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Survey: First oil change mileage/% Oil Life remaining

18K views 62 replies 22 participants last post by  wreedsvt 
#1 ·
@Knifeman and I have been PMing about oil change intervals, as neither of us got anywhere near the engine design goal of 10,000 mile oil change intervals with our vehicles.

I took delivery on my '18 Platinum F150 PS Diesel on 09/22/18 and I had my factory oil changed on 02/08/19 with my Oil Minder hitting 0% oil life remaining the previous day = 139 days

With a month and 800 miles on this current oil change, my calculations from the Oil Minder is that I won't make 5,000 miles on this oil change either.

Other owners are this forum seem to be tracking spot-on to this 10K mark:
I am at 49% oil life remaining at ~5,000 miles, so my truck seems to be tracking to the 10K oil change intervals.

@Knifeman and I are trying to figure out if there is something in our owning/driving habits (daily commute, engine idling/warming up, etc) that could be causing our shorter oil life.

As many of us are coming up on the first oil change, I think we have enough of a ownership base here in the forums to take an informal survey -- please post back with your:
  • Mileage at 1st oil change
  • Oil Minder "% Oil Life remaining" at 1st oil change
  • Days since taking delivery of your vehicle
  • Driving behavior (Daily commute, highway vs city, towing, etc.)

You can find the "% Oil Life remaining" in the Vehicle Details section in the FordPass app or you can find it buried in one of the on-board cluster displays.
If your dealership is handling your oil changes, you can find the date and mileage in the Service History section under Vehicle Details in the FordPass app.

I am willing to aggregate everyone's response into a spreadsheet and attempt to see if there are any correlation amongst those owners with low mileage oil change intervals.

Thanks in advance
 
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#2 ·
Mileage: 4936 miles
% Oil life remaining: 0%
Days since last change: 139
Driving behavior: 15 min x 2 for weekday (city driving) commute
 
#3 ·
Had my 2nd oil changed at 7425 miles. Was heading to Florida from Pittsburgh and was at 33% knew it wasn’t going to make it to 10000 mile change. Trip was canceled. I’m at 10035 miles now with 51% on oil life. Looks like it will make it to 5000. I’ll keep everyone posted.
 
#4 ·
I am at 2500 miles on this change and down to 46%. Certainly moving fast. I will just do it manually. Not really too worried about it.
 
#5 ·
Okay, here is my update as of this morning...

Mileage: 5783 miles
% Oil life remaining: 45% (= 12,851 total mileage at 0%)
Days since last change: 110 days of ownership so far without an oil change
Driving behavior: 15 min x 2 for weekday (city driving) commute -- my city commute is 45-55 mph as I live in a south suburb of St. Paul with posted speed limits of 45-55mph depending on the road I am on

Besides the daily commute, I weekly get in about 80-150 miles of interstate driving.

In this first 5783 miles, I can state that I have done a lot of remote start warm ups, sometimes for the full 15 minute timeout period. I have also done some long idling warm ups, especially when I was parked outside in the elements at -14F.

One other thing I focus on, although should not impact oil life (?), is that I try to plan my usage so that when DPF Filter % Full is approaching a regen cycle I try to be on one of my longer highway runs and I let the regen complete all the way down to 0% Full before I think about parking and shutting down the truck.

I also have been using 16 oz. of Power Service white additive to every fuel up since taking ownership --> https://powerservice.com/psp_product/diesel-fuel-supplement-cetane-boost/. I can't see how this would impact oil life, but just wanted to let everyone know how I have been operating my truck.

I have noticed that my short daily commute is not long enough for the truck to get up to full operating temps (FORScan mod to Show Temps Above Gauges), and that to get the best fuel economy out of the truck it seems happiest to do so when it is fully warmed up. I have also noticed the best fuel economy happens with the cruise control set at 50mph (tranny in 10th gear).

I am planning to do my first oil change at 7,500 miles now, and probably change every 7,500 miles. When the snow and ice melts down up here I will be towing my boat around a lot for fishing and expect doing so will shorten down my oil life. So far I have not done any towing, which some of you may be doing already causing shortened oil life. I am likely going to have the 26 gallon OEM fuel tank swapped out for the 48 gallon Titan tank (https://www.dieself150forum.com/forum/426-towing/1796-titan-fuel-tank.html) at the same time I go in for my first oil change which should be mid-April at the rate I have been going.
 
#10 ·
@kdjasper - I think your first estimate at 5738 miles was mis-calculated -- I calculate 10,515 miles at 0% (= 5783 / 0.55), so you are tracking a little better than 10K...
Mileage: 5783 miles
% Oil life remaining: 45% (= 12,851 total mileage at 0%)
Days since last change: 110 days of ownership so far without an oil change
Driving behavior: 15 min x 2 for weekday (city driving) commute -- my city commute is 45-55 mph as I live in a south suburb of St. Paul with posted speed limits of 45-55mph depending on the road I am on.
I'm still scratching my head on a 3x delta between my 3K 2nd change estimate and your & others 10K first change interval....
 
#6 · (Edited)
Lucky if I make 3000 miles on 2nd Oil change?

Things seem to be getting worse on my 2nd oil change: (as of 04/07/19)

Current Oil Minder %:_____________________40%
Current miles on Odometer:_______________6813
Last Oil change Odometer:______________- 4936
________________________________________-----
Miles since last change:_________________1877
Divide by % used: (100% - 40% = 60%)___/__60%
________________________________________-----
Estimated total miles for this change:___3128
Miles since last change:_______________- 1877
________________________________________-----
Estimated miles left on this change:_____1251
Current miles on Odometer:_____________+ 6813
________________________________________-----
Estimated next change Odometer:__________8064

I've been relaying my "faster than expected" Oil Minder %s to my Service Manager the last three (3) times I have talked to him.

So much for a 10K Oil Change interval...

I think I'm going to send my oil out for analysis on my next Oil change to ensure that everything is OK.
 
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#7 ·
Okay, here is my update as of now...

Mileage: 7401 miles
% Oil life remaining: 29% (= 10,423 total mileage at 0%--previously I was tracking to 12,851)
Days since last change: 137 days of ownership so far without an oil change
Driving behavior: 15 min x 2 for weekday (city driving) commute -- my city commute is 45-55 mph as I live in a south suburb of St. Paul with posted speed limits of 45-55mph depending on the road I am on

My truck is still tracking to the 10K change intervals. I was going to change it at 7500, but now I think I am going to do it at 8000 for the first change.

I am wondering if our trucks are that finicky with getting the specific oil put in them on the oil change to maintain the 10K change intervals? I know there is a specific OEM Motorcraft oil specifically formulated for our trucks, but from other posts it doesn't seem like many are using that specific oil, so I am wondering if that may have anything to do with the reduced oil life--however, that would mean that everyone would have the factory oil change interval experience of my truck and that doesn't seem to be the case.
 
#9 ·
My daily commute to work is 8.7 miles each direction, and I have done tons of idling over the cold winter up here in Minnesota (remote start warm ups), so I do not think short trips and idling are the root cause of the oil life issue.
 
#11 ·
@jmperlik thanks for catching my math error...makes me feel better that there is not a big gap in those 2 calculations.

In further response to @BriGuy post above, my Engine Information within Truck Info display is telling me I have 212 Engine Hours with 32 Engine Idle Hours, so if my math is correct my truck has been idling 15% of its engine hours. See the attached photo below. I'd be curious to see what others are seeing on these stats. By sharing this, I am trying to rule out engine idling as a cause for those with shorter oil life--unless of course you have a lot more idle hours than I do.
 

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#16 ·
In some recent research I have done, it does appear that spending a lot of time driving in terrible traffic ( @Meek One ) or having > 15% engine idle hours ( @BriGuy ) would cause a reduction in oil life. I know that @jmperlik has a short < 10 mile commute to work, as do I, not sure how his commute is, but mine is 55 mph with only a few stop lights or stop signs to get me there. Also, I have not yet taken any drastic measures with respect to ASS, so when I do have to stop on my short commute to work I welcome the engine shutting off for the 2 minutes I have to wait for a light to change (= less idle time on the engine).

https://4wdlife.com/best-oil-for-powerstroke-6-0 "Long-term or frequent idling: according to this guide (Powerstroke Engine Oil Rquirements - Superdutypsd.com), frequent idling equates to 10 minutes per hour of regular driving. So, if your engine is idling more than 15% of your driving time, you should change the oil more frequently."

Most of the conditions above might be considered as 'severe duty' use from what I have found, and for that our Owners Manual recommends SAE 5W-40 API CK-4 oil. That oil spec is also recommended for bio-fuel blends, and here in MN fuel stations are required to dispense 5-20% Biodiesel. For these two reasons, my first oil change this Saturday will be going with SAE 5W-40 API CK-4 oil. I'm not sure what oil came in my truck from the factory--I may even have SAE 5W-40 API CK-4 oil right now since the truck was bought off the lot in MN and according to OEM specs my truck should be running SAE 5W-40 API CK-4 oil so for all I know I have that oil already and that is why my truck is tracking to 10K oil change interval whereas many of yours are not.

At any rate, I now have about 8,050 miles with ~23% oil life remaining (see below attached photo that I took a couple days ago). It will be interesting how my oil life tracks when I have the dealer do my oil change on Saturday with the Rotella T6 SAE 5W-40 API CK-4 oil that I bring along for them to use. I will keep the forum updated on how my oil life goes with the Rotella T6.
 

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#20 ·
I did my first change at 1700 miles and today I was at 5419 miles. I went 3719 miles and was at 22% oil life.
 
#21 ·
I wonder if there is any common pattern with those of you whose trucks are not tracking to the 10K expected oil change interval? I'm going to take mine in this morning for its first oil change, currently at 8,154 miles and 21% oil life remaining. I hope after my oil change with Rotella T6 that I continue tracking to the 10K interval (but my plan is to change at ~7,500 intervals if I continue to track to 10K).

In MN, the fuel stations are mandated to dispense 5-20% Biodiesel. The winterized diesel (likely a blend of #1 and #2 diesel) tends to run more toward the 5% bio and the summer diesel toward the 20% bio. That being said, I have almost exclusively been filling my truck up with Premium Diesel (as recommended to me by a buddy of mine who has years of experience wholesaling fuel), which has an additive package for lubricity along with possibly a higher cetane rating. On top of that, I was running Power Service Diesel Fuel Supplement +Cetane Boost (white bottle) anti-gel additive all winter which also provides added lubricity + cetane boost. Since the winter has finally ended up here, I have started experimenting with other brands of fuel additives.

Has anyone whose oil life meter is not tracking to 10K intervals sent a sample of their used oil into a lab for analysis? Reason I ask that is perhaps there is something making the oil life meter readout improperly.
 
#22 ·
I think there is computer logic behind the Oil Life Monitor also. I idle lot, stop and go traffic, etc. It puts a bigger hit on mine than someone who drives highway all day.
 
#23 ·
NORMAL SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE
Your vehicle is equipped with an Intelligent Oil-Life Monitor (IOLM) that determines when you should change your engine oil based on how your vehicle is used. By considering several important factors in its calculations, the IOLM helps ensure that your engine can perform at its best while also helping you avoid unnecessary oil changes.

With the help of the IOLM, you don’t have to remember to change your oil on a preset mileage-based schedule. Your vehicle will let you know when it’s time for an oil change by displaying a message in the information display.

The following table provides examples of vehicle use and how each scenario can affect oil change intervals. In practice, actual oil change intervals will depend on several different factors, but severe usage will generally require more frequent changes. Also, if it’s been more than a year since your last oil change, the IOLM will display a reminder message regardless of your mileage.

When to expect the OIL CHANGE REQUIRED message
Vehicle use
Interval
Normal
Normal commuting with highway driving
No loading or towing, or moderate loads and towing
Flat to moderately hilly roads
No extended idling
7,500-10,000 miles (12,000-16,000 km)
Severe
Extended hot or cold operation
Moderate to heavy loads and towing
Mountainous or off-road conditions
Extended idling
5,000-7,499 miles (8,000-11,999 km)
Extreme
Extreme hot or cold operation
Maximum loads and towing
 
#24 · (Edited)
Update on my 1st oil change today:

8,172 miles at 21% oil life remaining

My Ford dealer was happy to see me come in with my own Rotella SAE 5W-40 CK-4 oil meeting Ford's spec and with my own OEM oil filter--and here I have been stressed all week for nothing over this! The Quick Lane manager said that it was good that I brought in my own oil and filter, because he said that they still don't have the oil change pricing correct in the system and that they are charging more to change oil on our F150 3.0's then they are charging for changing oil on the Super Duty diesels.

All the 20 something year olds in the shop were in awe over my truck, and I got lucky with my visit timing in that I was the only vehicle at the time in the Quick Lane shop so they could all ask me about it and hover over it. I spent the entire time of the oil change within 15 feet of my truck in the shop talking to them--great customer service and experience. And some of these guys even knew more about the truck than I do. For example, I learned that each key fob independently controls the memory button settings--no wonder why then sometimes my seat memory settings seemed off, because I didn't pay attention to keeping the same key fob in my pocket on a consistent basis.

They looked for metal shavings in my used oil filter as in the video posted above and found not one piece of metal shaving. They also said the oil draining out of the truck looked really good too for the mileage.

At any rate, the Rotella T6 is in the truck, and I had them put the sticker on the windshield with current mileage + 7500 for my next oil change, and we'll see if my truck continues tracking to 10K intervals (I am suspecting a reduction since I am soon to be towing my boat around all summer) and on big road trips towing up to NW Ontario.

Oh, in case anyone is curious, without the tire rotation I would have been $25 out the door, with the tire rotation I was $45 out the door (since I supplied oil and filter). For this price, I am just going to keep going over there when I need oil changes instead of doing it myself.
 
#25 ·
I don’t pay any attention to the oil life monitor. The EGR system contaminates our oil badly. It does nothing good for these Diesel engines. I understand that the oil we use suspends the waste until it’s drained out, but I won’t be doing long oil intervals lubricating the engine with that much waste in the oil. Cheap insurance just to change it more regularly. Planing on changes every 7000km (4500 miles). Just my opinion
 
#27 · (Edited)
Highway mileage and managed active regens helping

After three trips of more than 200 miles since Easter & actively managing my DPF regens, I can confirm that highway miles helped improve my miles to next oil change: (as of 05/05/19)

Current Oil Minder % Left:________________22%
Current miles on Odometer:_______________8502
Last Oil change Odometer:______________- 4936
________________________________________-----
Miles since last change:_________________3566
Divide by % used: (100% - 22% = 78%)___/__78%
________________________________________-----
Estimated total miles for this change:___4572
Miles since last change:_______________- 3566
________________________________________-----
Estimated miles left on this change:_____1006
Current miles on Odometer:_____________+ 8502
________________________________________-----
Estimated next change Odometer:__________9508

Since my last report in Post #6 of this thread, my projected mileage for this oil change has improved from ~3100 miles to ~4500 miles, so I may be able to reach my target of 10K miles on the odometer for my next oil change.

After monitoring DPF Full % and witnessing several active regens (with EGT11-EGT14 all reaching above 1000 degrees during an active regen cycle), I can see that our trucks do run very "clean" at consistent highway speeds (optimal conditions) with only a 10% increase in DPF % Full over a 200 return trip from Boston, while I can rack up a 60-75% increase is DPF Full % just driving to work over a 4-5 weekday daily commute.

All of this atypical highway mileage (for me) has also raised my Average Distance Between DPF Regenerations (DPF_REGN_AVGD) to over 200 miles = getting closer to @kdjasper, but I will never catch him! I would love to see the FORScan DPF-related PIDs from an owner who does primarily highway driving, as I think the 325-350 mile DPF regen cycle that @kdjasper referenced early in the Stuck in regen??? thread is achievable if you are only driving highway miles.

Based on all of the above, I believe our trucks are really designed/tuned optimally for primarily highway mileage (most likely to help with Ford's overall CAFE), and my poor oil mileage intervals are due to my short daily commute and unmonitored DPF partial regens. I still don't consider myself in the "Extreme" operating conditions in the Normal Scheduled Maintenance table that @wreedsvt listed in Post #23 above and scan I attached to this post, but I have accepted that I will be on a 5K oil change interval = I have already prepaid for a Ford Extended Maintenance Contract with 5K Full synthetic oil change intervals.

I will continue to monitor and report back with some FORScan screen-caps during active regen here and in the Stuck in regen??? thread.
 

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#28 ·
Yes I have read and heard the same things in regards to running clean at highway speeds. The dirtiest part of a diesel is accelerating and before turbo lights, once they get to speed and are crusing at speed, the burn very very clean. The truck can also passively regen at temps above 572F. When I drive 70MPH on the freeway I am around 600-700F which should be enough to passive regen.
 

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#30 · (Edited)

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