Oil Change Question

[yamahaSHO]

With quality oil (picked based on usage), there should be no issue going to 5,000 miles. Short trips definitely will degrade it faster if you're not burning off all the moisture. I'll be taking oil samples when we get our Maverick, which I do on many of my vehicles/machines I generally use it to get a good idea of how long I can go on an oil change.

With my Cummins, I got up to 9k miles on my samples and the report said the oil was still good. At that point, I just change it. On my track car, I got up to 8 or 9 track days on oil and it was still good. On our RZR's, I go much further than recommended mileage, but because of what my oil sampling tells me.

My Ranger has 1,5xx miles on it and I've owned it 6 months and my trips are short. Here is what the Ford app says (I am actually going to change the oil now):

By the second oil change, I'll probably go with some 300V and sample as I go. I've already tuned the transmission and am about to tune the engine. This truck will be used for a bit of towing as well. The Maverick we ordered will be for my wife, so the usage will be different... Other than when I tune it and go have some fun with it.

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[wax87]

First oil change at 1900 miles by the dealer (no charge). Next oil change will be at 1 year or 10,000 miles. Which ever comes first. I only use fully synthetic at the weight recommended by the manufacturer (in this case, 0W-20). I've been doing this for years in all my vehicles, zero issues. The oil drained, never has looked very dirty.

exactly, I have been doing that since Mobil 1 came out in the 80's

 

[Saxapl]

The limiting factor is the filter with most synthetic oils. As the filter starts to degrade, it bypasses more and more oil, which is not ideal.

10k should not be a problem, especially with an extended change interval filter with synthetic. Wix XP or Amsoil filters are meant for extended interval. Amsoil’s high end oil is rated for up to 25k.

I have run 10k changes in my Cruze with Amsoil it’s entire life and it is at 295k, still going strong (with a small oil leak).

The definitive answer comes from oil testing. Run 10k, send in a sample, see what they say. They will let you know if you can go longer or shorter based on metals, fuel presence, etc.

 

[Pucman1]

Ok so where are you sending this sample to?

The limiting factor is the filter with most synthetic oils. As the filter starts to degrade, it bypasses more and more oil.l, which is not ideal.

10k should not be a problem, especially with an extended change interval filter with synthetic. Wix XP or Amsoil filters are meant for extended interval. Amsoil’s high end oil is rated for up to 25k.

I have run 10k changes in my Cruze with Amsoil it’s entire life and it is at 295k, still going strong (with a small oil leak).

The definitive answer comes from oil testing. Run 10k, send in a sample, see what they say. They will let you know if you can go longer or shorter based on metals, fuel presence, etc.

 

[RatworX]

Don’t listen to ppl who aren’t mechanics. Change your oil at the very most 5k miles.

 

[realshelby]

Wow! Way more BS than fact in this thread!!!

If you don't have an oil sample analysis readout to PROVE your theory about oil ( and filters...) you really cannot say you are correct or full of BS.
An oil analysis will tell you if ANY fuel is getting into your Ecoboosts oil, will tell you if there is dirt in your oil ( you know, those pesky bypassing oil filters with 5K miles on them...), will tell you how your oil additive package is doing, and many other things.....
You can still change your oil and filter at 3,000 miles if it pleases you. Just know there are many cases of engine damage from oil filters not being correctly tightened and oil drain plugs not being tightened so doing oil changes 3 times or more the recommended intervals does not necessarily reduce risk of engine damage....if you happened to forget to tighten your drain plug or missed the oil filter seal that stuck to the block and you put on the new filter without noticing it....

 

[rivermaverick]

You're all wrong. I recommend every 25 miles or your engine and turbo will blow up.

No, I don't work for a dealer and my employer also doesn't make most of its profit from service. I have no idea what you're talking about.

25 miles is too long - back when I was involved in EPA emission testing, to get consistent results we changed the oil after every cold start. Procedure was to change the oil and push the vehicle into the lab for it's 12 hour soak before the drive cycle.
Of course we used the oil we drained from the test cars in our own cars!

 

[Saxapl]

Ok so where are you sending this sample to?

Black stone is who I use. For ground and air vehicles. But there are options.

 

[Saxapl]

Don’t listen to ppl who aren’t mechanics. Change your oil at the very most 5k miles.

Sure, if you don’t sample that is a reasonable interval. But most of the time that is conservative based on sampling. Not that conservative is bad…better than going too long.

But I would not even go that long without a synthetic and XP style filter and oil analysis as you will likely be into the bypass.

 

[Saxapl]

Wow! Way more BS than fact in this thread!!!

If you don't have an oil sample analysis readout to PROVE your theory about oil ( and filters...) you really cannot say you are correct or full of BS.
An oil analysis will tell you if ANY fuel is getting into your Ecoboosts oil, will tell you if there is dirt in your oil ( you know, those pesky bypassing oil filters with 5K miles on them...), will tell you how your oil additive package is doing, and many other things.....
You can still change your oil and filter at 3,000 miles if it pleases you. Just know there are many cases of engine damage from oil filters not being correctly tightened and oil drain plugs not being tightened so doing oil changes 3 times or more the recommended intervals does not necessarily reduce risk of engine damage....if you happened to forget to tighten your drain plug or missed the oil filter seal that stuck to the block and you put on the new filter without noticing it....

I agree…as I said, sampling is the gold standard for extended interval. As far as filters, they are engineered different for extended interval. Different micron to prevent early bypass.

 

[Saxapl]

25 miles is too long - back when I was involved in EPA emission testing, to get consistent results we changed the oil after every cold start. Procedure was to change the oil and push the vehicle into the lab for it's 12 hour soak before the drive cycle.
Of course we used the oil we drained from the test cars in our own cars!

Boy, some of the hybrid guys would be doing 24-28 oil changes per tank of fuel at 25 miles per change! I guess I would be lucky…at only about 23-25 mpg, I would get away with just 14 or so.

 

[realshelby]

I agree…as I said, sampling is the gold standard for extended interval. As far as filters, they are engineered different for extended interval. Different micron to prevent early bypass.

As far as filters go....Micron is the measure of how small of a particle the filter will allow through the filter media. Has little to do with extended drain interval. Why would you want 40 micron size particles to stay suspended in your oil ( compared to 20 microns, a common benchmark) just so you could go further on an oil change? You would not...so OEM's design filters with more filter media surface area to give more filtering area. Without sacrificing micron sizing. Or they can simply make the filter housing larger....thus also increasing media surface area. This method also increases filter efficiency, which may be more important that micron size ( some brands are MUCH more efficient at trapping a very high percentage of the rated and larger size particles).
All oil filtering systems in modern vehicles have a bypass valve. Typical for them to "bypass" in very cold weather on start up for instance. There could be some bypass at high engine rpm ( more oil flow) under certain conditions. But "bypass" is not a condition you want an engine to be running in. Sure, adequate oil flow due to bypass is always better than oil starvation. But modern engines just don't cause bypass of oil unless WAY past typical oil change intervals. Your Amsoil filters have a very high efficiency rating and.......they have one of the lowest micron ratings!

Dirty oil? One leading factor in oil becoming dark ( you know, dirty...) is that detergent compounds in oil often darken after being heated and cooled in cycles. Still work the same, just darken and that discolors the oil. Engine machining, fit, and design are so much better today than in decades past that there is very little of the wear metals present during break in, and even as they pass 200,000 miles. Coupled with oil that is so much better than it was even a couple decades ago, you really are not seeing engine wear due to lubrication anywhere close to what it was "back in the day".

Is there any reason to run the most expensive oil and filters in a Maverick? Peace of mind is about the only justifiable reason. Buy Super Tech oil and filter at WalMart and they will likely run way longer than the owner keeps them......

 

[Shay]

It's a waste of time and money, entirely unnecessary to change oil that often. The engine computer will tell you 8-15k miles. That is good advice. Hybrid engines run half the time, thus can go twice as far (miles) as a conventional gas vehicle. With synthetic oil, even further. Stop wasting your money.

 

[Saxapl]

As far as filters go....Micron is the measure of how small of a particle the filter will allow through the filter media. Has little to do with extended drain interval. Why would you want 40 micron size particles to stay suspended in your oil ( compared to 20 microns, a common benchmark) just so you could go further on an oil change? You would not...so OEM's design filters with more filter media surface area to give more filtering area. Without sacrificing micron sizing. Or they can simply make the filter housing larger....thus also increasing media surface area. This method also increases filter efficiency, which may be more important that micron size ( some brands are MUCH more efficient at trapping a very high percentage of the rated and larger size particles).
All oil filtering systems in modern vehicles have a bypass valve. Typical for them to "bypass" in very cold weather on start up for instance. There could be some bypass at high engine rpm ( more oil flow) under certain conditions. But "bypass" is not a condition you want an engine to be running in. Sure, adequate oil flow due to bypass is always better than oil starvation. But modern engines just don't cause bypass of oil unless WAY past typical oil change intervals. Your Amsoil filters have a very high efficiency rating and.......they have one of the lowest micron ratings!

Dirty oil? One leading factor in oil becoming dark ( you know, dirty...) is that detergent compounds in oil often darken after being heated and cooled in cycles. Still work the same, just darken and that discolors the oil. Engine machining, fit, and design are so much better today than in decades past that there is very little of the wear metals present during break in, and even as they pass 200,000 miles. Coupled with oil that is so much better than it was even a couple decades ago, you really are not seeing engine wear due to lubrication anywhere close to what it was "back in the day".

Is there any reason to run the most expensive oil and filters in a Maverick? Peace of mind is about the only justifiable reason. Buy Super Tech oil and filter at WalMart and they will likely run way longer than the owner keeps them......

Micron has everything to do with extended interval filters. Go look at their specs. Extended interval are not as fine for the very reason you say-avoid bypass. Bypass is psi dependent. The smaller micron the higher psi. So for synthetic-which is “clean” oil, extended interval filters have larger micron media because they do not need to be as fine and keeps from bypassing as much as soon. As you aptly pointed out, every filter bypasses. More when oil is cold, less when it is warm because it is a function of psi. Extended interval filters use a longer lasting less fine media to withstand collapse better and avoid increased bypass as the filter ages. Or at least that is what Wix (my chosen brand) says about their filters. Wix recommends XP filters (which are not as fine micron) for synthetic extended interval applications.

Of course, I do not have an independent lab to verify, so I am relying on their statements about their product. So take with whatever grain of salt you wish. I just know my anecdotal experience and sampling matches.

 

[Saxapl]

It's a waste of time and money, entirely unnecessary to change oil that often. The engine computer will tell you 8-15k miles. That is good advice. Hybrid engines run half the time, thus can go twice as far (miles) as a conventional gas vehicle. With synthetic oil, even further. Stop wasting your money.

Maybe-but you never know until you sample. Sampling is the only way to know if your engine/oil/filter package is up to the task of extended interval. For instance, Amsoil is independently verified to run 25k in their high end oil. But if you have fuel seeping into the oil, it doesn’t matter what the oil or filter are good for…you will be washing cylinders.

Plus, sampling gives you early warning if something is going wrong. That is why we do it with piston planes.

I don’t sample every change. But at the cost of oil, if it allowed you to go 25k because everything is good, you would save more than the cost of the test.

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