eci

Any opinions?

Thunder Road

Every one will tell you todays engines use better materials, need less break in etc etc.
I would wait till 10000, because I want the engine parts to be completely broken in, and they need a little more friction from dino oil to do that. No way would I consider it at 500. Just ones guys opinion

eci

Point taken, thanks. How about intervals? Should I still change at 500, but with a high quality "real" oil? Brand recommendations? I haven't used non synthetic in years! My 5.0 has been on Valvoline full synthetic since 1993.

Glenn

after the first oil change at 1000 to 1500 miles mobil one every 8 to 10k miles

touring

to see if there were any metal shaving,which there were and i'm glad i did it. next one will be at 500 then 1k

Tiberius1701

This is just an opinion from the service department/warranty view. If you are changing your oil on a regular basis (3000 miles between services) using synthetic may be a waste of money-If you are considering the 8-10k Mobil 1 intervals wait until your warranty has lapsed-if you have an engine failure and you cannot furnish supporting documents that adhere to Ford's minimum requirements, you risk having warranty repairs denied. This is not a bashing of Mobil 1 but just the facts from where I stand. Hope this helps.

sts767

While we are talking about oil changes does anyone who drives their car low mileage change it on a time interval instead of a set mileage. I had a BMW that only recommended oil changes every 15K, but it also said in the manual you should change it minimum of once a year. I was only putting like 5K miles per year on it so I went with the once a year plan. Maintenance was included so it was free to me but had I been paying for it I don't know if the timetable oil change would have been nessecary. Any thoughts because my Mustang probably will only see 3-4K per year and with synthetic oils that could leave me at about 1 oil change every three years.

69stang2

I had my Gt change at 500 and 1000 miles at the dealer using the synthetic blend (OEM) oil. I have 1100 mile on it now and will go to mobil one at 1500 mile then every 3k miles there after.

I did this same routine with my previous 06 V-6.
The severice department repeatly told me that these oil changes were unnecessary and I was wasting my money. Engines wear a LOT when breaking in, where do all of the small metal particles go, oil filter....I hope so but I am not chancing that the filter gets enough restriction that the filt,er goes into by pass mode and send unfiltered oil to your bearings.....

Oil is cheap compared to engine rebuilds. If this oil change regement gives me 20k extra mile then great if not then at least I have peace of mind that my engine was at leasted protected.

MrLatte

Is there anything special in the oil that comes from the factory for break in? In other words, does it NEED to stay in there a certain number of miles? Or does it come from the factory with Motorcraft 5W20?

RKNMACH

I did the first oil and filter change @ 250 mi and now do them both every 2,500 miles. My 92 Explorer has over 270,000 miles on it and has never had an engine problem and doesn't burn oil - I used the same schedule.

It's whatever makes you feel good...

Badsnke98

Very low mileage once a year is fine, not my only my opinion but someone's that has a lot more engine knowledge that me.

Daily driven, 5K is fine. These are not the engines of yesteryear that lasted longer with 2K oil changes.

Today's engines have very close tolerances, there is no real break in to speak of and no pieces of metal in your oil pan. If there are you have a much bigger problem that just an oil change.

The Motorcraft Semi-Syn is all this engine requires for normal use and intervals. Again, not my only my opinion but someone's that has a lot more of this engine knowledge that me.

If you like full Syntenic, use after first 5K, its only use is longer intervals. If you want to change often don't waste the money.

Remember the oil company's want to sell you all the oil they can at the highest price. While at the same they don't mind raising the price claiming there is a shortage.

Thunder Road

I change on time instead of miles, Ive had my car 16 mos, only 5700 miles. I changed at 8 months (25xx miles) and just had the second change about a month ago.

Keystone

Something to keep in mind here is how they are able to obtain that 15K interval. 1) is fully synthetic from the factory. 2) is a big a$$ oil pan. I too had a BMW (2001 325Ci) and the first time I changed the oil it just about overflowed the drain pan. The car required 7 quarts for a 2.5 liter engine. The theory here is more oil = lower concentration of contaminents.

What it really comes down to is why your milage is so low. If it's because you have a very short drive to work then absolutely change it frequently. short trips are hell on an engine, especially in cold weather. On the other hand, if it's because you only drive it once and a while, then having it sit unused in your garage isn't hurting a thing and you can get away with the longer intervals.

principalpony

Keystone hit the nail on the head about low mileage and time. Short trips are hell on an engine - it's the cold-start, incomplete warm-up, then cool down; then do it over and over, day after day = sludge and lots of wear and tear. You need to drive at least 7 miles to achieve a complete warm up. If your daily driving is less than that, you need to change it more often or take it on a little trip of 30 minutes @ 60+ mph more each week. Lots of stop & go traffic is also bad news. Take it on a cruise/road trip and have fun!

Just my 2 cents worth.

06GTwJUICE

I drive 14.5 miles to work one way... but it takes over an hour to go that 14.5 miles. I might not have that much mileage on my car each week, but it's pure hell sitting in traffic idleing along.

I'm going to change my oil next weekend as I've just passed the 1,000 mile mark and have a few quarts of Royal Purple to drop in... I hate changing oil as I have no real place to change it except a friends house or the quickie lube.. and I dont trust them.

my thoughts/opinion...

3,000 miles with regular motor oil
5-6,000 with synthetic

Oil is cheap like someone said, even synthetic when it compares to an engine rebuilt/fresh motor...

94tbird

i waited till 10k miles. didnt take long at all haha. i switched to mobil 1 and change every 3k miles

OKCMustangGT

Changed at 250 Miles stayed with Motorcraft Synthetic Blend.
Changed at 1,000 Miles switched to Mobil1 Synthetic.
Changed at 5,000 Miles stayed with Mobil1 Synthetic
I will change mine every 5,000 miles and use Mobil1 Synthetic for the life of the car.

PS When I had the oil changed the last time, the tech said the oil looked like I had just put it in the car.

principalpony

My dealer offers $9.95 oil changes for life when you buy a new or used car from them. I had mine changed at 1k miles, and at every 3k since then. Our next one will be 10k miles and I may switch to synthetic then and go 4-5k between changes. My decision on whether to go synthetic or not will probably be on the cost. One issue I've heard of (and experienced) on switching from regular (dino) oil to synthetic is that the dino oil does cause a swelling effect on some gaskets and seals - switching to synthetic causes the swelling to go away, resulting in some leakage. I don't know how long it takes for the dino oil to create all that swelling, but I do know that when I bought my 95 gt with 35k miles on it, when I switched to synthetic, it started to leak (just a minor drip). If I did a blended oil or back to straight dino, no leak. Being that no blended oil you purchase ever tells you what the % is on their blends (50/50 or ???) I always did my own - 4 qt synthetic & 1 qt dino. Even with that ratio, I didn't have the leak again.

So now I suppose someone will take issue and say I must be crazy, but that is what I learned when I first noticed the leak, and that's how I took care of the problem.

06GTwJUICE

I saw that the oil used from the factory was synthetic, so I had no problem switching to synthetic Royal Purple this morning.



jake

69stang2

I thought the oil from the factory was a synthetic Blend. Motorcraft