Hi everyone, I have a 2014 XLT with the 5.0. Question....my manual claims that nothing is recommended to be done until I think it was 80000 miles, except oil changes. This can't be right. I have 13000 miles now and I've done two oil changes so far, and tire rotations. I asked the dealer and they told me the same as the manual. I'm used to doing from and rear diffs every 15000, transfer case every 25000, radiator every 50000, etc. I'm a former Chevy guy so this is my first Ford. What does everyone else do? I hate to twist their arm to service my truck but I will...what they're telling me and what I'm reading just doesn't seem true.

 

All (well... most) modern cars these days have 100k service intervals for the major components. Light trucks are no different.

Other than oil changes and tire rotations as scheduled or per OLM, the only addition is checking/changing your air filter every 30k. I did my filter at 25k just because I had one laying around already.

I will probably do plugs and coolant at 75k and transmission flush + axles at 100k for piece of mind. Not really needed though. Stick to whatever helps you rest easy.

There are severe duty schedules in the manual also if that is applicable to your usage.

 

WOW, that's amazing. Just wanted to be sure I wasn't missing anything. Another question, I have almost 15000 miles on my truck. I've changed the oil twice so far, every 5000 miles. The oil counter claims I still have 50% oil life. Does everyone keep going and change it when it says to? Or just change it every 5000, or 7000?

 

I change the oil my 2015 5.0 at 10,000 mile intervals, per the owners manual. Mobil1 5w-20.
I did the 1st change at 5,000 miles and since at 15K, 25K, 35K etc. I'm now at 63,000 miles.

 

I'm coming from a Dodge into my Ford and I was doing the rear and front Diff's every 30K KMS and the Transfer Case every 50K Kms.....crazy eh!
I'm liking thee new maintenance schedules!


The only thing on the Diff's I would suggest, and I think it's in the manual as well, is if you are in water frequently ( ie heavy off roading - cross streams, or launching boats) you may want to do your Diff's more frequently.

 

It depends on the service level of your truck. Severe duty requires more frequent fluid changes. Normal duty is what everyone is mentioning here. Check your service manual for the detail.,

 

to clarify the chart posted above, it says when to "expect" the oil change reminder.

the truck is determining the severity of your vehicle use for you. that is to say if has been 3000 miles since your last oil change and you get the oil change reminder, then you are working the snot out of it. likewise, if your reminder isn't coming on for 10,000 miles, then you aren't working it very hard.

what that chart is really trying to say is not to panic if your reminder isn't coming on every 3,000 miles as per the industry norm.

 

Agreed...that's what the OLM is for...it takes the guess work out.


Now we get into what "type" - Conventional, Semi or Full Syn of oil to run that can go the distance under those intervals.

 

anything oil that carries the correct ford certification number will satisfy the requirements of the OLM. that number should be listed in your owner's manual and on the bottle of oil that you purchase.


pretty much any name brand conventional or syn blend oil will, in all likelihood, meet ford's requirements.


motorcraft oil is a syn blend, but there are some conventionals that meet the requirement as well. how? they are also, in most cases, a blend of group 3 and group 2 oils, which would allow them to market as a syn blend if they wanted to. but they also have a syn blend product (probably with more group 3 base) which they can market as a syn blend and charge more money.


I don't think it is possible for an oil to meet the current SN certification without at least some group 3 base stock, whether they say so on the bottle or not.

 

For those extended 10,000M/16,000KM intervals, I go Full Syn.

 

The purpose of posting the chart was to indicate that your use of the truck and conditions dictate when to change oil, which is what I understood was the OP question.
If you use your truck for an around town "soccer mom/dad" vehicle, changing oil every 3,000 miles is a waste of money. Time and technology has changed. The local stealership puts a next oil change due at 5,000 miles. If it is a work truck it should be at minimum 5,000 miles. Light use can go as high as 7,500 between oil changes.

 

absolutely correct. but the purpose of the chart is to inform the driver that the vehicle is determining what type of use you fall under for you.


the stealerships should be getting out of the habit of posting ANY mileage recommendations on their little stickers. it should simply say "follow the oil life meter" or something of that effect.


under consistently light usage, the OLM will tell you to change no sooner than 7500 and up to 10,000.... according to the chart, anyway. if you are working the truck, the reminder will come on sooner. the worse the conditions, the sooner the reminder.


my point being that the driver no longer needs to decide which category he falls into. the OLM does that for you now.


sidebar ... not everyone feels comfortable following the OLM. I get that, but ford's recommendation is to follow the OLM. they are confident enough in it to follow it.

 

I've read so much that head spins at times. It seems that based on my readings that cam phasers are deeply affected by dump cycles as well as timing chain stretch. Now we're operating turbos to boot and Ford still says to follow the OLM and dump as high as 10K miles.

I had no issue with this dump cycle on my 2004 4.6L or my 1999 3.0L Fords. I have strong reservations now but that's just me. I'm in no way trying to convince or fear monger anyone. Ford knows better than I do but Ford doesn't know my comfort level.

The manual on my 2011 truck also states that if the OLM fails, default back to a 5K dump cycle. So, I dump between 5500-6500 miles. At best according to the OLM, I'm only getting 65% use out of the oil. Doesn't seem like much when you put it in words but as long as the oil is cheap................

 

Raise your comfort level, have some oil analyzed at your next change. I did a 10,000 mile cycle on a 2005 Tundra. A vehicle that has a shorter recommended cycle.....7500 I think. At 10,000 miles Blackstone said the oil still had a good additive package and was in great shape otherwise too.