when should i change oil?

[keithsm2]

Ive got about 800 miles on the fusion....and will be leaving on a 2000 mile trip this week....Am I ok to go that far before first oil change?? I have always changed out the break in oil much earlier than that in the past....but basically the engine probably only has 400 miles on it so far due to EV miles....

 

Just not a fan of running the break in oil tooooo long....

 

 

Keith

[hybridbear]

This topic probably belongs in the Maintenance section...

 

I changed out break-in oil myself after about 100 ICE miles. Then dealer changed oil again (with my free coupons) after about 900 ICE miles since that was right before we were going to leave on a 4500 mile road trip. Oil was changed again right after we returned from road trip. We'll be leaving in a few weeks on a 5000 mile road trip and I plan to change oil again right before we leave and again right after we come back.

[coltm733]

This topic probably belongs in the Maintenance section...

 

I changed out break-in oil myself after about 100 ICE miles. Then dealer changed oil again (with my free coupons) after about 900 ICE miles since that was right before we were going to leave on a 4500 mile road trip. Oil was changed again right after we returned from road trip. We'll be leaving in a few weeks on a 5000 mile road trip and I plan to change oil again right before we leave and again right after we come back.

 

Holy! 5000 miles?! Is your car the Google maps car?!

[hybridbear]

Holy! 5000 miles?! Is your car the Google maps car?!

Haha we're driving across Canada to visit family. Visiting 5 different cities in 3 Provinces and crossing through another

[shaggy314]

I think the oil monitor will tell you when it ready and that the guide is for over 10000 miles.

 

The years of being lied to about 3000 miles or 3 months is long past.

Edited June 9, 2013 by shaggy314

[murphy]

The car did not come with "break-in" oil in it.

It was regular oil.

The car will tell you when it is time to change the oil.

The spec is 10,000 miles or 12 months whichever comes first.

 

http://www.edmunds.com/car-care/top-7-urban-legends-about-motor-oil.html

[acdii]

Ditto on what Murphy and shaggy said. No longer is there break in oil in cars, they are so well manufactured now with tight tolerances that the oil they ship with is good for the first 10K. Not saying its a bad thing to change it out so soon, but your wasting resources and money by doing so. After all these are "Hybrids" and meant to "save" the environment! :)

 

If for some reason though that you are planning a long road trip and you know the miles being put on will put you past the 10K mark, then go ahead and get it changed. I did that on the F150 knowing that it will have 10K or more when I got back.

[storksb]

I agree with previous posts that there is no need to change the oil until 10000 miles. The myth of changing oil at 3000 miles is perpetuated by oil companies and dealers looking to make extra profits. Save your money and oil!

[rico567]

A few things:

 

1. Given modern manufacturing techniques, "break-in" is no longer relevant.

 

2. Engines are delivered nowadays with regular oil, meant to be run for the manufacturer's spec.

 

3. Yes, synthetic oils are better.

 

4. As someone said, if a person is changing oil at 3,000 miles, that person is living in the past.

 

5. The ONLY way to determine oil condition is to have a UOA* done.

 

*Used Oil Assessment. I have used Blackstone Labs in Fort Wayne, IN (Google it). They will send you the kit free, the UOA (which they will send via e-mail as a .pdf) is $25. You can peruse hundreds of UOAs on BITOG (Bob Is The Oil Guy), which as far as I am concerned is THE definitive source on the Internet for learning about lubricants. It's impossible to tell from someone else's UOA exactly how things will work out in your car, because driving habits and conditions vary, therefore so will the condition of the oil.

[shaggy314]

I agree with previous posts that there is no need to change the oil until 10000 miles. The myth of changing oil at 3000 miles is perpetuated by oil companies and dealers looking to make extra profits. Save your money and oil!

 

Well them and Juffy Lube...

[GrayStrider]

Although I felt strange waiting so long, we had ours done at 10,000 miles. The reminder on the dash popped up about 250 miles beforehand, if I remember correctly. I think the book says 15,000 for the second one - thoughts? Why not 20,000?

[acdii]

eh, just wait until the low oil light comes on to change.

 

 

 

I'm kidding guys, KIDDING! I havent read the manual, so cant say what the second oil change is, but I never heard of varying oil change intervals, and would stick with the 10K changes.

[corncobs]

If you go with the book it's one year or 10k which ever comes first.

 

[keithsm2]

I can understand after the break in period of going so long...but i have a hard time believing there isnt just a little extra wear going on during the break-in period creating some extra particles in the oil. ( it DOES have a break in period after all ). seems things are seating and such....( ie wear). not sure how much an oil change is...but it doesnt seem unreasonable to go ahead and change at 5K and then go for 10 from then on...

 

just my thoughts.

[jeff_h]

I can understand after the break in period of going so long...but i have a hard time believing there isnt just a little extra wear going on during the break-in period creating some extra particles in the oil. ( it DOES have a break in period after all ). seems things are seating and such....( ie wear). not sure how much an oil change is...but it doesnt seem unreasonable to go ahead and change at 5K and then go for 10 from then on...

 

just my thoughts.

 

Since you have not yet changed it for the first time, you can take the info in an above post and do that oil analysis thing if you really want to know. Personally I change my SE Hybrid every 5k now (manual above says 10k) and will change in the Energi every 10k (manual above says 20k), not too concerned about overdoing it, as it's my money.

[Waldo]

I can understand after the break in period of going so long...but i have a hard time believing there isnt just a little extra wear going on during the break-in period creating some extra particles in the oil.

 

That's what the oil filter is for.

[acdii]

What Waldo said. Ford uses one of the best oil filters available. The Motorcraft brand of filters are some of the top rated filters, right up along with WIX(probably off the same assembly line too). They will catch and hold onto any wear particles during the break in period. Also keep in mind these engines are very well made, with CNC machining, and very tight tolerances, the break in period is greatly reduced, only thing to break in are the rings, and those are seated before the engine is even connected to the transmission. It is pretty interesting to see how the engines are assembled, they are connected to a machine that runs them up with compressed air to simulate hard acceleration/deceleration to mimic what is usually done to seat the rings after it is installed in a car. After that is when they put the oil fill in, during their run in they use pumped in oil.

 

I was hoping to find some online photos of the assembly line, but not many out there. It is a pretty interesting process though.

[lolder]

I can understand after the break in period of going so long...but i have a hard time believing there isnt just a little extra wear going on during the break-in period creating some extra particles in the oil. ( it DOES have a break in period after all ). seems things are seating and such....( ie wear). not sure how much an oil change is...but it doesnt seem unreasonable to go ahead and change at 5K and then go for 10 from then on...

 

just my thoughts.

There's hardly any break in wear on modern engines and what little there is will be trapped in the filter. Don't worry about it. The Owners Guide caveat to avoid driving at a steady speed doesn't really apply either as the hybrid system is continually varying the engine speed unless you're on an absolutely flat road.

[acdii]

And even then it varies as electric will kick in to assist.

[GrySql]

Old habits are hard to break, new ideas are fine, but proven methods are hard to change.

To you folks that swap cars every 30,000 - 40,000 miles it doesn't make any difference what you do.

Go ahead, test your oil, be happy.

Let us spend $30 bucks changing our oil when we want. For heavens sake, these cars only hold 4-1/2 quarts of oil, it's not like it's a diesel and 12-15 quarts.

We're not decimating the 'green' world, we're saving gas now.

For those of us that feel like spending a few bucks changing our oil sooner than the marketing driven Owners Manual says, give us a break, please.

Like some, I drive the wheels off my cars and preventive maintenance works, my cars run, are reliable and sell for at KBB's high retail because they look and drive correctly, even at 169k miles, like my last car. Anecdotal, sure, I'm happy.

I change all the other fluids early too, even change the tires before they are threadbare, a waste of money you say? Not when you're driving up CA-395 in the desert when the temps are 110F and the family is in the car. Running over a piece of metal, my last tire blowout was there, next to the cow skeleton head w/horns and the vultures - that's why I have a spare tire in this car now.

My professional life proved to me that prevention works, do what you want, I'll continue to do what I want.

After all, the use of the vehicle, quality of the oil/filter and environment the vehicle is used in is important, single answers are not precise. So, instead of spending $25 on an oil anaylsis, I change the oil. Yes, I've read the "Bob is the oil guy" website....

This topic is like -->

Edited June 22, 2013 by GrySql

[Sleddog]

Of course it is like beating a dead horse. But someone always starts threads like this every few months. Folks need to do what they want and they are welcome to do so. But, when they ask for advice, you get what we have here. And you get it again, again and again. I've seen it on other vehicle forums.

 

My retired 2001 Focus, 361,318 miles, had the oil changed at the recommended interval of 5000 miles. No issues, no problems, and when it was traded in, I got the high blue book for it.

 

So, again, do what you want. I will do what I want. Piece of mind is important to some, while not wasting resources is important to others.

 

Move along..... These are not the droids you are looking for.... Move along....

Edited June 22, 2013 by Sleddog

[rico567]

At 11:20 in this video they show a BMW engine undergoing a "cold test" by being spun up with an electric motor instead of compressed air:

 

 

 

They state in the video that BMW claims this test is more informative than firing it up with gasoline.