First oil change at 10,000 miles?

[tamedcowboy]

I have about 700 miles on my 2015 Ford Focus SE with the 2.0L Ti-VCT I-4 Flex Fuel (not the EcoBoost). Should I do my first oil change when the oil life monitor tells me (which will probably be around 10,000 miles), or should my first oil change be sooner? I wasn't sure if the oil collects more particles during break in and would need a sooner first oil change.

 

[Branson304]

I would do first oil change at 5,000 then listen to the oil life monitor after that. Remember to use Motorcraft synthetic blend or a quality full synthetic & quality filter in the future.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Uh, oh... we haven't had this question asked this week yet.

Welcome to another heated debate on whether to dump factory fill early or not.

My answer is still the same: do whatever helps you sleep better at night. Your car won't care either way.

 

[ExMachina]

Change it out at 1500 miles.
Many UOAs have shown high wear metals like iron in there on new engines with the Factory-Fill FF.
Your oil filter can take out particles down to about 30 microns, leaving a very fine iron powder circulating around. Since the engine is very new, it can tolerate it, but its not the best. An oil change to M1 Ext Performance EP oil or Castrol Edge Ext Perf oil (gold jug) at walmart.com is your best choice.
Also, Fram Ultras get the smallest particles out and are built well.

 

[tamedcowboy]

Thanks Branson304. Yeah I planned on sticking with Motorcraft synthetic blend 5W20 and a Motorcraft filter.

 

[tamedcowboy]

That's good info. Thanks.

 

[ExMachina]

You can see and remove some of the iron particles you get by replacing the stock drain plug with a quality goldplug.com OR drainplugmagnets.com, strong magnets. (A lot of cheap ones are weak magnets and don't do much.)

 

[robo339]

Originally Posted By: Branson304
I would do first oil change at 5,000 then listen to the oil life monitor after that. Remember to use Motorcraft synthetic blend or a quality full synthetic & quality filter in the future.


Yup this right here is what I did my dealership recommends this as well for first oci then go by the olm 10k

 

[CT8]

How long do you keep your vehicles? Changing the fluids early pays off [if it does] after the hundreds of thousands of miles. If you turn over your vehicles after a few years don't waste the money.

 

[CT8]

njm
Originally Posted By: ExMachina
You can see and remove some of the iron particles you get by replacing the stock drain plug with a quality goldplug.com OR drainplugmagnets.com, strong magnets. (A lot of cheap ones are weak magnets and don't do much.)
What about the trans,differential and power steering fluids?

 

[jimbrewer]

Originally Posted By: Branson304
I would do first oil change at 5,000 then listen to the oil life monitor after that. Remember to use Motorcraft synthetic blend or a quality full synthetic & quality filter in the future.


That's what I did with my Ford. Supposedly you treat it like any other oil change. But what if there is some truth to this stuff about left over iron filings from the manufacturing process. What then? I figure waffling a little bit on the first change won't hurt. So I changed at 4,000 miles.

After that I ran the monitor down to zero (really it signals a change at 5%) and tested. It was fine. I could have run it another 1,000 miles, easily. Since then I relaxed on the oil and changed the transmission oil and differential oil early instead. after all, what if there are iron filings in there?

 

[Branson304]

I'm not that worried about it. We did first oil change on all our younger Fords at 5,000 miles. The F-250 is at 70,000 & Fusion at 112,000 with no issues. I don't think it hurts anything to run the factory fill to 5,000. We have a 2011 F-350 6.2L for business as well, we changed factory fill at 5,000 on it too & it now has 135,000 of mostly towing under its belt with no issues. I don't think it's a big deal either way, just whatever tickles someone's fancy. I know everyone has their own opinion and nobody is wrong. Lol

 

[Bigdaddyeasy]

Doesn't it take a few ocis to get break in wear out?

 

[TiredTrucker]

Only thing I wait till 10,000 miles on for the initial oil change is my semi trucks. Fro all my autos and pickups, I change out factory fill at between 1000 and 2000 miles. But then, I change out all factory oils, gear lube, and trans fluid before 3000 miles. Just me. Not advocating anyone follow my lead.

If you saw what the magnetic drain plug looked like on just the transfer case on my last two pickups, at only 3000 miles, you would probably follow the same regimen. The last two pickups, the plug looked like someone had stuck my cat's tail in a light socket.... all metal shavings on it from break in.

 

[Patman]

I wish that carmakers would adjust their oil life monitors so that on the first few oil changes it triggers an earlier change. I'm sure nobody would argue with me the fact that you can't possibly go as long on your very first OCI as you'll be able to do later on in an engine's life when it's fully broken in.

So for example if the perfect OCI later in an engine's life works out to be roughly 10,000 miles of highway driving, it would be nice if the oil life monitor would cut that figure in half for the first 20,000 miles.

I'm a big fan of following the oil life monitor on all the vehicles I own, but if I buy a new one I would do the first couple of oil changes when the oil life monitor was at the 50% mark and I would use my UOAs to determine the point at which I follow the oil life monitor right down to 0% on an OCI.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Patman
I wish that carmakers would adjust their oil life monitors so that on the first few oil changes it triggers an earlier change.

On the Q5 the first interval is at 5K miles. All the subsequent ones are every 10K miles. But it's not really an oil life monitor. It's just a simple mile counter.

Quote:
I'm sure nobody would argue with me the fact that you can't possibly go as long on your very first OCI as you'll be able to do later on in an engine's life when it's fully broken in.

Why not?

I have yet to see any evidence that going to full first OCI results in engine failure. People act as if the break-in particles cause some catastrophic engine damage. Again, I ask for evidence.

 

[bigt61]

On a new car, I'd just follow the OLM and keep it topped off. That's it, keep it simple. No early change, let the oil filter do it's job.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: Patman
I wish that carmakers would adjust their oil life monitors so that on the first few oil changes it triggers an earlier change.


My 08 Liberty triggered its first OCI @ 2602 miles, then about every 7,200-7,500 thereafter. Driving conditions are pretty much identical. I wonder if it was programmed for an early change?

 

[Scum_Frog]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
do whatever helps you sleep better at night. Your car won't care either way.


+1

 

[cmhj]

Originally Posted By: Scum_Frog
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
do whatever helps you sleep better at night. Your car won't care either way.


+1


Yup people worry too much