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Oil Change interval

Oil is still cheaper than parts-just agree to disagree. Change the oil when its comfortable for you, today's engines are built to last than the old days when tolerances where not as tight and that caused a lot of combustion blow by.
 



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I am not going to getting into an argument with anyone but fact of the matter is there is zero evidence that changing you oil more often than the OLM indicates is a waste of money. The OLM uses a complex algorithm that takes into consideration miles, temperatures, trip length, speeds, rpm's, acceleration, idling time etc etc. When was the last time your heard of someone needing a valve job or an engine with a bad rod or a shot cam shaft? No you don't hear of it and its because of the engine design, over head cams, fuel injection and engines running at such low RPM's due to high torque and six speeds transmission. Finally, I posted this previously;


Consumers Report did a long term study of NYC Taxi cabs with half using 3000 mile OCI and the other half the manufacturers recommend interval. After 100,000 of thousand of miles of driving they tore the engines down and in fact found no difference in engine wear, sludge, oil consumption etc. Search Consumer Reports Taxi cab oil test and you can find the info. This was probably five years ago but it would still be applicable. For the main study they used conventional oils but they did run Mobil 1 in a couple of taxi's and in fact one of them suffered an engine failure. I think they said they determined the failure was not related to lubrication.

The shade tree mechanic that claims 3000 or 5000 miles is the "right" interval has only anecdotal data, nothing concrete to back it up.
 






I am not going to getting into an argument with anyone but fact of the matter is there is zero evidence that changing you oil more often than the OLM indicates is a waste of money. The OLM uses a complex algorithm that takes into consideration miles, temperatures, trip length, speeds, rpm's, acceleration, idling time etc etc. When was the last time your heard of someone needing a valve job or an engine with a bad rod or a shot cam shaft? No you don't hear of it and its because of the engine design, over head cams, fuel injection and engines running at such low RPM's due to high torque and six speeds transmission. Finally, I posted this previously;


Consumers Report did a long term study of NYC Taxi cabs with half using 3000 mile OCI and the other half the manufacturers recommend interval. After 100,000 of thousand of miles of driving they tore the engines down and in fact found no difference in engine wear, sludge, oil consumption etc. Search Consumer Reports Taxi cab oil test and you can find the info. This was probably five years ago but it would still be applicable. For the main study they used conventional oils but they did run Mobil 1 in a couple of taxi's and in fact one of them suffered an engine failure. I think they said they determined the failure was not related to lubrication.

The shade tree mechanic that claims 3000 or 5000 miles is the "right" interval has only anecdotal data, nothing concrete to back it up.

Great post!!

This is the thing.. people find oil changes cheap insurance and I get that. But frankly just about every post on here is an opinion with NO FACTUAL info on when the oil should be changed (it should be changed when the oil is no longer protecting the motor like it did on day 1).

As I stated earlier, if one wants to actually get factual data, send a Blackstone kit in of your oil and they brake it down and will tell you exactly how it is doing and whether you should extend the interval or shorten it.

Unless one does that, you/they will NEVER know whether the oil is still good or needs to be changed.

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In general response.. nothing says that the 10,000 interval will leave you with "ok" oil. Your oil can still be in excellent condition at 10,000 miles.

I wonder why BMW has 15,000 mile oil change intervals......

----

To the OP, order a Blackstone kit, and change your oil at 7,500 miles. See what the results show.
 






I just wonder how many will actually get to 10k miles before the OLM indicates a change is required? I change the oil every twice yearly and usually when I have the wheels swapped. This time it was a 5 month interval and the OLM read 52% with 1458 miles since the last change. Next change will be done at the end of October.

Peter
 






I just wonder how many will actually get to 10k miles before the OLM indicates a change is required? I change the oil every twice yearly and usually when I have the wheels swapped. This time it was a 5 month interval and the OLM read 52% with 1458 miles since the last change. Next change will be done at the end of October.

Peter

I can get 10k on it.. warns me at 10% which is about 9k for me.
 






I can get 10k on it.. warns me at 10% which is about 9k for me.
^This^. I pulled a Blackstone test (w/TBN). Mobil 1 5W-20 and the Motorcraft filter were good to 10K.
 






The more I look at this IOLM, the more I think it's bogus. I watch it and what it does consistently is go down 10% for every 1,000 miles driven. Doesn't matter if it's long trips or short, and this matches what blwnsmoke says above. at 9,000 miles it would tell you you have 10% left. Right now I've gone 3,000 miles since my last oil change and it's showing 70% remaining.

So my take on it is it's not monitoring anything...it's simply counting down from 10,000 miles. I'll stick with a <5,000 mile oil change and feel good about it. That's 3 oil changes a year for me at $40 which includes tire rotation and checking brakes, fluids, etc. That's pretty cheap when compared to the cost of a new or rebuilt engine.
 






That's fine, no problem but why would you have an expectation that not doing the oil changes as you are would result in having to install a new engine? I am not sure I have ever read of someone replacing or rebuilding an engine on this forum except for a catastrophic failure totally unreleated to oil. Personally I change mine twice per year, spring and fall. I currently have about 37 % left on the OLM with 6800 miles. I do it myself and don't want to change oil during the winter so it just works for me. I also want to get under my vehicle after winter and before winter just to look around for anything loose, leaks etc. I am under it so why not change the oil.
 






The more I look at this IOLM, the more I think it's bogus. I watch it and what it does consistently is go down 10% for every 1,000 miles driven. Doesn't matter if it's long trips or short, and this matches what blwnsmoke says above. at 9,000 miles it would tell you you have 10% left. Right now I've gone 3,000 miles since my last oil change and it's showing 70% remaining.

So my take on it is it's not monitoring anything...it's simply counting down from 10,000 miles. I'll stick with a <5,000 mile oil change and feel good about it. That's 3 oil changes a year for me at $40 which includes tire rotation and checking brakes, fluids, etc. That's pretty cheap when compared to the cost of a new or rebuilt engine.
If it consistently goes down 10% for every 1000 miles driven, then how do you explain mine reading 52% after only driving 1458 miles? My driving usually includes many trips that are very short ones (2-4 miles) that don't give the engine time to reach the nominal operating temperature. Since my last oil change on March 31st I have driven 217 miles and the IOLM is reading 96%. To me, it indicates that the IOLM does indeed take into account your driving style.

Peter
 






If it consistently goes down 10% for every 1000 miles driven, then how do you explain mine reading 52% after only driving 1458 miles? My driving usually includes many trips that are very short ones (2-4 miles) that don't give the engine time to reach the nominal operating temperature. Since my last oil change on March 31st I have driven 217 miles and the IOLM is reading 96%. To me, it indicates that the IOLM does indeed take into account your driving style.

Peter

Completely agree with you Peter. Fact is there are MANY different driving styles that a vehicle can consider "normal". In your case, I'm assuming you fall under the "Extreme" or whatever terminology it is and the vehicle accounts for that.

--------------
HALWG,

If a vehicle is designed for 10k intervals, that is what most will see with the oil life monitor with typical driving habits. One shouldn't be shocked to not see that.
 






If it consistently goes down 10% for every 1000 miles driven, then how do you explain mine reading 52% after only driving 1458 miles? My driving usually includes many trips that are very short ones (2-4 miles) that don't give the engine time to reach the nominal operating temperature. Since my last oil change on March 31st I have driven 217 miles and the IOLM is reading 96%. To me, it indicates that the IOLM does indeed take into account your driving style.

Peter

I don't necessarily believe this. Your 217 miles is a little over 2% of the 10,000 so it should read around 97%, however, I have seen the first few hundred miles show a little greater than 10% for each 1,000, then it falls into the 10% for each 1,000 mode. So I don't actually think it's monitoring anything but the mileage you have driven.

On the previous generation Explorer, it was set to 7,500 miles and did exactly the same thing, merely counted down mileage and changed it to a %.
 






Those 217 miles were not really representative of my usual driving. They included three longer highway trips (approx. 175 total). The 1458 miles driven before is only 14.58% of the 10k figure and the IOLM was at 52%. If it actually falls 10% for every 1000 miles driven then the IOLM should have been around 85%.

Peter
 






What is your oil change interval?

I have a 2015 Explorer. I have to admit, the oil change sensor is a little odd to me, but I like it.

It's just that there are mixed signals. I took it in at 7500 miles for the first one, when it still had 30% life. The dealer put a sticker for a 5000 interval, which I'm just chalking up as a way to make a little more money.

I've done some research and some people say doing it before the sensor notification is just wasting money, others say they do it at a specific interval.

I want to make sure i'm doing the best for my vehicle. Also a little paranoid. Years ago I had a Contour, and was taking it to a different mechanic for oil changes, and one time decided to go to the dealer. They invalidated my warranty because the sticker showed it was overdue, but that was because they place I went didn't do the little window stickers. I didn't really have good luck fighting it. Now I'm better at record keeping and older (so I don't put up with much. lol)

So what do you do and why?
 






My intervals have changed since I retired. I pay no attention to the on board monitor or how many miles I have and go by months now. I have two vehicles, my Ex and a Ranger and neither get much mileage. About every 18 months is when I change the oil even if it has less than 2k on them. :salute:
 






I have a 2015 Explorer. I have to admit, the oil change sensor is a little odd to me, but I like it.

It's just that there are mixed signals. I took it in at 7500 miles for the first one, when it still had 30% life. The dealer put a sticker for a 5000 interval, which I'm just chalking up as a way to make a little more money.

I've done some research and some people say doing it before the sensor notification is just wasting money, others say they do it at a specific interval.

I want to make sure i'm doing the best for my vehicle. Also a little paranoid. Years ago I had a Contour, and was taking it to a different mechanic for oil changes, and one time decided to go to the dealer. They invalidated my warranty because the sticker showed it was overdue, but that was because they place I went didn't do the little window stickers. I didn't really have good luck fighting it. Now I'm better at record keeping and older (so I don't put up with much. lol)

So what do you do and why?
A 'Search' on "Oil Change Interval" would have found this following thread which was started 4 years ago. There aren't too many subjects that don't already have threads on them. That is why the Forum encourages its use before beginning a new thread. Yours has now been merged with the thread linked below (this one).

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=309598&highlight=oil+change

To sum up, everyone has their own opinion on when to change it and what type of oil to use. Good luck.

Peter
 






Change every 5,000 miles, which is what I do, and forget about it.
 






I have a 2015 Explorer. I have to admit, the oil change sensor is a little odd to me, but I like it.

It's just that there are mixed signals. I took it in at 7500 miles for the first one, when it still had 30% life. The dealer put a sticker for a 5000 interval, which I'm just chalking up as a way to make a little more money.

I've done some research and some people say doing it before the sensor notification is just wasting money, others say they do it at a specific interval.

I want to make sure i'm doing the best for my vehicle. Also a little paranoid. Years ago I had a Contour, and was taking it to a different mechanic for oil changes, and one time decided to go to the dealer. They invalidated my warranty because the sticker showed it was overdue, but that was because they place I went didn't do the little window stickers. I didn't really have good luck fighting it. Now I'm better at record keeping and older (so I don't put up with much. lol)

So what do you do and why?

You will get many answers on this and as you can see, your thread was moved into a very long thread....

Here is the short and honest answer. The Ford oil life monitor does a very good job of telling you when it is due to be changed. This has been confirmed by several oil samples sent into labs by members, myself included. You are quite safe to follow the oil monitor and not worry. My Explorer has 83 or 84,000 miles on it now (wife drives it) and I follow the monitor. Typically I get close to 10,000 miles per change. My F350 gets typically 7,500 miles per change before it is required so it is different by vehicle and driving habits.

If you are unsure, just request a Blackstone kit from Blackstone labs and have your oil sampled. Or you can follow others who say to just change it at 5,000 miles and not worry about it. But again, it has been proven the monitor works and the oil is good when it tells you to change so my opinion is.. change it when it tells you to and don't worry about it.

Also, keep in mind that every one always talks about changing the OIL... but never comments about the oil filter. The filter is key.... after all, it is what the oil goes through to remove the contaminants. Buy Mobil 1 or Ford OEM filters.. they are some of the best on the market and just drive it.

PS - DO NOT BUY FRAM FILTERS!!!
 






So I didn't read the whole thing - but has anyone looked up or mentioned how the OLM system works?

If I recall correctly it's even slightly explained in the book. There is no sensor - other than oil level.

it's a time/usage calcualtion calibrated and run by the ECU. IE - fresh oil and reset = _________ miles till oil change from rest of ________ miles. so let's say you have 120000 miles at day one minute one.

every cold start - takes away X%
Every jack rabbit start - takes away Y%
Every double gear down pass on the highway - takes away Z%
.
.
.
rolling miles on cruise - take away R%.

and the values vary a bit and are all small percentages. but it slowly counts downwards - and presents the remaining value as a % of time as opposed to _______ miles because that is harder to rationalize if you were to start watching it move a bunch.

And here's the kicker - other than a few notable companies they all mostly work this way. The values are tuned for various differences oil capacity - cooling capacity - throttle responsiveness, etc etc. which is why 2 cars with the same basic engine might end up with different intervals.

This interval is also calibrated against the engine running on test stands - on OE oil with an OE filter. so yes if you're using super duper good stuffs then sure it's potentially a little conservative. But it's a great test model vs going by nothing.

If you want to try to go beyond OLM - and you want to really worry about it - get a oil test done. Blackstone is the most known - I think there is another company out there.

But 2 simple things - OLM is safe for your motor at least till warranty without major issues. Any interval below OLM is slightly safer.

now - I don't recommend going out beyond OLM and I don't recommend using super spendy oils and filters on a Daily driver device. But I do recommend using quality stuffs and a mid oil change filter change. Don't change oil brands all the time - not so much because it could hurt the engine but because they might use differing additives and you might as well keep something consistent.

motorcraft oil is perfectly find - it's a syn blend, but then use whatever blows your kilt up. I personally don't like mobil anything, and I won't use purple or red oil either.

filters - I normally use a wix, or the motorcraft one. there are others, it's your dollars not mine.

air filters - same thing here - I do like K&N filters, and Green Filters - but I'm going to try one of these new dry fibre polyester devices. I hear good things, but do you need one, no.

PCV trap - yes by all means do this as soon as the warranty is up - for the good of your intake valve and your injectors. do you need to - no you don't.

OH and there is a lot of debate on this - but I say your motor oil isn't good for a full year. many reasons but mostly due to temp swings and exposure to water vapor - creates some acids and the like in the mixes. NOW if you do use a synthetic oil that is a class 4 PAO (poly something olefin - I'm not a chemist) and is pure as the driven snow - those don't break down the same way and don't create acid. Mobil 1 or Royal purple are in this category though - this is that really spendy stuff. So if nothing else - change the oil at least once per year.
 






Knowing when to get an oil change isn't that technical. I cannot and will not be subject to some fancy monitor Ford put in to induce me into using it to govern my intervals. As I said, my situation is a bit different than most as I don't put the miles on my rigs as before when I was working so, I change my oil after so many months, in my case, 18 months.

As for the function of this monitor, it really isn't that complicated. It's based on time more than any other parameter. Each day that goes by takes a bit of the percentage off. With my driving habits, this monitor has counted down and reminded me to change my oil when I have only 1500 to 2000 miles on my car so, it's time based more than anything else.

That said, this may be a good guide to use for those that put many more miles on their cars than someone like myself so, it shouldn't be discounted. It is somewhat of a 'check engine' light; a reminder to cover those individuals who don't pay attention to oil change intervals. I think if you delve too far into the technicalities of this monitor, you may be subject to creating your own horror show. Going and getting tests done on your oil is personal discovery and not necessary, IMO but, it's your dime and you may find it somewhat satisfying. For those who just want to maintain their 'intervals', go by what you've always done. :salute:
 



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You will get many answers on this and as you can see, your thread was moved into a very long thread....

Here is the short and honest answer. The Ford oil life monitor does a very good job of telling you when it is due to be changed. This has been confirmed by several oil samples sent into labs by members, myself included. You are quite safe to follow the oil monitor and not worry. My Explorer has 83 or 84,000 miles on it now (wife drives it) and I follow the monitor. Typically I get close to 10,000 miles per change. My F350 gets typically 7,500 miles per change before it is required so it is different by vehicle and driving habits.

If you are unsure, just request a Blackstone kit from Blackstone labs and have your oil sampled. Or you can follow others who say to just change it at 5,000 miles and not worry about it. But again, it has been proven the monitor works and the oil is good when it tells you to change so my opinion is.. change it when it tells you to and don't worry about it.

Also, keep in mind that every one always talks about changing the OIL... but never comments about the oil filter. The filter is key.... after all, it is what the oil goes through to remove the contaminants. Buy Mobil 1 or Ford OEM filters.. they are some of the best on the market and just drive it.

PS - DO NOT BUY FRAM FILTERS!!!

This is basically the conclusion that I came too. Talking to "tech" folks and insiders, it makes the most sense. The "computer" is tied into everything and does all the "calculations" I'm happy with the interval I get. However I am disappointed with my FORD service, it's horrible. I guess I'm going to find another "dealer" . Thanks
 






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