Oil change 3,000 or 5,000 miles?

[Dgc333]

Ford's IOM does take some driving conditions into effect. But mostly it mileage and time.

At least that's been the case on my last 3.

Did you drive those vehicles much? Was that 6800-8100 miles at about a year? Were you using factory recommended oil?

There is no actual sensor monitoring the oil in the Ford system like the MB or BMW systems.

I drive about 25000 miles per year so I am doing about 3 oil changes per year.

Everything I have read has indicated that the oil life monitor is a mathematical algorithm that uses mileage, time, length of trips, temperature, etc. to calculate when to turn on the light.

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[RoadBoss]

The oil life monitor works on two variables. Mileage and time.

10k miles, 1 year

That's it. It's a simple device that doesn't really monitor anything other than those two variables.

Well that's not what Ford says.

https://www.ford.com/support/how-to...t-is-the-intelligent-oil-life-monitor-system/

That still doesn't answer all the questions I have though.

 

[D Fresh]

I drive about 25000 miles per year so I am doing about 3 oil changes per year.

Everything I have read has indicated that the oil life monitor is a mathematical algorithm that uses mileage, time, length of trips, temperature, etc. to calculate when to turn on the light.

Well that's not what Ford says.

https://www.ford.com/support/how-to...t-is-the-intelligent-oil-life-monitor-system/

That still doesn't answer all the questions I have though.

I know what they say.

But my experience says otherwise.

I change my oil at 5k. The IOMs on my last 3 Ford's always say 50%life left. This over the life of the vehicles, regardless of primary driver or conditions.

From what Ford says length of trips, temps etc, do come into play. But for the life of me I can't replicate that in reality.

I just took an 1800 mile all interstate road trip. Which pushed my current oil change interval out by at least 1k miles. My truck is not babied in normal driving at all. So IF conditions come into play I would expect my IOM to still be showing roughly 45-50% life left. If not, and it is purely mileage/time I would expect 35-40% life left.

I'm headed out for work in a bit. I'll report my findings. Betting it shows 38% life remaining.

 

[D Fresh]

I know what they say.

But my experience says otherwise.

I change my oil at 5k. The IOMs on my last 3 Ford's always say 50%life left. This over the life of the vehicles, regardless of primary driver or conditions.

From what Ford says length of trips, temps etc, do come into play. But for the life of me I can't replicate that in reality.

I just took an 1800 mile all interstate road trip. Which pushed my current oil change interval out by at least 1k miles. My truck is not babied in normal driving at all. So IF conditions come into play I would expect my IOM to still be showing roughly 45-50% life left. If not, and it is purely mileage/time I would expect 35-40% life left.

I'm headed out for work in a bit. I'll report my findings. Betting it shows 38% life remaining.

I was wrong. 36% life after 6327 miles. 1800 of which were pure highway.

Normally with my aggressive city driving I'm at 50% after 5k miles.

The Ford IOM only measures time and mileage.

 

[9zero1790]

in my older ranger without the oil nanny i do it every 5 months. (its only driven three days a week about 100 miles total. in the new one i just eyeball the oil life and when it gets less than 35 % i change it. i run the mobil 1 full syn. idk if its worth it to use. in the past i had a pos chevy and would run whatever was cheapest that was the correct oil and met the standards. stupid thing ran fine for about 150 km no engine issues and then the trans went out. fixed the trans and then the water pump went. followed shortly by fuel pressure regulator, fuel pump in the tank, alternator, radiator, master cylinder and a few other things that nickel and dimmed me silly and at that point i took grandfathers advice, he always said by a dodge or a ford.

 

[Showmeguy2020]

Do you all put fuel in the tank when you're still half full also? I follow the OLM recommendation and it's basically set at 10,000 miles. $59.00 works package at ford using Motorcrafts synthetic blend. Usually drop it off and pick it up in a couple hours.

 

[9zero1790]

yes, i do put fuel in the tank if its half empty and i plan on driving further on...
i try to go by the thirds fuel rule. only had to use my spare fuel one time that it was not a choice.

 

[wetidlerjr]

I had my first oil change last week and it was close to a year, timewise. The mileage was around 3700 for those who had lectures on their mind.

 

[Mirage775]

We stopped by the Ford Quick Lane thingy at the dealer yesterday, (to see about getting an alignment, which was an insane price), but my stepfather asked a guy, that he knew pretty well, that worked at the Quick Lane thingy, about the oil life on his Ranger. The service guy said every 5000 miles and to use Syn-Blend.

I'm almost at 1100 total on my '21 and my stepfather has about 2-3000 on his '21. I'll most likely do my first (break-in) change around 2500, but I go by miles, not time, since I don't drive much as I live in the city and I'm so close to work.

My old '03 4x4 Ranger got the oil changed once a year with full syn, just because I didn't drive it much.

 

[rcairflr]

. The service guy said every 5000 miles and to use Syn-Blend.

I find it very hard to believe that Syn'blend will be better for this engine than full synthetic

 

[Mirage775]

I find it very hard to believe that Syn'blend will be better for this engine than full synthetic

I do agree with you! Full synthetic seems to be easier to find around here and much more affordable than it once was.

 

[JohnnyO]

A used oil analysis is the only way to know for sure. Blackstone Labs, $30.

www.blackstone-labs.com

My take is that with the possibility of the intake valves getting deposits because it's a DI engine I'd rather keep the oil a little cleaner and change it every 5000.

 

[D Fresh]

your point can be easily proven with simple math.
if it is time and mileage only, a chart, or graph would easily show it, and be very predictable.
right now, i'm three beers into a case, I'm not going to attempt to correlate your numbers there, but if you so desire, you could get back to us with a plotted chart over the next few weeks

I provided the raw data.

The graph is easily visible in my mind. The math is solid and there for all to see.

1800 miles of straight up freeway moved the ball the same as 1800 miles of hard city driving. Time and mileage.

 

[D Fresh]

does it also bring up the fact that the Ranger is very capable of maintaining its engine temp with those driving styles, thereby not bringing that factor into the equation?
perhaps only heavy towing or steep inclines will raise the temp enough?
You may only see the time/mileage rate if that's true, yet others wont.

Towing? No. Not sure how much that would effect anything as the Ranger barely feels any load I've put on it. But you raise a good point, one I'll have to check out if I ever do that much consecutive towing. The way the system responds to load induced by elevation changes, wind, and heavy right foots tells me that it would probably be insignificant.

As stable as they are how would the truck even know it is towing. Clock miles with something plugged into the trailer connector? Blindspot monitoring with trailer enabled? Seems far too complex for Ford.

Inclines? Yes. The 1800 miles of road tripping was from the Front Range of Colorado, up and over the divide, accross 5 mountainous states to Oregon, and back.

Also my daily driving has quite a bit of elevation change as well. Never budges off the Ford 1yr/10k formula.

 

[JonB]

I'm a retired mechanic who monitors forums for vehicles, RVs and motorcycles. All have never ending conversations on what type of oil to use and when to change it. I will not offer my own opinion, since it will just be lost in the multitude.

Instead, I'll go with Ford's opinion and for only one reason -- they have a vested interest (profits) in seeing that their vehicles survive. They obviously want to sell more and vehicles that fall apart (think Pinto) won't sell and thus won't make them money. Many organizations (Consumer's Reports) rate manufacturers by the frequency of repair of their vehicles. A factory with lots of failures (think Chrysler some years ago) won't sell cars.

So, buy good oil and change it per the owner's manual. Period.

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