I read somewhere that the new F150s have a new oil cooler and oil change indicator that stretches the oil change interval from the usual 3K miles to 10K miles. Has anyone else heard about that or actually gone by this? It sounds like a bad idea to me personally but if it was true that would save lots of money on maintenance over time.

 

"The usual 3k" has really been 5k, 6k, or 7.5k for many, many years now. Oils are much better, engines are way tighter, and 3k changes have only been promoted by people who sell and profit from oil changes....

Oil change intervals in Europe have been 10k plus for many, many years. I believe that even Porsche and BMW have used 15k range change intervals.

George

 

Ford actually has a play on words in the owner's guide. They don't specifically state that 10k in the drain interval, they say up to 10K or one year. It's fairly ambiguous so I asked my dealer's service department about that yesterday.

And their response was that the manual is written to satisfy all needs across the country regarding weather, altitude, etc.

Naturally he recommended that I drain every 5K. So I says, why 5K and not 6K? Why not 5239 miles as opposed to 5000 miles? He figured I was being a smart a$$ and I was so he refused to answer.

I'll drain between 5K and 7.5K.

 

HAHA! Sounds like something I would do. Ive always done 3k and no more than 3.5k as instructed by my Dad, He sold Fords for 30 years, but hes been out of the game 5 years and a lot of things change. I think I may bump my interval up to 5K based on what Ive been hearing.

 

Myself I'm having my oil tested at Blackstone for the first number of changes. Each time I'm increasing the interval just to see if I can achieve something close to every 10K while still showing good wear characteristics as well as oil additive condition. I'm comparing the oil change data against the oil life indicator on my 11. The engineer in me says let's see what the data shows before I pass judgement.

 

I spent over 35 years hooked on 3k mile oil changes.

With the info on the Internet on oils and UOI's (even though I have never had one of these done), it's clear to me that with tight engines, longer intervals are just fine. I'm doing 5-6k on regular or semi-syn oil, and ~7-7.5k on full syn and am comfortable with that. Come to think of it, these are pretty much the factory intervals on my cars and van.

George

George

 

My 01 5.4L was recommended @ 5K intervals in the owners manual under normal conditions.
I say 10K is pushing it, especially for people who do not check their oil as they should. With 3K intervals, it is less apt to run dry on oil than it would at 10K if it is using a little oil.
I would feel comfortable at 5K, but no more. My personal preference.

 

I'm sticking with the 7,500 mile intervals that are recommended for my truck, I mean I have 7 quarts of oil in my pan, more than the typical 5 qts. I run a full synthetic. In my wife's subaru, her car goes through hell and UOI has shown that her car can hit 10,000 miles easy with the harsh drive cycle she has. So given any condition I'm comfy with 7,500 miles on my truck and I'll stick to it to satisfy Ford's warranty requirements.

 

If you use a great oil like Motorcraft or a synthetic I would say 10,000 miles isn't out of the question. With that said it really depends on your personal driving habits and enviroment. If I lived on a dusty road in the country no way I would go past 5000. Or heavy stop and go driving. Bottom line these new trucks have a smart oil sensor I would go by that. If it says at 7500 miles to change oil I would listen. IMHO oil is one of the cheapest things you can do for you vehicle to make it last. With the new technology oils 3000 miles is way excessive. I do 5000 miles on most of my vehicles. The oil isn't worn out. But I like clean oil to keep the engine clean.

 

Huh? That doesn't measure the oil viscosity or anything, its just a mileage thing that you can adjust based on % of 7500 miles I believe- I would have to verify the 7500 mileage number, but thats all that is. I could be wrong but I don't think I am.

 

Exactly. There is no "smart oil sensor". It's based off time and mileage.

 

You guys are right for the 09-10s. But for the 11s it does keep track of 'other' engine parameters.

Intelligent Oil-Life Monitor (IOLM) | FLMOwner.com

 

Could not agree more. Provide clean oil and clean air, an engine will last a long time.

 

I guess the '11s monitor more parameters than the previous MY's so I apologize. I stand partially corrected

 

I'm going on 7500 mile intervals on Mobil 1 and factory filters. My truck is used for running service calls. I start and stop all day and with traffic in Austin it's some of the worst driving conditions.. You guys think that 7500 is good or should I go 5000? Also I was reading about the Mustang 5.0 engine not having an EGR is this true on the 5.0 for our trucks too, if so wouldn't that keep the oil cleaner too?