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Old Apr 23, 2007 | 09:19 AM
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Oil Change

I bought a 2002 7.3 F250 Powerstroke a few weeks ago. I am new to the diesel motors so this will sound stupid I am sure.

I want to do the oil changes my self. I would appreciate any advice on filter type, which oil I should use, and any other comments you would care to make. I like to do things economically, but not at the sacrifice of quality. Are there any procedures that differ significantly from gas engines?

Thanks in advance for your advice.
 
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Old Apr 23, 2007 | 09:32 AM
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I use Rotella Syn & Motorcraft filters. The only thing that's really different is that you need to fill the filter with oil before putting it on...

Other than that, go check out Guzzle's page on common mods & maintenance:
http://guzzle.rbmicro.com/index.html

It's the best place for a quick lowdown on what & how to do the common stuff.

Joe
 
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Old Apr 23, 2007 | 09:53 AM
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Regarding oil and filtration, you'll find many opinions about type, weight, intervals between changes, and brands for both filters and oil. What I've observed, as best I can remember off the top of my head is:

High reputation Filters: Donaldson, Racor, Motorcraft, Amsoil, OilGuard and some others. - bypass filtration is gaining popularity.

High reputation oils: Schaeffers, Redline, Rotella, Delo, Amsoil, Mobil, and possibly a couple of others.

Oil type: A lot of people are running either full synthetic or syn-blends. A good portion of folks are getting good results with conventional dino.

Oil Weight: 15w40 is most popular, although a lot of people are moving to 5w40 for either winter-only or year-round application.

Oil Change Intervals: A lot of people are running extended oil change intervals, but are doing so by also obtaining used oil analysis from a mail-in lab (several different labs available).

There is an Oil & Lubrication forum under the Miscellanous section of FTE ( https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/forum70/ ), and another excellent site for digging deeper in the oil issues is www.bobistheoilguy.com
 
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Old Apr 23, 2007 | 09:57 AM
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Also remember it takes 15 qt's of oil , I was also new to Diesel's and I couldnt beleave my eye's when I had my oil changed and saw the invoice.
 
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Old Apr 23, 2007 | 11:37 AM
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What is considered reasonable milage for an oil change? I am going to use the Rotella 15w40. I am 60% light duty highway miles, 40% towing a fifth wheel.

Also I am not familiar with the lab analysis of motor oil. What does this tell you about the motor?

Thanks all for the info. This site is a godsend for a gearhead wantabe such as myself.
 
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Old Apr 23, 2007 | 11:58 AM
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WELCOME to FTE!!



3-18K, depending on good results from oil analysis.

Extended drain intervals is also referred to as extended OCI's (extended oil cahgne intervals).

Analysis (UOA's for used oil analysis) checks fr enine component wear and oil condition based on metals and other components in the oil. The lab also checks for fuel contamination, coolant contamination, silica contamination (from bad air filter), oil "additive package" condition, oil viscosity, oil flash temperature, etc.

Blackstone is probably the most popular lab mentioned on this site. Amsoil adn Oilguard both provide these services, btu I was not satisfied with my OilGuard analsys and have stayed with Blackstone. Sometimes local lube shops offer these services, btu I, personally, would never let a fox guard my hen house. Also, I think that Scaheffer's offers free analysis if you use their oil, and Schaeffer's has an excellent reputation (as good as Blackstone's). There are probably some other labs that you can find if you do a google search.
 
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