Oil Changes - Dealer or DIY

[OleFordGuy]

looking directly at their data sheet off of their website for Pennzoil Platinum 5W-30 and it does not specify that it meets the A1 standard, just A.

Also, I hate oil discussions because they always turn into a pissing match but I'm personally not willing to risk tensioner guide failure or carbon buildup issues being denied a warranty repair. I used Pennzoil Ultra Platinum religiously in my Focus ST and Escape 2.0 and had amazing results and reliability but I've since moved to Castrol Edge since it does meet the new A1 spec.

Thank you @NoVaJimmy for your good input an knowledge. So I started looking more about meeting the WSS-M2C961-A1 spec. I value your input if you don't mind replying back to me. So instead of the Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 5W30 i had planned on using, I am now considering 3 different oils: Amsoil Signature Series 5W30 Synthetic, Gastrol GTX Full Synthetic 5W30, or Mobil 1 Extended Performance/Advanced Full Synthetic 5W30.

The Amsoil literature made a statement "protects turbochargers 72% better than required by the GM dexos1 Gen 2 specification". That statement raised my eyebrow since I'm concerned for turbo durability.

But you had mentioned changing from Pennzoil to Castrol.

Any words of wisdom for me? Thank You Sir

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[jsus]

It's for a synthetic blend, which is the minimum Ford calls for.

EcoBoost, yes. Ford spec for Hybrid is 0w20 full synthetic.

 

[NoVaJimmy]

Thank you @NoVaJimmy for your good input an knowledge. So I started looking more about meeting the WSS-M2C961-A1 spec. I value your input if you don't mind replying back to me. So instead of the Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 5W30 i had planned on using, I am now considering 3 different oils: Amsoil Signature Series 5W30 Synthetic, Gastrol GTX Full Synthetic 5W30, or Mobil 1 Extended Performance/Advanced Full Synthetic 5W30.

The Amsoil literature made a statement "protects turbochargers 72% better than required by the GM dexos1 Gen 2 specification". That statement raised my eyebrow since I'm concerned for turbo durability.

But you had mentioned changing from Pennzoil to Castrol.

Any words of wisdom for me? Thank You Sir

My words of wisdom are that there is no universal truth for oil. What I use may work perfect for my driving conditions and routines. You may have completely different driving conditions and routines. Maybe you love drag racing anyone and everyone from stop light to stop light. Maybe you live in a super hot climate. Maybe you live in a super cold climate. Anyone who argues that one oil is better than another is kind of misguided (Looking at you Amsoil guys......kidding......no I'm not). What I recommend for ecoboost engines is a) using an oil that meets Ford's certification standards and b) using an oil that has a relatively high flashpoint since carbon is a killer of these engines. More important than anything though, I recommend spending the money to have a used oil analysis done with any oil and interval you choose to see how the oil you chose is performing under your driving conditions. I use blackstone labs and I will say that while I appreciate their scientific labwork to report the condition that my oil is in, I don't really value their opinion especially when they tell me that my oil's flashpoint has severely degraded but I should try to extend my oil change interval......so you also need to use your own judgement.

All that being said, I am a fan of Pennzoil Ultra Platinum and should they update their formula to meet Ford's new A1 cert I will definitely go back to their oil and see how it performs.

 

[OleFordGuy]

My words of wisdom are that there is no universal truth for oil. What I use may work perfect for my driving conditions and routines. You may have completely different driving conditions and routines. Maybe you love drag racing anyone and everyone from stop light to stop light. Maybe you live in a super hot climate. Maybe you live in a super cold climate. Anyone who argues that one oil is better than another is kind of misguided (Looking at you Amsoil guys......kidding......no I'm not). What I recommend for ecoboost engines is a) using an oil that meets Ford's certification standards and b) using an oil that has a relatively high flashpoint since carbon is a killer of these engines. More important than anything though, I recommend spending the money to have a used oil analysis done with any oil and interval you choose to see how the oil you chose is performing under your driving conditions. I use blackstone labs and I will say that while I appreciate their scientific labwork to report the condition that my oil is in, I don't really value their opinion especially when they tell me that my oil's flashpoint has severely degraded but I should try to extend my oil change interval......so you also need to use your own judgement.

All that being said, I am a fan of Pennzoil Ultra Platinum and should they update their formula to meet Ford's new A1 cert I will definitely go back to their oil and see how it performs.

Alabama for me, humid hot in summers 90-100, no real bad winters-occasionally in teens. I'm and old fart, don't drive hard, rural suburb living. Until Pennzoil updates, out of those 3 I'm leaning towards Amsoil. Would you think thats a bad choice?

 

[NoVaJimmy]

Alabama for me, humid hot in summers 90-100, no real bad winters-occasionally in teens. I'm and old fart, don't drive hard, rural suburb living. Until Pennzoil updates, out of those 3 I'm leaning towards Amsoil. Would you think thats a bad choice?

I think generally as long as you use a full synthetic which meets Ford's cert requirements you can't go wrong. I've never used Amsoil products personally but in youtube tests it seems to perform well although that doesn't necessarily correlate to how it will perform during X,XXX miles in different engines with different drivers and driving conditions. Let us know how it works out!

 

[MavDave]

My words of wisdom are that there is no universal truth for oil. What I use may work perfect for my driving conditions and routines. You may have completely different driving conditions and routines. Maybe you love drag racing anyone and everyone from stop light to stop light. Maybe you live in a super hot climate. Maybe you live in a super cold climate. Anyone who argues that one oil is better than another is kind of misguided (Looking at you Amsoil guys......kidding......no I'm not). What I recommend for ecoboost engines is a) using an oil that meets Ford's certification standards and b) using an oil that has a relatively high flashpoint since carbon is a killer of these engines. More important than anything though, I recommend spending the money to have a used oil analysis done with any oil and interval you choose to see how the oil you chose is performing under your driving conditions. I use blackstone labs and I will say that while I appreciate their scientific labwork to report the condition that my oil is in, I don't really value their opinion especially when they tell me that my oil's flashpoint has severely degraded but I should try to extend my oil change interval......so you also need to use your own judgement.

All that being said, I am a fan of Pennzoil Ultra Platinum and should they update their formula to meet Ford's new A1 cert I will definitely go back to their oil and see how it performs.

I am an Amsoil guy . So I am super partial, but honestly 15k oil change intervals and maintaining all factory warranties. Also, a long time ago when I first started using Amsoil after the 1st 12k and 1 year in the car I had a Blackstone test run on the oil, and I dismissed all of the important information (metal content, other chemicals) but the short sell for me was the overall condition was better than new conventional oil. I have run it in all my vehicles since 2008. But IMO as long as it meets the factory specifications. I have always been in Southern states NC and TX since 2011.

 

[Shakesbear]

I’ve been watching some YouTube videos on Maverick maintenance, most of which are from the States.

I’m curious, how much is an oil change at a Ford dealership in your area? Canada and the US.

I drive an F150 currently and at a dealer an oil change is $115 Canadian, or $85 USD. It takes 7.7qt of oil. If I was to buy my own oil and filter it would be over $115 CAD. That’s using a good name brand oil (Mobile 1, Pennzoil) and not a budget brand.

Do those of you who do your own oil changes just like to use your preferred brand of oil and trust only yourself to do maintenance on your vehicle? Unless oil is much cheaper in the States, I don’t see a financial benefit to doing your own oil changes.

I quite doing my own oil changes years ago. Used to do them myself in a past life

 

[Deleted member 5597]

I stopped changing the oil in all of my vehicles a long time ago! It’s worth the price to take it to the dealer and have it done in 30 minutes is worth it! With the price of oil and the filter, it’s just not worth the hassle. I feel it’s better to let someone else do it in the shop where they can walk under the car in the bay, drain the oil and change the filter, rather than me having to get on the ground. Besides, I only put less than 7K miles per year on my vehicles, so that means changing the oil maybe once a year.

 

[mcc63303]

Not much discussion on Oil Filter. Use the Motorcraft O.E.

 

[mspmms]

I had my dealer do an oil change at 1500 miles, they also checked my brakes, tires, and electrical.
Along with my accumulated Ford Pass points and Ford Millstones they picked up the Maverick from my home and delivered it back afterwards, the total cost to me:

$0

 

[Jah.]

Dealer . ford points . cost $0 . no warranty concerning proper maintenance if needed . have enough points for 2 more oil changes .

 

[kcamp317]

I prefer to my own oil changes. I have plenty of tools and don't mind the effort. I get Pennzoil Ultra Platinum from Walmart and I get Motorcraft filters from the dealer parts counter......several at a time. I know what's going in and that all my bolts, oil filter, and drain plug are torqued correctly and not twisted on with a 1/2" impact. I keep records and receipts as well. I rotate my tires when needed and torque the lugs correctly with a torque wrench.

My Walmart doesn't consistently have the ultra platinum in stock so when they do I buy several jugs of it to keep on hand.

I dunno about you hybrid guys but the dealer charges like $100 or the Ford points equivalent to do the service on wife's 2020 hybrid escape, just because it's a hybrid. In reality it's super easy to do. Oil drain plug and filter are right there, easy to access. Thats why I do that one myself as well.

My maverick isn't here yet so I'm still driving my '16 Escape SE with the 1.6 EB. It's not as fun to change the oil on because of its horizontally mounted filter that nestled in among some A/C lines and an intercooler pipe.....that one requires some brake clean to clean up the mess after the filter is off but its not too bad.

 

[Joe Kelly]

I had my 2.0 eco boost oil change and tire rotation and it was $85.00 in St. Louis.

 

[MaverickTopGun]

but I've since moved to Castrol Edge since it does meet the new A1 spec.

I'd assumed the missing "1" on the end of the WSS spec was a typo on the data sheet. Those do happen. You might be right though. One needs to check the back of the Platinum bottle before buying it.

Anyway, just use Motorcraft, that's always warranty-safe, as the easy way out of this spec mystery.

Or, whatever oil you buy, read the back of the bottle, and make sure you see the right Ford WSS-M2C961-A1. Since all 4 types of 5w30 Castrol have that, it shouldn't be that hard to find. Other brands too.

 

[NoVaJimmy]

I'd assumed the missing "1" on the end of the WSS spec was a typo on the data sheet. Those do happen. You might be right though. One needs to check the back of the Platinum bottle before buying it.

Anyway, just use Motorcraft, that's always warranty-safe, as the easy way out of this spec mystery.

Or, whatever oil you buy, read the back of the bottle, and make sure you see the right Ford WSS-M2C961-A1. Since all 4 types of 5w30 Castrol have that, it shouldn't be that hard to find. Other brands too.

Not a typo. That's the old certification

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