Ok, I finally had my 06 long enough in my posession to get it into a reputable shop and have all of the fluids changed. The dealer had previously done the brake fluid and coolant. So this was the diffs, tranny, oil and transfer case. Well, the bill came to $977 Cdn. Is that crazy or what? And that's with regular dino oil, not synthetic. They said that an oil change will be around $200 by itself. I checked around a little and the lowest price for an oil change in town was $177. What are you guys paying in the states? A gallon jug of Rotella synthetic would set me back about $40.00 if I bought it myself. This is nuts - the amount of miles I put on, I need to do an oil change every month.

 

Doing it yourself whould not only save you BIG bucks, it would also prob save you TIME and get you back on the road faster! Just save the receipts for the oil etc and stuff 'em in the side pocket for any warranty issues where you have to prove the work was done.

 

Yup, basic dino oil change and fuel filters at the dealer was approaching $300, so, I am doing all my own now and buying filters and synthetic oil. I keep a good schedule and all reciepts for the filters and oils ect. When I took my 2000 in for all its 100,000 Km stuff, it was a 1200 bill and that was a 5.4. Only thing I am toying with is taking to an oil change place to do the tranny complete refill and filter, they quoted me just under $300 including all Mercon SP. So, it might be worth it becuase getting that external filter off is a &*()*&^%$^&.

 

$75.00 for oil and filters to do myself. If you need to change the oil every month I wouldnt waste the money on syn. just use a good brand of dino.

 

Just for reference 1 gal. Rotello syn. at Walmart here is 19 bucks + tax.

 

You have to remember the $$$ exchange rate. $19.00 USD is $23.31 CAD. Advice for our fellow Canadians, run for the border. If you have an International Dealer in Canada, drop by and get your filters through them instead of Ford.

IH Oil Filter - 1840752C91
IH Fuel Filter - 18471-70C93

Pretty stiff dropping $977.00 CAD for fluids, I have the fridge stocked with cold beer & a shop if want to visit.

 

I haven't seen any diesel synthetic here for under $36. The price you are giving for synthetic oil is what we pay for a jug of regular dino oil. A jug of 5W30 Quaker State for your car will run you $23. I think I'll only run synthetic in the winter, considering it gets to -40 here, (yup, celsius and farenheit are the same at that temp). The local 6 L shop also recommends using 10W30 year round. What's everybody else using? Anybody from Alberta? I don't think I'd even consider using 15W40. Way too think at start up - maybe in Texas, but not here.

 

You could probably order it online from somewhere here in the states. Just have them ship it by the case. Hell if you want I will ship you some, might be cheaper if you can find somewhere close to the border though.

In all reality though the 1k you dropped isn't too bad. It's quite a bit of work to change all those fluids. I spent $1500 or so changing all the fluids on a 06 F450 at the ford dealership a few months ago. Just didn't have time to change them myself

 

I am in northern BC and my dealer was the same way, they insisted on 10w30 and were quite cranky in the early days about it. They recomended 10w30 all year round, because of the starting temps in the norht. I insisted on getting 15w40 in the spring because i am pulling my trailer in the summer and where I go, praries, okanogan, it is not unusual to be pulling in 40+ C weather. Their real concern in the lighter oil necessary at lower temps, especially in winter. Thats why i switched to 5w40 synthetic all year. I have the easier cold starting, and the towing protection of the 40 weight. But, it is expensive, am using Delo CJ4 rated 5w40. I am going 7500 Km per change, which is what the dealer moved to a while back with dino, initially they were wanting to change at 5000 Km for heavy service. I get all my filters from International, my brothers a parts guy. So I am geting them about as cheap as they can be had, doing the changes myself. I think basically for the price of a dealer oil change, doing it myself, with cost of oil and filter, I am paying for the synthetic.

 

I too am running 5-40 year round in both trucks. Mobil delvac 1 ESP at 7500 km oci,a 20 liter jug is 190 bucks.My truck loves the stuff. Here in canmore the dealer runs 10-30 year round but like mhoefer I think it's to thin for summer hauling.I also get filters at international. Mobil Delvac 1 ESP 5W-40

 

When we were hitting the -40 mark this last winter a bunch of 6L snapped some type of shaft in the injector pump. The dealership and the local 6L shop say it was because people were doing the old school 15W40 thing. I can't believe people actually run that stuff in the winter. I would love to run 5W40 synthetic all year long, but that's $2400 just in oil for the year. I think I'm only going to run the synthetic in the winter. I go camping in Drumheller every year. Last time it was +39 there. I'll make sure to be running the 15W40 then.

 

I can't complain about the cost of maintenence. I need my diesel. There are alot of folks that own diesels that keep them because its the Kewl thing to drive. If its too expensive, it may be time to to decide if you really need a diesel. The gas motors are cheaper to maintain....they just dont work hard enough for me.

 

I don't keep my truck because it's the "Kewl" thing to drive. I drive it because of the work I do (+60,000km per year). "If it's too expensive" - no it's simple economics. I'm not going to get into the gas vs. diesel arguement, I own both. Yes the diesel does pull better and gets better mileage, but simply talking economics, it's not $100-200 per month better. Especially when one considers the generally higher repair costs when something does break and the higher purchase price. I don't even pay for the oil changes out of my own pocket. The only thing I pay for are tires and major mechanical failures - hence the 300,000 KM warranty. But I'm a business man and have a vested interest in the company I work for. If you work your truck, then you should realize that as well. It does bother me when the maintenance costs for this 1 ton truck are higher than the ones for a 6500 Kodiak or Topkick. My V10 still tows 10,000 lbs loads and it has 379000KM on it. It always got and still gets synthetic.

 

A word of caution. If you have a warranty, you need to get it in writting from the dealer that it is okay to change your own oil. I've read many horror stories of how the warranty is void if it isn't a dealer or jiffy lube type place that does it. Yeah many owners can do a much better job. You just need to make sure.

 

I've heard similar stories. I do believe that the problem there lies more in the documentation than it does with who performed the work. Always keep your receipts and keep some kind of mileage log as to when the work was performed.

I will be doing my own services, time permitting. If I can't, I've got a pretty good relationship with both the local lube shop and the local 6L shop. The lube shop is run by the fiance of one of my employees, the 6L shop by an investor in my business. I refuse to go to the local dealership though. To say that the service there is terrible is an understatement. Plus they have a one month wait to have their 6L tech work on it. The 6L shop has four techs that have passed the Ford requirements.