[jmmckay]

Seems to be a lot of disagreement on when to change the oil and filter...on my '08, Ford suggests in the manual, 7500 miles, the salesman said 5000 miles, the service manager said 3000 miles...when do you change your oil? 3000, 5000, 7500 miles, more or less?

[mnjarhead]

I think a lot of it depends on the type of oil you're using. Conventional needs to be changed more often than synthetic. Also, if you're doing just highway you can go longer than if you're doing city driving.
I'll stick with every 3000. I've seen the inside of engines that didn't get regular oil changes.

[White_X3_LE]

They say with synthetic you can wait up to 10,000 miles with a filter change at 5k, and topped off. I would never do that, combustion is not friendly to oil, too much stuff has potential to get into the oiling system..lol

[jjjferro]

synthetic oil and filter, motorcraft, 70% highway

[steve_stang2003]

Originally Posted by jjjferro

synthetic oil and filter, motorcraft, 70% highway

That's what I use.
I say 3k to 5k miles for filter and oil.
I'm a little paranoid so I go toward the low side.

Oil is cheap, even synthetic, compared to engine work.

[GT02]

5000 miles with Motorcraft semi syn 5W-20 and Motorcraft 820S filter. Mostly highway driving, all stock, I don't beat on the car.

[jim293]

Every 3000 miles with a new filter and five quarts of Mobil 1. Runs like a top.

[Aberroyc]

I do 5000 miles on Pennzoil Platinum Synthetic 5W-20 with a Motorcraft filter. Honestly, the 3,000 miles rule is just a marketing technique.

[stlwagon]

Every 3000 with Motorcraft 5-20 and Motorcraft filters.

[play4life]

Always go by what your manufacturer suggests. (they aren't all the same).

Places that do oil changes are ALWAYS going to say 3k because they want your money.

[shinerstang]

I'm pretty anal about oil changes at 3k miles. Then again, I race it just about every other weekend on average along with daily driving. It currently has 104k on it, and the oil is still clear when I checked it at 2,000. I always use synthetic......

[jmmckay]

I cant go by what ford says, I may be old school but I just cant go 7500 miles between oil changes... Ive decided to stick with 3000 to 4000 miles. Cant hurt anything and she is my baby..

[tslon]

I had a 1990 Mustang 4 cyl. auto. that was bought new in my family and I changed the oil every 6,000 miles. The car had 190,000 miles on it when I sold it and never had any engine work outside of spark plugs and wires, belts ect... It passed emissions didnt leak or smoke a bit and I ran it mostly stop and go interstate in the afternoon and in the morning I ran it 75 to 80 mph to work. My 2000 Ranger has 147,000 with a 3.0 V6 that I bought new, 1 tune up and no engine or trans problems. I change the oil every 5-6,000 miles. I run my vehicles 10 to 15 mph over the highway speed limit and have never had any engine problems! I live in the south and we dont have alot of freezing weather. I would think that oil is more fluid and gets to the top of the engine when its warm outside. If its cold the oil may be thicker and more frequent oil changes would help its vescosity. Unless your racing your car everyday, I wouldnt change oil before 4-5,000 miles, your wasting money and resources if you do! Just my opinion!

[.boB]

40 years ago, changing the oil every 3K was appropriate. But a lot has changed in 40 years - oil, fuel, engines. As is said above, jiffy lube will always say 3K. They'de say 1K if they thought they could get away with it.

Read the owner's manual, and follow that. You can't go wrong that way. Ford is pretty conservative, too. If they think it will last 10K without problems, they'll tell you 7.5K.

Why do you change oil? Because it's dirty? No, that's what the filter is for. You change it because it gets contaminated by products of combustion, it breaks down, and the additive package gets used up.

The kind of oil you use also matters. Ford recommends 7.5K using standard Motorcraft dino oil. If you step up to a quality group III or IV synthetic, the oil will last longer. Therefore, you can change it less often. Saves money, saves time, saves resources.

A used oil analysis can really help you decide, and it's pretty cheap.

In the end, you just have to do whatever helps you sleep at night.

[BigKevo]

5000 miles on Mobil 1 with Ford Motorcraft oil filter. Oil still looks pretty clean. Motorcraft oil filters are top quality and cost less than most others. Walmart has them for about $4.