"Change Engine Oil Soon" appreared at 8K miles

[mwr]

I've always had my 2015 FFH serviced soon after that message appears, and it's always appeared about 500 miles before 10K has elapsed since the prior service. It came on today only 8K miles since the last service. But 11 1/2 months have elapsed since the last service (drove less during the pandemic). Is the "rule" 10K miles or 1 year, whichever comes first?

Edited July 16, 2021 by mwr

[murphy]

Yes, 1 year or 10,000 miles whichever comes first.

[MeeLee]

As a Ride sharer, I've been testing the real oil change intervals, and they're much lower.

I just finished 3 oil change intervals on full synthetic (colorless), and it's recommended to change at 6k miles.

After 6.6k miles, additional engine vibrations can be felt through the accelerator pedal.

 

I'm now testing semi synthetic 0W20.

If you use Amazon Basic, or Mobil 1, you're good for 7k miles.

I will further update this thread, because soon I'll test the cheaper bulk stuff you'll find your mechanic sells you.

On my Ford Fiesta, I could do 8k miles on Mobil 1 or Amazon Basic oil, but only 6.5k miles on the drums at my local mechanic.

 

The local mechanic recommends 5k miles oil change, out of the 6.5k miles they can do. I still have to get more oil changes to get to this exact number.

 

Driving for ride share, my 1 month oil change mileage will be higher than if you do the same miles as I per year, as a lot of the additives lose effectiveness over time. Meaning, the 6.6k miles I can get out of the oil, in 1 month, may show better oil, than if you do the same miles in 1 year.

 

Overall, I'd say: "Aim for 6k to 6.5k mile oil change intervals, slightly higher than the 5k your mechanic recommends. Definitely DON'T go over 7-8k miles.".

 

If you honor the 10k mile oil change interval, Ford will honor their "lifetime of the vehicle" as 100k miles, and your engine will see significant wear at 100k miles, with pumps failing and the likes...

Edited August 18, 2021 by MeeLee

[mwr]

33 minutes ago, MeeLee said:

If you honor the 10k mile oil change interval, Ford will honor their "lifetime of the vehicle" as 100k miles, and your engine will see significant wear at 100k miles, with pumps failing and the likes...

What evidence do you have for that?

[MeeLee]

15 hours ago, mwr said:

What evidence do you have for that?

10k oil changes have seen lots of cars break down after the 100k miles mark.

With the comment I meant to say, that the lifetime of the engine is significantly reduced.

The only million mile cars on the road, are those that do oil changes every 5k miles (which I think is a bit too soon).

I've never heard of a car which problem free made it much past 125-150k miles, with 10k mile oil change intervals. 

[Waldo]

Ford designs every part of the car for a lifetime of 150K miles, not 100K miles.  That includes the recommended 10K oil change intervals.  Engine failure due to oil issues is pretty rare in the industry, most vehicles have other problems that send them to the scrap heap long before the engine has any oil-related troubles.

 

What data are you using to determine that 6.5K is "recommended?  Are you having oil sample testing done at every change?

[mwr]

3 hours ago, MeeLee said:

10k oil changes have seen lots of cars break down after the 100k miles mark.

1. What evidence do you have for that?

2. The gas engines in our FFHs run only about 1/2 the time, or 1/2 the total mileage.

[MeeLee]

True, but even then, their oil needs to be changed just as frequent as regular gasoline cars, due to the frequent start stopping, and the higher engine load while driving and charging.

Especially in eco mode, when reaching 60kW (the second line on the kW output), where the charging drain is too high for my comfort. In eco, I try to keep the meter between 1 and 1.8.

[mwr]

MeeLee, I still see no evidence for anything you've said in this thread. Opinions, yes, and that's fine for you but not for me.

[MeeLee]

7 hours ago, mwr said:

MeeLee, I still see no evidence for anything you've said in this thread. Opinions, yes, and that's fine for you but not for me.

 

Then read some more autovlogs, and drive some more miles on your car.
Since I use my car professionally, I can tell when time comes to do the oil change.
Been able to detect all the signs on my last 2 cars too.

Your sign will be the throttle vibration; the biggest difference is when the oil gets changed.
If you're not able to tell when the throttle starts vibrating more than after an oil change, then register how much it does before an oil change, and how smooth it is right after.
It's your car, but I'm telling you, you're wasting your engine if you think 10k oil changes are ok.

Read the rest of the forums.
High mile vehicles all do 5k mile oil changes. Not 8 nor 10k miles.

[ethermion]

Really?  Feeling throttle vibrations?

 

The throttle is connected to a computer. 

[murphy]

The engine does not run all of the time.  10k on the odometer does not mean there is 10k on the engine.

The Energi oil change interval is 20k.

5k oil changes is a money maker for the dealer.

 

[VILSIS]

But I think the yearly oil change is ok, when I drive only 3,000 miles in the year.

[MeeLee]

On 11/18/2021 at 7:00 AM, murphy said:

The engine does not run all of the time.  10k on the odometer does not mean there is 10k on the engine.

The Energi oil change interval is 20k.

5k oil changes is a money maker for the dealer.

 

I wouldn't recommend 10k mile oil changes, let alone 20k.

The problem with this atkinson design is more carbon is pushed in the engine compartment.

I drive Uber/Lyft, and I can confidently say that my dealership's "full synthetic" oil last exactly 6,6k miles (I drive it often, and thus have less of an issue with water or pollution in the oil compared to people doing 6k miles per year).

Amazon Basics, and Mobil 1 seem to be able to be ran between 7,5 and 8k miles.

Oh, and the throttle definitely vibrates when the engine oil starts getting bad!

Regardless if it's connected to an ECU or direct linkage.
That is not the reason the throttle is vibrating.
It's vibrating more than likely because it's mounted at a spot on the chassis where the engine vibrations are easier felt.

 

Kind of reminds me of the Toyota Tundra guy, who rigorously changed his oil every 5k miles. He got 1 million miles in like 10 to 14 years on the car.

Engine vibrations are the first sign of engine wear.
If you are driving your car a lot, I'd recommend to change oil every 6-7k miles, or about 1 to 2 times a year.

High acceleration and fast driving also lower engine oil life.

 

You can extend oil life by running the engine at roughly 25kW (2,5 lines on the engage indicator, or 2 lines on the empower) in eco mode, and about half a bar further in performance mode.
It appears the engine is most smooth at those performance levels.