So I just put the synthetic rotella in my truck with a new motorcraft filter. I was wondering if you guys could tell me how long i can go before changing it again. I only use the truck as a daily driver in town right now and do not do much towing any suggestions?

 

I would say just keep changing it at the same intervals as before especially if you are just driving in town the stop and go stuff if you ask me is no different than pulling a load it is just as hard on the oil maybe even worse . JMHO

 

I've gone as far as 26,000 on Mobil synthetics with a bypass filter and oil reports from Blackstone. It was still good at the last report but I changed it because I lost a turbo and was afraid I'd contaminated the oil. I replaced it with synthetic Rotella because it was cheaper and easier to get (walmart) After several oil reports at 12-15 thousand that said the oil was still good I just started changing it once a year no matter what the mileage is.

 

Send a sample to Blackstone labs after 3k and see what they have to say. I sent them a sample of dino rotella after 4k and there tests showed the oil was good for many more miles and almost all of my driving is stop and go short runs.

 

I agree, the only real way to tell how long you can run oil is to have it test periodically.

 

And they dont just test to tell how much longer you can run your oil. They will let you know if there are other things you might need to keep a eye on or repair. Well worth the few dollars they charge.

 

Who do you guys recommend for a good bypass filter? How hard are they to install and how much do they run?

 

I use the FS2500, its around $400 and I go 15K between oil changes of Rotella.

 

That reminds me did you ever find out why there was metal chips on your oil drain plug?

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/7...tal-chips.html

 

No, never looked into it. It happened after I replaced the fuel pump,rebuilt turbo and had the up pipes off. I am thinking that may had something to do with it. The truck seems to be fine so I am just going to wait till I have about 3k on the new oil then I change it send a sample out and hope every thing is ok.

 

I run the EPS-20 from Oil Guard (site sponsor) $272.46 here: OilGuard Online Shopping: OilGuard and Racor Products For Ford 7.3L Diesel

It comes with everything that you need to mount it. I had to make a bracket mount to move it out from the frame some to mount it the way that I wanted it, but other than that everything else was there and it was easy to install, very good instructions. Works good and has extended my oil change intervals by 3 to 4 times. It has deffinately paid for itself.

There are alot of other units out there also, but I don't have any experience with them, maybe some others will lend their advice.