Having been out of work due to back surgery for 8 months now I haven't had the financial or physical ability to get my oil changed in my 08 5.4L F350. The oil was changed in august and since I have out about 7500 miles on it. I only plowed my driveway, not commercially this year and only towed my new (1999) expedition 3 times. The truck is approaching 100k miles and I've been thinking about oil diagnoses. I will be changing the oil in the next 3 weeks and am wondering if I should have this oil checked or wait until the next change and who should I have do it. Any input would be very helpful.

The oil was 7qts of motorcraft 5w20 and a FL820-S filter

 

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Site sponsor aside what do these tests actually tell you and are they worth anything

 

Here's an example for you, this is the last one I did on my wife's Sienna:

 

So is there any point at the mileage I'm at.

 

With limited funds I would just change the oil more often with, "The oil was 7qts of motorcraft 5w20 and a FL820-S filter". Using the right stuff just do it more often as you have an engine that is sensitive to regular maintenance.

 

I'll be back to work in two weeks so funds will be back soon. I usually go 5000 on my oil. Unfortunately with a triple lumbar fusion climbing under the truck wasn't happening

 

Be careful CB.

 

Roger that. Unfortunately thus injury is the reason my service only went to 2013. I was a lifer for sure. Very disappointing.

This make maneuvering around the truck a little more difficult these days

 

Thank you for your service!

 

You are very welcome. Proud to have done so

 

Personally I don't see the point of it at any mileage. Use good oil, change it regularly and save your money.

 

I disagree. It's about the engine just as much as it is about the oil.

For example, if you have an air filtration problem such as an unsealed airbox or bad air filter the first sign you'll notice will be a misfire caused by low compression after your cylinder walls are scored. If you have a turbocharged engine you may be notified before that when you dust the turbo, possibly in time to save the engine. Of course if you run oil analysis, you'll be alerted with the high silicon count in the oil which almost always means a filtration problem. That very well could alert you in time to save your engine.

Or if you have a small coolant leak into the oil, say from an oil cooler starting to fail. We all know that oil looking like a chocolate milkshake means contamination, but what about the small leaks that don't put that much into the oil? You may never notice until the leak gets severe enough to dump a high volume of coolant into your oil, and that can also kill your engine. An oil analysis will detect trace amounts of antifreeze and give you some early warning that all is not right with your engine.

Lots of folks get concerned that the specified oil or maintenance interval by the manufacturer is inadequate for their situation. An example of this would be the UOA I posted above, you'll notice that it was done at a 10,000 mile interval. The oil was doing its job just fine, wear metals were low, and they even suggested I could go farther on my next oil change. How many folks do you know that, out of ignorance, change their oil ever 3,000 miles insisting that's whats best for their engine? Actual data, like I posted above, demonstrates otherwise for my engine. And this thing requires full synthetic oil so a DIY oil change is $50. This report gives me ample proof that I don't need to waste $100 in oil every ten thousand miles.

There are LOTS of reasons to do a UOA.

 

Personally I do mine every 3,000 miles because I'm OCD about it.

My other half drives a 2010 Pruis, the oil change interval was increased to 10,000 miles by Toyota.

If using a high quality oil and filter without an Oil analysis 5k is a perfectly normal service interval.

 

Tom,
I don't think either of us is right or wrong, we just have different views on it. I change my oil every 5,000 miles and I am 100% certain it could go thousands of miles more. I would just rather my money on fresh oil/filter than for someone to tell me it can last longer. I change my air filter every 20,000 miles and I use a bead of filter sealant on it to catch any dust that might get through a bad seal. I also check behind the filter for any dust, so I will see a bad seal before a uoa will. I check my coolant(full pretrip inspection) at least once a week and have never been a drop low and I will see a leak there before a uoa too. A good pretrip inspection only takes about 10 minutes and will spot just about any problem before it turns into something major. Most people just don't bother popping the hood until something actually goes wrong.