Never Run Extended Oil Change Intervals: Ecoboost Engines

[Friday yet?]

Well, I had planned to change the oil in my truck every 7500 miles. And felt good about that plan. But I just watched this video.

Rotated the tires for the first time this past Sunday, as I have 5100 miles on it now. But, you guessed it, I'll be doing an oil change come Saturday morning! Luckily I bought the oil and filter a few weeks ago while I was picking up the stuff to change the oil in the ST. So everything is here and ready to go.

Wow, that video was a bit painful to watch. Have a real need to go out in the garage, hug my Tremor and assure it that fresh oil is in its future in only a few more days.

All that said I'm still sitting here thinking about the 5 vs 7.5K distance. Full syn. Just seems like 7500 should be fine. With modern oils it just seems so wasteful.

Oh well. As others have said, it is cheap insurance. And I plan on keeping my truck a LONG time.

Edit: Nope. Not doing it. Went to bed thinking about it. On my mind immediately upon waking up this morning. Been sitting here drinking coffee and thinking back over my career (many years as a fleet mgr. dealing with Class 7 and 8 trucks) with all of the engine issues, evolving technology, and yes... oil requirements. Oil is simply light years ahead of where it used to be. Hat's off to the relevant engineers.

Yes I have 5100 miles on the Tremor. So far the miles on my truck consist of zero towing, "off road" consisting of maybe 5 miles of dirt/gravel road, and probably 4000+ miles of highway driving. I am sticking with 7500 mile intervals.

Couple of things in the video give me pause.
1) What sort of oil was used in the engine? Did the owner just hit the local quick lube when the light came on? That scenario makes me cringe on so many levels.
2) Did the owner ever check the oil? Video said the engine was very low when it came in.

I could go on. Bottom line, until something in my driving pattern changes I am sticking with 7500.

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[JesseS]

So do you also rotate the tires and inspect the brakes on your 5k routine? Checking all the fluids is nothing, but the other stuff they do on The Works is well worth my time not having to jack up one wheel at a time to rotate the tires in my driveway. Plus topping off the fluids including the windshield washer fluid is a bonus.

Actually I do, a floor jack and 4 jack stands, as well as a air impact wrench makes short work of it, and as a life long mechanic I much prefer to do my own work, as many here do. The brakes are easy to check with the wheels off, hell, I even lube the door hinges!! I totally understand someone not being able to, or not wanting to work on their vehicle, but I happen to enjoy it. And as for topping off the washer fluid? that takes about 30 seconds, but that requires lifting the hood, something else I guess you are adverse to.

 

[myothercarizahearse]

I installed thumbscrews on the fender flap

care to elaborate? those stupid ford clips make me miss my Caddys

 

[JesseS]

care to elaborate? those stupid ford clips make me miss my Caddys

I removed the plastic 'screws' from the fender well covers and JB welded rivet nuts in the holes, then I just use threaded thumbscrews to fasten the flap back in place, no tools and quick to remove/replace.

 

[Superdannyboy]

care to elaborate? those stupid ford clips make me miss my Caddys

I just left some out and the top one I tore the flap so it just slides in lol

 

[myothercarizahearse]

I removed the plastic 'screws' from the fender well covers and JB welded rivet nuts in the holes, then I just use threaded thumbscrews to fasten the flap back in place, no tools and quick to remove/replace.

nice! that would shave an easy 5 minutes off... that means more time for drinking

 

[JesseS]

I just left some out and the top one I tore the flap so it just slides in lol

I have been known to over think things

 

[ctechbob]

nice! that would shave an easy 5 minutes off... that means more time for drinking

I've got some things I ordered to try that might work as well, just haven't had a chance, but was going to report if/when they worked.

It is a fastener GM used or uses, made to be removed:

They're sitting on my toolbox waiting for me to get around to it. Was something like $7 for a baggie of them.

Edit 6/17/23 - Added a thread to the maintenance section on installing these. Everyone is correct, you do need to enlarge the holes, but it is a simple job. About 1 on a scale of 1-10.

 

[JACKSMYDOG]

I removed the plastic 'screws' from the fender well covers and JB welded rivet nuts in the holes, then I just use threaded thumbscrews to fasten the flap back in place, no tools and quick to remove/replace.

Curious why you JB the rivnuts instead of the squeeze/friction fit they are designed for?

 

[JimG_AZ]

Very interesting video. About 3 weeks ago I took my Ranger to the Sanderson Lincoln (in North Phoenix) Quick Lane to have my battery tested under warranty. The battery failed their test and Ford replaced it under warranty. At this time, my Ranger had @ 14k miles on it. I told the guy at the Quick Lane that I would see him in a thousand miles for an oil change - that would be @ 5k miles on the oil. He told me to hold off until close to 20k miles, since they recommend oil changes every 10k miles. I think it will be going in a few weeks when I hit 15k miles. The question is if they will give me a free oil change due to my truck having the maintenance plan. Right now the oil change monitor says 42%.

Also, the Quick Lane uses Motorcraft semi-synthetic oil. Is it worth it to pay the extra and go with full synthetic?

 

[BassRanger]

This video popped up over on BITOG, this morning. One of the mods had a cogent response.

I generally like his videos. However I take some exceptions to the statements he makes:

- he implies that "they" created the SP oil spec due to Ford EB engines. The API didn't just do this for EB engines; it's a market driven thing because of all GTDI engines

- further, though we know the frequency of the OCIs for this vehicle, we don't know the details about the lubes and how it was done? Was this done at home with high-end syns? or was this Expedition taken to a local quick-lube and low quality bulk drum oil used?

- he states that if you don't do OCIs often enough (following the IOLM) the oil "filter will get plugged real quick"; that's rubbish. He clearly doesn't understand the concept of soot particle size and the role of anti-agglomerates in the add pack

- he uses the term "extended oil changes" referring to the factory IOLM intervals. Most of us consider "extensions" to be PAST the IOLM.

- the engine does have 224k miles on it. Yes; it would be nice if it lasted longer, but is this anecdotal example a reason to condemn all OCIs simply because the engine didn't go to 500k miles, or whatever he believes is reasonable?

- he mentions that the engine didn't look too bad, but the turbo inlet screens are in very bad shape which led to failed turbos. So why condemn an entire engine if only some components need replacement???? That's a bit of hysterical over-reaction, is it not? Maybe the owner wanted a new engine rather than just new components? Don't know ...

- he mentions that one of the turbo's failed, and the initial shop only changed the turbo and didn't check the inlet screens for both turbos; that's not the fault of the engine or lube when a supposedly skilled mechanic does a half-ass job. This is probably the root cause of the engine demise; that the turbo oil inlet screens were clogged. This engine could have lasted a lot longer if the turbo lube screens were changed out. Don't blame the oil for a lack of mechanical maintenance. He states that the EB turbos have coolant leak issues and states the oil screens should always be replaced when ANY work is done on the turbos ...

- he also mentions that the engine had 2 quarts of oil in it, because the failed turbos were letting oil burn out the combustion process. If the oil was THAT low, is that not the fault of the owner to check the oil levels even occasionally ???

- As we know, there are lubes that don't clean well, and lubes that do clean exceptionally well. Perhaps if this engine was run with oils with esters and ANs, the coked oil on the turbo oil screens would never have happened in the first place


Bottom line is this ... He's making a blanket statement with assumptions based on a lot of missing info. While short OCIs never killed any engine, the IOLM OCI was not necessarily the root cause of this engine failure. There are too many unanswered variables to make that giant leap.

dnewton3

 

[Synfulz]

5K'er....?

 

[Apples]

As I mentioned several times before in these pages, I change oil every four thousand miles. Why? The video says most of it. I'll add this....

If you have your 2.3 Eco-Boost tuned (anyone's), and drive like most urbanites, you'd best up the ante by sticking with four thousand mile intervals. If in doubt, how much does an oil change cost vs. a new (out of warranty) engine? Darn cheap insurance I believe!

 

[CB750F]

I'm all in for more beer time but I still like to wrench, the little simple stuff.

 

[AzScorpion]

Very interesting video. About 3 weeks ago I took my Ranger to the Sanderson Lincoln (in North Phoenix) Quick Lane to have my battery tested under warranty. The battery failed their test and Ford replaced it under warranty. At this time, my Ranger had @ 14k miles on it. I told the guy at the Quick Lane that I would see him in a thousand miles for an oil change - that would be @ 5k miles on the oil. He told me to hold off until close to 20k miles, since they recommend oil changes every 10k miles. I think it will be going in a few weeks when I hit 15k miles. The question is if they will give me a free oil change due to my truck having the maintenance plan. Right now the oil change monitor says 42%.

Also, the Quick Lane uses Motorcraft semi-synthetic oil.

Is it worth it to pay the extra and go with full synthetic?

Personally I feel it is. Being a turbo and our high heat here it's just added insurance/protection. I just had my first oil change done on my Tremor which only had 1,400 miles on it with full synthetic. I might have gone a little longer (but not much) but we're leaving Friday for a long road trip and I wanted to have it done here by a place I trust.

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