Talking to brother the other day about oil changes. He has a '12 F250 with the 6.7. I asked him how he changes his oil, does he use the computer on the truck, sticker on the window, look at the oil....so on. He did state that the mech at the dealer swore by the computer...when it says change the oil he changes the oil. What indicator does everyone else use? He primarily drives city and almost always pulls a small landscaping trailer.

 

I use the odometer. I use the following routine every 7500 miles:

1. Change the oil and filter.
2. Log the change into the Ford Owners website with actual mileage
3. Save all receipts for oil (Rotella T6) and filters (FL2015) into my vehicle folder/binder in my garage
4. Take the rig to whatever tireshop or big-box automotive retailer is offering a special on balance/rotation of tires.
5. Log the balance/rotation into the Ford Owners Website.
6. Save that receipt for the balance/rotation into my vehicle folder/binder in my garage
7. Back-up the content on the Ford Owners website to Excel file (I had 80+ entries on that site disappear due to technical issues when I was trying to sell/Trade-in my F-150)
8. Utilize ethanol, hops and barley additive as required.

That's it in a nutshell.

 

Bridge - can you expand more on your usage of the Ford site - sounds like an excellent idea

 

The Ford Owners website shows all service performed by the dealer (albeit with limited details) and allows owners to enter any maintenance or service performed at places other than the dealer (such as your driveway). It allows categorization of the service however, you can't filter or easily export content other than to do a cut n paste. I use it because it allows me to see what all I've done maintenance wise and I also add all upgrades, tire changes...pretty much anything...to the maintenance history. It also allows you to track how much everything cost.

I figure if I can see what the dealer has done then they and the Ford Mother ship can see what I've done as well just in case there is any need to provide documentation of service. It would be nice if they allowed scanned receipts to be uploaded to routine maintenance instances as well.
Official Ford Owner Site | Schedule Vehicle Maintenance, Get Tips, Advice & Coupons

 

I also enter my data at Ford but I use the computer to tell me when. Usually ends up being around 7500 miles.

 

I change mine every 6K with synthetic and rotate tires at same time.

 

Thank you for the useful information and link - will definitely use

 

I have used the ford owners website since 2004 when I found out about it. Well worth it.

I once had to have a repair and the dealer wanted proof of maintance. I told him to go there and that was the one and only time he ever asked that question.

 

I change the oil when the truck tells me too. Usually around 7500 mile interval as others have stated. In my opinion, anything other than following the computer is a waste of money. These engines don't have a tendency to make oil or burn up the oil so it's a pretty safe strategy that saves money and resources.

If you just have to use a 5,000 mile interval that's fine but it goes against the intended engineering parameters set by ford which does not make sense to me. We're all wired different though, no judgement from me otherwise.

 

Joel, what's your guess on idle time within an oil change for your truck?
I'm not talking about what the computer says but instead getting fuel, eating, etc..

 

Change oil, filter, rotate tires every 5K miles; old habit die hard. This is my third Ford diesel and have always done so.

 

Every 5000 miles i change my oil and filter. I just watch the sticker and odometer when I am in my truck. I make sure I do not go beyond the maint minder. I have been told if you did have a warranty claim that Ford will check to see if the oil ever went beyond the oil life in the computer.

 

On my '02 7.3 I changed oil and filter religiously every 5K.
On the new '12 6.7 I'll look at it at 5K and probably go 7.5K like most guys on here. I sent the Rotella T to Blackstone on the 7.3 with 5K on it and 90K on the truck and they said it could have went much longer so the T6 being synthetic should go to 7.5K at least.

 

I am planning to fall into the 5k oil change and rotate camp

Will also probably add fuel filters

Question on the oil life minder - if you change your oil more frequently does the system "know" or do you need to reset?

 

You need to reset it. Same with fuel filter change.