Have a 08 F150 Scab 5.4 motor with 800 miles on it. I usually do the first oil change at 1000 miles. I was told that the break in oil should stay for 5000 miles due to the additives. I never herd of this before. Is it true????

 

Ford does recommend the first oil change at 5k. 1k seems a little fast for me. If i was to do a quick one it would be closer to 2k.

 

When all else fails... read the owner's manual. This is covered in there.

 

Break in oil??!?

 

my oil was nasty as h**l when I did my change at 1,000 miles. I personally would do it right now if I were you.


btw, what does the Owners Manual say? I'm too laze to walk outside and read mine...or click the link I have bookmarked

 

The owners manual says 5k but i did mine at 2500 oil looked new.Have the dealer do the first one though because the filter sucks to get off the first time.

 

The main thing about the first oil is to check it frequently to make sure it's not using any before the rings get settled in. It is not reqired to change the first oil before the normal change interval. If it gets really dark and this bothers you, go ahead and change it, but certainly not before six months or 3000 miles.

 

Tell me about it! When I bought the oil and oil filter, I took the new Motor craft FL820S filter out of the box and also purchased an "end cap" adapter. When I crawled under the truck, I was amazed to see a filter that had lands rather than the splines that the end cap and my new end cap wrench had. Of course even though the filters were the same size, the splined wrench did not fit on the end of the original filter with the lands. So rather than bite the bullet and get the right wrench, I tried to use a band wrench I have with a couple of swivels - could get it on from the top and underneath but all the rotation available would only get the band tight and not enough space was left to put any torque on the filter. Tried a chain wrench and got it on but again, not enough room to budge the filter. I did manage to crumple the wall of the filter a bit and then ... drip, drip, drip.

Now at the point of no return and no truck to drive, I drove the car to a different parts store so I don't look like a jerk when I purchase a second wrench. Thankfully they had one because I'm thinking if I can't find one, I'm going to have to go to the dealer, beg for mercy and see if I could borrow or rent their wrench.

With an extension and a ratchet wrench, I had a direct shot at the filter. I couldn't believe how tight that sucker was torqued on! I'd say I turned it at least half a turn before it released to the point of being what I would call heavy in the normal torque range. (I tighten my oil filters an additional 3/4 turn after the rubber gasket makes contact which is hand tight if you can get a good grip on it and I never have had a leak.)

I have had tough first time filter changes before but never one that was on as tight as this one.

For anyone who has stayed with this story to the end, have you ever experienced purchasing the specified Motorcraft filter with a different end cap? The original filter looked generic - white with nothing on it except a small picture of a trash can with an "X" through it.

Oh, and I changed the oil to Mobil 1 SuperSyn and the filter at 2800 miles and the dino oil was quite dark but not a concern.

 

Hondas have a ton of moly assembly lube in the engines when new, and they specifically recommend to NOT change the oil before 5000 miles or so (cars have that oil life light which may go to even 6-7k depending on how you drive). It is regular oil, but with the extra moly in it, and looks grayish from day one.

I don't think that Ford or other companies use break in lubes per se. I used to always change the oil after 1k with a new car (not that I've had many of them), but lately have felt just fine about going 3k until the first change as a bit of a compromise. Modern production methods and tight tolerances make for engines that don't dump nearly as much metal or casting sand into the oil as all engines did in the old days.

I'd say go 3k on the first change, and feel just fine about 5-6k after that with the basic Motorcraft semi-syn type oil. If you're changing to full syn, I'd want until the engine had 5-10k on it, and then feel fine about the Ford recommended 7.5k change intervals.

George

 

rusty glad to hear im not the only one lol.I got mine off with a band wrench but it sucked.There just isnt much room i had to put the wrench handle agaist the fan rotate the fan blades out of the way and push the wrench at the same time not fun.

 

screwdriver, hammer, vice grips, filter wrench tools x3

took forever, but finally got the damn thing off.


TAKE IT TO THE DEALER FOR THE 1ST OIL CHANGE

 

I always use a rubber belt wrench. Make sure you wipe the filter off so the belt gets a good grip. I have a band wrench and cap wrench and haven't used them in at least 10 years... rubber belt wrenches have never failed me - they will grip when nothing else can and if they can't grip... nothing short of destroying the filter is going to remove it!