tsarty17 Posted January 14, 2015 at 07:48 AM Report Share Posted January 14, 2015 at 07:48 AM I am a big fan of changing oil often. I drive a powerstroke and people say to change every 7-10k and I still do it around 4k. It's not very expensive and motors love it. My question is, when do you guys change yours? Obviously depends how much electric driving you do. Do you guys use synthetic? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphy Posted January 14, 2015 at 09:22 AM Report Share Posted January 14, 2015 at 09:22 AM The car will tell you when it is time to change the oil. The specification for the car is 2 years or 20,000 miles, whichever comes first. My engine usually doesn't run during the spring, summer, and fall months. Rexracer and Hybridbear 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff_h Posted January 14, 2015 at 12:22 PM Report Share Posted January 14, 2015 at 12:22 PM It's really up to you as it's your money... but the manual says 20k like Murphy notes. I have lives with the paradigm of changing every 3k for many years, so personally I do mine each 10k (changing at 40k tomorrow) but I have a long commute with lots of ICE driving. Hybridbear 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russael Posted January 14, 2015 at 01:24 PM Report Share Posted January 14, 2015 at 01:24 PM I used to change the oil in my Expo every 3k with synthetic... but I have switched to Mobile 1 Extended performance, so now I only change it once a year. It spends most of the time in the garage collecting dust and might get 1.5 to 2k miles on it during that year. I went to that oil due to the 1 year oil change interval. As Jeff and Murphy stated, the car has its own oil life monitor that goes by a timer (2 years) or by how often the ICE is run (I'm talking out of my butt with this, but I believe it monitors engine hours). I've read a few articles and watched a few videos about people who have tested those oil life monitors and they've all come back reliable. Like Murphy, my ICE doesn't run in late spring, all of summer, and early fall. It runs nearly every day now with temperatures in the single digits, but I have since switched to running in EV-Auto rather than EV Now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsarty17 Posted January 14, 2015 at 04:00 PM Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2015 at 04:00 PM I knew about the computer but am skeptical. Bmw has "lifetime" trans fluid which is a joke. Lol. And I changed oil on a crv which has the computer. Said it needed a change at 22k and the oil was beyond black. Just curious whet you guys did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rexracer Posted January 14, 2015 at 05:08 PM Report Share Posted January 14, 2015 at 05:08 PM I knew about the computer but am skeptical. Bmw has "lifetime" trans fluid which is a joke. Lol. And I changed oil on a crv which has the computer. Said it needed a change at 22k and the oil was beyond black. Just curious whet you guys did. Black oil has nothing to do with the condition of the oil. Oil will turn black after a few hours/days of diving in a lot of cars. If you really want to know the condition of the oil you have to send it to the lab and have it tested. A quick Google search gave me this http://www.blackstone-labs.com/ which offers free at home oil testing kits. Maybe worth checking out. When I worked at an auto shop, I saw a 3 year old Toyota Tacoma a local farmer had gotten for his son. Loaded, 4wd, extended cab, V6. The kid had never changed the oil so at 48k miles the engine seized. So I understand the need for proper oil maintenance, but I am also fairly lazy, so in my Focus I was going 5-10k miles on regular dino oil. I sold the car with 188k miles with no issues, and 3 years later I know the car is still on the road running perfectly. The 3k oil change is the big conspiracy like Valentines day, just big companies making people paranoid to sell their products. :hysterical: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsarty17 Posted January 15, 2015 at 03:45 AM Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2015 at 03:45 AM Black was a poor choice of words. Diesels get black the second you put it in. In the crv It was thick and about a qrt low. We actually dropped the pan and found sludge in the bottom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rexracer Posted January 16, 2015 at 12:17 AM Report Share Posted January 16, 2015 at 12:17 AM Black was a poor choice of words. Diesels get black the second you put it in. In the crv It was thick and about a qrt low. We actually dropped the pan and found sludge in the bottom. I would still go by the oil life monitor. To be on the "safe" side you could watch it get down to 20% and change it then, or at 18 months instead of 2 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybridbear Posted January 16, 2015 at 03:23 PM Report Share Posted January 16, 2015 at 03:23 PM One thing you could consider is using one of your trip meters to track ICE miles between oil changes. In our car (a 2013) I just use the Lifetime Summary to accomplish this. Just remember that the thousands place is hidden for EV miles on that screen so you'll have to do some paying attention to know what the data says. Our car has about 6500 miles on the odometer and about 5000 ICE miles. Once we get home from our road trip we'll have about 8600 odometer miles and about 6700-6800 ICE miles. I'll probably change the oil soon after that just to get the first fill out. I know from seeing Blackstone analysis done by other owners of our cars that the oil initially has a high level of contaminants due to "break-in". FWIW, at about 5000 ICE miles right now the IOLM shows about 70% oil life remaining... Our 5000 ICE miles are all freeway. We have not yet had the ICE kick on in the city during normal driving, only on long drives. During most of our long drives the ICE comes on and is on for long periods without shutting off. We had one stretch on this road trip where the ICE was running for over an hour without cycling into EV mode. This is probably some of the easiest operation for oil life and explains why the IOLM hasn't dropped more. Since our car is a 2013 and was built in spring 2013 I will be changing the oil in a few months because it will be the 24 month mark, regardless of miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadRock Posted February 2, 2015 at 04:54 AM Report Share Posted February 2, 2015 at 04:54 AM I go off of the Oil Life Monitor and change my own, it doesn't happen often but when it does this is what it looks like.... http://youtu.be/fdXENJFMliA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaggy314 Posted February 19, 2015 at 05:26 AM Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 at 05:26 AM Many consumer reporters and auto tech talk shows (NPR's Car Talk) say that changing your oil more frequently than recommended is only a waste of money and oil. http://www.edmunds.com/car-care/stop-changing-your-oil.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/11/your-money/11shortcuts.html?pagewanted=allhttp://support.ford.com/maintenance/when-to-change-oilhttp://www.cartalk.com/content/car-talk-service-advice-oil-changeshttp://www.clarkhoward.com/news/clark-howard/show-notes/recommended-oil-change-intervals-now-set-7500-mile/nFkb/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadRock Posted March 13, 2015 at 03:36 AM Report Share Posted March 13, 2015 at 03:36 AM It's been nearly 10 months and 20k miles and the oil life indicator still says 28%, not bad. Hybridbear 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pioneer11 Posted March 14, 2015 at 12:36 AM Report Share Posted March 14, 2015 at 12:36 AM I have now had 3 vehicles with oil life monitors and I just change the oil on the first weekend after it hits 10% remaining. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevedebi Posted March 16, 2015 at 05:39 PM Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 at 05:39 PM I have now had 3 vehicles with oil life monitors and I just change the oil on the first weekend after it hits 10% remaining.Not sure if it can be done with the Energi, but with my Escape Hybrid I was able to change the percentage, so I set it downward after each oil change, so it went off on the severe schedule rather than the normal 10K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonzo71 Posted March 17, 2015 at 07:13 PM Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 at 07:13 PM Speaking of oil, could the MFM be programmed to report the status of oil? after all, if it can report tire pressure, it should be able to report oil too. Just wishing MFM could do more... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphy Posted March 17, 2015 at 07:37 PM Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 at 07:37 PM The status of the oil is in the Vehicle Health Report. Hybridbear and jeff_h 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsarty17 Posted March 18, 2015 at 06:32 AM Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 at 06:32 AM I changed mine at 6500. First oil change. Figured I'd clean out the initial deposits. Then I plan on every 10k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT3113 Posted March 20, 2015 at 04:06 AM Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 at 04:06 AM I would change the oil for your first time a little early to be safe... Just had mine changed at 15k (still had 30% on the oil life)... mechanic found a transmission leak. Cars at Ford right now getting fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlin309 Posted April 1, 2017 at 10:35 PM Report Share Posted April 1, 2017 at 10:35 PM HEY FORD - -HELLO - -Fusion Energi Titanium. New car and wanted to check the oil lifeManual says: Go to Settings, Vehicle, and you'll see an Oil Life Tab. NOT THERE, HELLO - - NOT THEREI dislike incompetence, and if my fault, will smack myself with a rubber hose. If your idiocy, I expect you will do the same.Yes - - I have checked for firmware updates - - all are up to date.Miles - - about 3200 - - so not overly concerned - - but as I purchased an extended warranty, I am NOT interested in playing this game.Reply Expected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphy Posted April 1, 2017 at 11:39 PM Report Share Posted April 1, 2017 at 11:39 PM It's in the left dash screen on my 2013, not the center console.It is also included in a vehicle health report. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaleido Posted April 4, 2017 at 07:07 PM Report Share Posted April 4, 2017 at 07:07 PM So there is no first time change the oil at say, 1000 miles. I guess there is no break in oil anymore. Now if I only put 6000 miles a year on, and if 4000 of those miles are on electric only,and I change my oil every 20000 miles. I've got 10 years until my oil change. Yea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphy Posted April 5, 2017 at 12:06 AM Report Share Posted April 5, 2017 at 12:06 AM So there is no first time change the oil at say, 1000 miles. I guess there is no break in oil anymore. Now if I only put 6000 miles a year on, and if 4000 of those miles are on electric only,and I change my oil every 20000 miles. I've got 10 years until my oil change. Yea!The requirement is 20,000 miles or 2 years, whichever comes first. Timewellspent 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaggy314 Posted May 4, 2017 at 04:33 PM Report Share Posted May 4, 2017 at 04:33 PM (edited) keep in mind your car knows all miles aren't gas engine miles, so the oil life monitor is only supposed to track overall time and/or gas engine running. If you are like me and 85% electric running, your oil hits the 2 years and not the 20,000 gas miles first. #humblebrag Edited May 4, 2017 at 04:33 PM by shaggy314 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JATR4 Posted May 28, 2017 at 11:07 PM Report Share Posted May 28, 2017 at 11:07 PM (edited) Got the "change engine oil soon" light a few days ago at 23,000+ miles. Had changed the oil previously at 14,000+. Changed at a quick change station. I was concerned since it had only been 9,000 miles since the previous change. But upon further reflection, the quick change station probably didn't reset the oil life monitor and neither did I. That makes sense that the change engine oil soon light didn't come on until 23,000+ miles since I get 145mpg. Edited May 29, 2017 at 01:53 AM by JATR4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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