Can you please expand on this? I am honestly interested. A 10qt engine takes roughly how many intervals?
Skye is a Gen3 Coyote, with a factory oil cooler. The oil change specification is 10 quarts / 9.5 liters.
Good read, appreciate this. If you are going by Ford manual, that's 10,000 miles, but I see peop on this forum do every 5,000 miles. I was planning to do every 5,000 miles because this is my daily and I drive it hard, but you've got me thinking maybe I'll just follow the oil monitor life and do it closer to 7500-10,000 miles, just depends what the on screen monitor tells meSkye is a Gen3 Coyote, with a factory oil cooler. The oil change specification is 10 quarts / 9.5 liters.
My first oil change I performed an oil analysis. All results were nominal. In the comments, Blackstone mentioned it would take 2 - 3 oil changes to completely flush anything from the new engine. And this made sense to me.
I have the factory manuals for my truck. If rebuilding that engine, I'm to add one additional quart of oil. I suspect a Coyote would be the same: an amount over and above the 10 quarts would be specified.
We drain and replace 10 quarts, but not all of it comes out. There has to be some in the galleys, low-sitting places, the oil cooler lines, etc. Further, in new engines, at least one chemical reaction is occurring: passivation. Passivation is where the new copper is oxidizing; it's a natural and welcome change which helps protect those copper-based components.
The "flushing" effect Blackstone was referring to can be seen in my most recent oil analysis. Notice how some numbers continue to improve, while others associated with factory leave-behinds or new engines are fading.
I do believe in doing the 1000 mi, 1600 km oil change. For my generation of engine, Ford references a break-in period and mileage. For the Gen4, for whatever reason, Ford left the mileage reference out of the manual.
Doing the initial oil change early is simply a step towards goodness. I've been intentionally wearing and seating the internals. There have to be elements shed in the process. Further, it's difficult for me to imagine the block, heads and assembly were white glove clean at the factory. Blackstone's initial comments at the first oil analysis highlight high amounts of silicone and copper: a tell of a new Ford engine.
That's a bit much, but it gives insight as to what's going on and why I believe in selecting a brand, weight and using that consistently.
I referenced two to three oil changes to stabilize the characteristics of the oil. I do not believe multiple changes in quick succession are worthwhile. I did the early, initial oil change and have been following the Oil Life Monitor ever since.
Regarding the miles referenced below, Skye is a weekend and Holiday car, stored during the winter. She naturally doesn't see many miles. Weekday traffic in my area often consists of long processions of school busses, dump trucks and cement mixers, none of which is inspiring to drive in.
Yes, that's the baseline. For someone driving a Ford engine in a common use scenario, about 10,000 miles or once-a-year.
I think it's also they might not know where the feature is in the menus.
I can confirm the Oil Life Monitor significantly adjusts the intervals based on how you drive. I changed my oil last when the Oil Life Monitor showed less than 10% life left, and I had only driven 2,279 miles, but 163 of those miles were on the track. Based on the how the OLM percentages changed, I expect driving 250-300 miles on the track would result in a notice to change the oil. The OLM works considering it could indicate an oil change is needed as quickly as 250 miles or as long as 10,000 miles, so I let it tell me when to change. The only exception to following the OLM is, like @Skye, I did my first oil change early at 1,294 miles (none of those were track miles).
