So I just did my third oil change at 3621 miles. To give a bit of background, I did my first at 1200 and made the switch to synthetic (Mobil 1). Then I did another oil change at 1600 to be sure all the factory motor oil was cleared out.

So this oil change was after about 2020 miles, and I came up a little less than half a quart short. If I had waited until the 3000 mile mark I might have been three-quarters to a full quart down! Is this normal!? I don't think it is. I just got rid of my my old beater that liked to burn oil, a 1991 Saturn SL2... I don't want to go through this all over again...

I checked my exhaust tips. No evidence of soot.

Has anyone else experienced this oil loss? Could it be the engine is still in its break-in process? I supose I'll give it a full 3000 mile run this time around and see what the result is.

Opinions, anyone? :scratch:

You should wait till you have about 10000 miles on the car before making the switch to synthetic, you have not given the motor enough time to break in properly, 10000 then switch, drain out the syn and replace with the manufacturers suggested oil ...why did you switch so soon to begin with ?

Good luck. :nono:

High performance engines are made to burn a little oil when they are run hard. If you are getting on it, you can expect to burn some, but it is normal. I wouldn't worry about it.

High performance engines are made to burn a little oil when they are run hard. If you are getting on it, you can expect to burn some, but it is normal. I wouldn't worry about it.
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PLEASE DO NOT USE SYNTHETIC UNTIL YOU HAVE BROKEN IN THE MOTOR, BIG MISTAKE...AAARRRRGGG... :lol:

Every Mustang I have ever owned has burned a little oil between oil changes. I've always thought it was the nature of the beast.

I really don't think that I switched too early. I've made the switch to synthetic plenty of times. Just so ya know, once you switch to synthetic, you CANNOT switch back to regular motor oil after about 100 miles. The synthetic oil "soaks" into the bearings and that's it. If you put regular motor oil in it, the motor oil will foam up rather than lube, which will spin the bearings and sieze the engine.

Eh, I'm probably just being paranoid, lol. I have taken it to the track twice since my last oil change and I've probably showed off with the car a little more than I should have. Having an oil-burning Saturn for five years makes one paranoid about the dipstick, I guess.

Being this is my first Mustang (closest thing I have is a '67 Shelby), I just wanted to be sure this was normal operating parameters for the car.

Charlie,

just trying to help, a change to synthetic under 10k is not a productive decision, good luck. :bang:

How would you explain a new car leaving the factory with Mobil1 already in the crankcase? There would be no dino oil "break-in" period - or are you under the opinion that these motors are manufactured & designed to be used specifically with synthetic oil?


From the Mobil1 website:
Manufacturers' Choice

Mobil 1® is standard equipment in some of the world’s finest production vehicles. Car manufacturers rely on Mobil 1 motor oil for the first oil in a new car, otherwise known as “factory fill.”


Mobil 1 is factory fill in:

Aston Martin

Bentley Amage and Bentley GT

Cadillac CTS, XLR, SRX and STS

Chevrolet Corvette

Dodge Viper

Mercedes-Benz AMG vehicles

Mercedes SLR

Mitsubishi EVO

Pontiac GTO

All Porsche vehicles



Just so you know the tone of my post, I am not flaming at all, I would just like to know the basis for your opinion. Thanks!

I think the stock, from factory oil on the '05 is 50%-50%.

I'm getting close to 1k miles and was going to do my first oil change. I was going to switch to synthetic, but saw posts like this one saying to wait. I can not find any information on why this is other than other peoples postings saying its bad. I was going to use mobil 1, but cant find anything on their site saying not to. Couldnt really find anything on the web except on a website about amsol
http://www.a1lubricants.com/faq.html

They had this in the FAQ section.

Q:When can I put AMSOIL in my new car engine?

A: You can use AMSOIL right from the start. No need to wait for rings to seat or parts to wear in. They'll do that on their own. You should change the AMSOIL at the automaker's recommended drain intervals during the break-in period so the metal particles generated by engine break-in don't cause excessive engine wear

My Service Manager said they use a synthetic blend and that I should wait until 5000 miles before my first oil change.

Anyone actually read the owners manual ? I know I didn't maybe I should :-D
what does it say in there for first oil change interval?

Dino oil is good e'nuff for me, since I change it often. :-D Synthetic is not worth the extra cost to me.....and Consumer Reports has verified the same thing. :rolleyes: Consumer Reports did extensive testing on 'Taxi Cabs' (hardest cars on engines) w/ Synthetics vs. Dinos, and there was no extra lastability/protection noted between either...... :rolleyes: This is kinda like the mad craze after 'Zaino' products ($$$$$) compared to others.

Where did you get your information about switching back and forth, seizing the bearings, etc? I worked for a company in Cleveland who manufactured additive packages for most of the major brand oil companies. All oils contain defoamers and antiwear additives. The "regular" oil "soaks in" (ie. the antiwear additives attach to the surface of the metal) in both types, and both types contain defoamers to prevent foaming. If your information was correct about mixing synthetic and regular oil, then how could synthetic blends exist? We sure would be spinning alot of bearings, if that were the case. It sounds like a wive's tale...something that someone had happen to their car, and attributed it to mixing oils. As far as I know, you can mix synthetic with "regular" oil. And on a personal note, I've switched back and forth several times in my wife's A8 Audi with no spun bearings to date.

As far as a break in period is concerned, the owner's manual for my '03 focus svt recommended 10k before switching to synthetic. I don't know if it would be the same for the mustang, but it seems reasonable the interval would be greater than 1200 miles. If anything, I would be switching out the filter at 1200 miles, and leaving the oil for the time recommended in the owners manual. Good luck. :nice:

I just had my first oil change at 2200 miles. The dealer said 50/50 blend is reccommended

I switched to synthetic at 500 miles, no issues here.

Well I dont know about you all. I had it changed at dealer at 1000 miles, just to be cautious. They say it can go 5000 now before first. I said yah whatever. Had them change it. I will now wait for the 5000 before next one. I think you people that are changing 3 times within a 3000 period are just wasting your money. Let this puppy break in. Sure if you want to do the first early, but really no need, to jump the gun on the rest. These engines are built a lot better than the old days, and have great tolerances etc, bearings, rings, so your not going to find a lot of residue in your oil. Now that I have my 1000 its time to hit it. Good luck to you and your synthetic. Its overkill this early.

My dealer said because even though I wasnt at 3000 or 5000 miles yet, it had been 4 months since ford put the oil in, and so it should be changed. My first oil change was FREE from the dealer, so since they were changing out my gas tank, I had them go ahead and do the oil change with the 50-50 blend .

One of the primary reasons to wait till 10 k is that you want to give the seals in the motor time to break in, for some reason synthetic oils do not accomodate the seals very well when the car is new.

again wait till 10 k...good advice, i hope a few of you will take it... :bang:

My '94 Gt burns about 1qt every 3000 miles and had done
so since I bought it with 13000 miles on the ODO, it now has
150000+. I wouldn't worry too much about it, unless it
starts to get significantly worse. Most if not all manufactures
consider this type of use "normal".