This is my First Diesel, and let me tell you, I absolutely LOVE it. I am so glad I bought the Ford over the Chevy, it is hard to get out of my truck at the end of the day. It will be two weeks this monday since I bought it, and I just turned 700 miles last night. I drive about 22-24 miles to work one way and the wife and I have left our Escalade parked last weekend and so far last night this weekend. I know this is part of getting a new vehicle, but I don't remember having that new vehicle "rush" for so long with anything else I have ever bought. By the way, I have not had the first problem with the truck, we have had some really cold mornings and it started just fine. I THINK the truck was manufactured at the end of December, but I haven't looked through all the details on how you tell motor year/version. The dealership had the truck on their lot for a couple of weeks before I bought it, according to the salesman. I have the Lariat package, but do not have the glove box light. I do have a hood light, but if I am assuming correctly, I do NOT have a hood blanket. I hope this helps.

Anyway, on to my questions: I have read in the manual not to pull a trailer for the first 500 miles, which I have not, but it says to Vary your speed until the truck has a chance to break in (the first 1,000) miles. My question is, do you all think I should change my oil the first time at or around 1,000 miles to get the "break in oil" out of the engine?? I was planning on doing it for a couple of reasons, I read on this site somewhere that the truck comes from the factory with 5W-30 oil and the manual does say not to pull anything unless you have 15w-40. I am planning on pulling my 28' powerboat in two weeks.

I am planning on running Shell Rotella-T oil. My brother had a cummins a few years ago and that is all he ran and he sold the truck with 280,000 miles on it without the first sign of engine trouble and the guy he sold it to is still running it, pulling his horse-trailer, he has to have over 300,000 miles on it easy.

Do I need to stop with the engine oil and filter, or do I need to change the transmission and differential oil as well due to the break-in. The manual says not to, but it also says you can go either 5,000 or 7,500 miles before the first oil change and I do not believe I would do that with this truck.

PARTS: I found the Rotella oil at Wal-Mart for $37.00 a case (6 gallons). Where in the world besides the Ford garage, can I get a Darn oil filter for this thing? AND do I NEED to use a Ford oil filter?

I will do all periodic maintenance myself, the only time this thing will go to a dealership is for a Major Mechanical repair, so I do not plan on ever going to the Dealership (knock on wood)

This site is great....I will say I am sorry to those having problems with their truck, and I realize I am not out of the woods yet as I only have 700 miles on this rig, but it is looking good so far. These things are totally awesome.

By the way, I have absolutely the WORST conditions driving for fuel economy.....The way I go to work, you get out on the road, accelerate to about 50 MPH, drive that for about 30 sec to 2 min. then its on the breaks, back on the pedal, back to the breaks, back on the pedal....you get the idea. Where I am going with this is I have taken it easy on the truck, with the occasional goose after 500 miles to let the motor run High RPM BRIEFLY and am averaging 16 MPG (actually 15.96.....) doing the calculating by hand. That is after 3 times fueling going to and from work. The first time was near 19, but that was when I brought the truck home from the dealer mostly highway at 60 mph so I threw that figure out when getting the average.

 

advanceauto parts can get the oil filter overnight motorcraft 2016 for 19.95

 

It sure can't hurt to change the oil at 1000 miles. I usually change at 500 miles on a new engine. Napa and most other parts stores now have the oil filters. Either Rotella T or Delo 400 seem to work well in the PSD. I don't think I'd worry about the diffs or tranny's yet. You might also comsider sending the oil out for analysis. It will give you a baseline reading and tell you how the engine is wearing and breaking in. It only costs $20. I wish I had done it on the first 2 changes, but the dealer did them for free and I just flat forgot to get samples.

 

where do you send the oil to get it checked ?

 

There are several labs out there, but I use Blackstone. They charge $20 for a complete analysis. Look them up on the internet and they have an e-mail form to request test kits. You just fill the container and mail it in.

 

Nothing like a 6.0 PowerStroke to put a smile on your face

 

Personally, I changed oil at 3,000 miles, 6,000 miles and 12,000 miles (the 12,000 was the 15,000 mile service).

If you are planning on pulling your trailer and temps are warming up, I would switch to the 15-40 weight oil before hand. I know the manual says not for the first 500 miles, but from my experience, I have always waited until 3,000 (first complete change) and to allow all parts to settle. I have no basis for this, but I personally feel that at 500 miles, the engine is NOT broken in yet!!!

Double check on the oil filter issue. I have read on other posts where "compatible" oil filters do not offer the same "filtration" as the Motorcraft.... or the company (forgot name) that makes them for Ford. Check with a local International dealer, they will have them as well (for less I have read)!!!

Good luck,