[rebelx]

Yes, I know, yet another oil change question.

I'm at about 6900 miles now with 4 months of ownership. In about two weeks, I'll be not driving much for the next 5 weeks'ish. At the end of the coming 2 weeks, I'll be sitting around 7700-7800 miles.

I see that the owner's guide suggest a 7500 mile interval for oil changes. There is also a first service at 10000 miles (according to this dealer website), which I am approaching soon.

My question is when to get the oil change done (based on 90% highway driving):

1. ASAP (6900 miles)
2. In two weeks, right before my 5 week break (~7700-7800 miles)
3. In 7 weeks, right after my break (~8000 miles)
4. During my first service (~10000 miles)

My first oil change is free, so I don't mind doing it now, however, it might be a waste if the oil gets changed during the first service anyways.

Thoughts?

 

[old greybeard]

I'd do it now, and then again at 15K. And every 7.5k afterward. Ignore the 10k. 7.5 is fine with your highway miles. 10k intervals would probably be fine as well, 7.5k is cheap insurance.
Just keep a eye on usage if you go for the longer intervals.
I changed mine at 1k. Will change again at 5k and every 5k afterward. But I only drive 10k a year.
BTW my oil was filthy at 1k. I know you can't tell by looking but it was black! No particles noted in the oil.

 

[wavsine]

*1. ASAP (6900 miles)
2. In two weeks, right before my 5 week break (~7700-7800 miles)
3. In 7 weeks, right after my break (~8000 miles)
4. During my first service (~10000 miles)

Yesterday. You have already gone much longer than I would on a first oil change. A brand new engine likely will have metal particles in the oil from break in. Yes, the oil filter removes most of these but the tiny FL-910S oil filter has a finite capacity.

 

[zhent]

Mine is only at 1000mi and I'm in no hurry to change it. At my most recent gas stop the oil was still clean and golden, but I am interested to see how soon others do their first change.

 

[TooOld]

Mine is only at 1000mi and I'm in no hurry to change it. At my most recent gas stop the oil was still clean and golden, but I am interested to see how soon others do their first change.

I did my 2014 at ≈ 2600 miles, however, that was ≈ 13 months from the build date on the factory fill.

 

[IcanDrive55]

I just did my first change at a hair under 5,000 miles. Any particular reason for that interval....nah....just seemed like a nice even number less than the manufacturer recommendation but not as crazy as changing it every 3,000 miles as I've always done before in other vehicles. I'll probably change it at every 5,000 miles.

 

[rebelx]

*1. ASAP (6900 miles)
2. In two weeks, right before my 5 week break (~7700-7800 miles)
3. In 7 weeks, right after my break (~8000 miles)
4. During my first service (~10000 miles)

Yesterday. You have already gone much longer than I would on a first oil change. A brand new engine likely will have metal particles in the oil from break in. Yes, the oil filter removes most of these but the tiny FL-910S oil filter has a finite capacity.

Thanks! Some of the guys on the ST forums didn't seem that concerned in posts from several months/year ago, so I didn't take changing the oil too seriously before hitting 7500. I'll make the appointment for Monday or Tuesday.

 

[PacketHauler]

Here's my take; if the manufacturer recommended you change it at 1,000 miles, it would featured prominently in the owner manual, as well as the maintenance schedule.

As long as you follow the manufacturer's recommendation, you should be fine. The car will notify you when to get the oil changed based on your driving style, ambient temp, etc. I'm not taking mine to get the oil changed until the car tells me. That's also the recommendation in the manual.

I know this is a hot topic in the automotive community. Oil these days along with engine manufacturing tolerances, are much better now than they were even, 10-25 years ago.

Drive more, worry less!

 

[old greybeard]

Really, you think the auto companies tell us whats best for our cars?, or what will make it easier for lazy Americans. I guarantee it is considered a selling point to stretch out the mileage. Yet they make it clear that any stop and go, heavy loads or towing needs closer changes.
I've ridden high compression sport bikes in the past. A 500 mile and 1k oil change with low rpm break in is normal. But bike people are different. And the bikes rev a little faster. But these engines aren't that different.
Cheap insurance, I just paid $23 for 5 qts Castrol synthetic at Wal Mart, felt good to get that black oil out at 1k and synthetic in. Will my motor last longer? We'll never know. But I am at about 500k in various Fords and have never had on use oil between changes. Not about to find out if waiting for the little light to come on does as well as 5k changes.

 

[TooOld]

Really, you think the auto companies tell us whats best for our cars?...

I do. Especially in such a competitive market.

 

[gatzdon]

Did anyone else notice that the dealer website OP linked to is recommending that the spark plugs be changed at 10,000 miles?

Other than inspections, the only work Ford recommends prior to 100,000 miles is oil/filter, engine air filter, and cabin air filter changes.

Best website for maintenance schedule info is Ford's Fleet Website. Much easier to navigate and get to what you need (maintenance schedule, owners guide PDF, etc...).

http://www.fleet.ford.com/maintenance/

While Ford recommends using the built in Intelligent Oil Life Monitoring System to determine when to change the oil (it's supposed to take into consideration driving conditions), the Focus doesn't allow you to view it's current status. As a result, you cannot determine if it was ever accidentally reset. While Ford recommends 10,000 mile intervals, follow your personal schedule that you feel most comfortable with.

 

[PacketHauler]

Really, you think the auto companies tell us whats best for our cars?, or what will make it easier for lazy Americans. I guarantee it is considered a selling point to stretch out the mileage. Yet they make it clear that any stop and go, heavy loads or towing needs closer changes.
I've ridden high compression sport bikes in the past. A 500 mile and 1k oil change with low rpm break in is normal. But bike people are different. And the bikes rev a little faster. But these engines aren't that different.
Cheap insurance, I just paid $23 for 5 qts Castrol synthetic at Wal Mart, felt good to get that black oil out at 1k and synthetic in. Will my motor last longer? We'll never know. But I am at about 500k in various Fords and have never had on use oil between changes. Not about to find out if waiting for the little light to come on does as well as 5k changes.

I think that there is still a lot of old-school thinking around oil-change intervals. Great article from Edmunds on this very subject:

http://www.edmunds.com/car-care/stop-changing-your-oil.html

Even Toyota is recommending 10,000 mile oil change intervals (the reliability king). Even my wife's (Mopar) 2014 Caravan has a 10k oil change interval.

I've been through other auto forums and there a countless posts that have had people sent their used oil back to labs for analysis and show that there is plenty of useful life left in oil at 7,500 and 10,000 miles intervals. The lab results don't lie.

If an auto maker was recommending oil changes that negatively affect a car's longevity, I guarantee everyone would hear about it, and that manufacturer would get buried.

As far as viewing the current oil status, gatzdon is correct, that the monitor could have been accidently reset, but since I bought my car with 13 miles on it, I'm not very concerned about the potential for it being 13 miles off. [rolleyes]

 

[PacketHauler]

Did anyone else notice that the dealer website OP linked to is recommending that the spark plugs be changed at 10,000 miles?

Other than inspections, the only work Ford recommends prior to 100,000 miles is oil/filter, engine air filter, and cabin air filter changes.

Best website for maintenance schedule info is Ford's Fleet Website. Much easier to navigate and get to what you need (maintenance schedule, owners guide PDF, etc...).

http://www.fleet.ford.com/maintenance/

While Ford recommends using the built in Intelligent Oil Life Monitoring System to determine when to change the oil (it's supposed to take into consideration driving conditions), the Focus doesn't allow you to view it's current status. As a result, you cannot determine if it was ever accidentally reset. While Ford recommends 10,000 mile intervals, follow your personal schedule that you feel most comfortable with.

That link is useful and interesting. The page doesn't even give you an oil change interval in the regular maintenance schedule. It says explicitly to follow the oil monitor's recommendation. First service item isn't really until 20k.

 

[Tabor]

It says explicitly to follow the oil monitor's recommendation.

Exactly, the manual says that the OLM can go off as soon as 3K or as long as 10K.

 

[Elizabeth]

Ford spark plugs have been at 100,000 miles for a long time. the 10,000 has to be a typo.

 

[gatzdon]

Ford spark plugs have been at 100,000 miles for a long time. the 10,000 has to be a typo.

I agree, but how serious can you take a dealership when they can't proofread such a significant error.

 

[Blackfofo]

Can I run full synthetic mobil 1 extended performance in my 14 focus ? Because on mobile 1s ford service fill approval box has an "x" in it? And yes I bought 5w-20

 

[Tabor]

Can I run full synthetic mobil 1 extended performance in my 14 focus ? Because on mobile 1s ford service fill approval box has an "x" in it? And yes I bought 5w-20

Yes, both regular Mobil 1 and Mobil 1 EP meet Ford WSS-M2C945-A in the 5W-20 grade.

Actually, AFAIK, you can use any API SN 5W-20.

 

[rebelx]

Yes, both regular Mobil 1 and Mobil 1 EP meet Ford WSS-M2C945-A in the 5W-20 grade.

Actually, AFAIK, you can use any API SN 5W-20.

If I wanted the dealership to do their labor, but use my oil (Mobil, etc), do you know if that's something they would do?

 

[TooOld]

If I wanted the dealership to do their labor, but use my oil (Mobil, etc), do you know if that's something they would do?

I can't imagine any dealer doing that, and even if they did, they would still charge you for the 4.5 qts of oil they didn't use.