spending on the full synthetic? Ford knows best after all.

 

[LSW]

Exactly... 5k miles is well before significant dilution occurs... is it overkill? Perhaps, but it's better than being on the wrong side of the curve.

I have done a few 500 mile used oil analyses on two separate 2.7’s that show fuel dilution as high as 3.4% in that time. A single 20F or colder, cold engine start followed by ~5 minutes of idling is enough to get it there right after an oil change. Carbonsteel did a few at 1000 that showed 2-3%.

Whether or not this is a problem that will matter for the average owner is probably unanswerable, but the interaction between fuel and oil over time will degrade the viscosity index improvers in most oil. This means the viscosity will decrease over time (even more than a simple mixture calculation would indicate) and engine wear will increase. Will that increase be tangible or meaningful in terms of maintenance expense we will probably never know for sure, but why risk it if a minimal amount of time and expense can mitigate it. There are some oils that deal with this better than others.

There are at least a few thousand GM 6.2L owners that probably wish they used something other than the recommended 0W-20 changed at 10,000 miles. The OEM’s really can’t be trusted to give you a straight answer on best practices to minimize wear. They’re under the gun of government penalties if they don’t squeeze every ounce of fuel economy out of the vehicle, even though that might be changing.

 

[Sgt Badlands]

Shouldn’t you continue only using the Motorcraft Synthetic blend and changing when the oil life monitor tells you to (at 10,000 miles most likely) then? Why the wasteful spending on the full synthetic? Ford knows best after all.

There is no reason not to follow this recommendation. It’s what ford recommends for non extreme condition use.
That being said, people change it as frequent as they want and spend as much money as they want on extra maintenence if they want. But, you have no idea if it is of any benefit.

 

[Retired Old Man]

I always change the oil of a new vehicle at 500 miles.
Then again at 1500 miles, then using the best synthetic oil, every 5000 miles. Thereafter.
With the exception of my Dodge Viper, which used 0w-40, I always use 5w-30 In all of my vehicles.
I’ve been using 5w-30, full synthetic, in my 2022 Cadillac Escalade ESV using the above formula since I bought it new in 2022.
My Corvette uses 5w-30 so that’s what I’m using in the Caddy.
Now, with the 6.2 liter, GM is recommending 0w-40 super car synthetic Oil.
I’m always reminded by what I was told when I was a fledgling auto mechanic, in 1970, that car manufacturers are more interested in selling you a new car every 3 to 5 years and are not interested in making your car last longer than that.
Also, in 1990, I bought a new 1990 GMC Suburban, I owned it for 22 years, put over 500,000 miles on it and then sold it for 1800 dollars in 2012, following the above oil change schedule, except with non synthetic, I was changing the oil at 3000 miles.
It‘s your vehicle, you paid a lot of money for it, so treat it nice.

 

[CarbonSteel]

Internet mechanics just want to justify their wasteful spending on frequent oil changes and oil analysis. They have no scientific data to back it except for their own experience. I’m at 40k miles. Was using the Motorcraft semi synthetic as recommended. Usually changing around every 7k miles. I switched to full synthetic last oil change. My engine runs just fine. I would imagine ford engineers know better than some random bro on the forum.

Oil analysis is scientific data and if it shows the oil has too much fuel in it, is too thin, or has little to no active additive remaining, then changing the oil is a data driven decision.

Curious as to what scientific data you are using other than mileage to make your decisions.

 

[adam1991]

Some of them might try to sell you Amsoil, but that's only because it's Mary Kay for men with the multi-level marketing.

I'm stealing that.

 

[Sherminiator]

I do an oil change every 6 months or so since I don't drive that far-work is roughly 30 miles round trip and I have just under 25K on a car that is almost 3 1/2 years old. I was only driving to work two days a week up until this past March.

 

[Sherminiator]

Oil analysis is scientific data and if it shows the oil has too much fuel in it, is too thin, or has little to no active additive remaining, then changing the oil is a data driven decision.

Curious as to what scientific data you are using other than mileage to make your decisions.

So going back almost 30 years ago-we used oil analysis in the Army and from what I can recall that over 8 years between active duty and National Guard service with a major deployment (Bosnia) I think I saw maybe a half of dozen vehicles that actually needed their oil changed and there was maybe 2-3 that needed an actual engine changed out due to a failure.

Different use case and engines (diesel) but I'm of the mind set that arbitrary oil changes at 3-5K are a bit overkill and just pad dealerships pockets.

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