2013 GT 60,000 mile service - oil additive?

No way of really knowing, which is the reason to avoid add-on's such as this.

You could have forced his hand by stating that you might be interested in purchasing the oil additive, but only if he could sell you the additive in a bottle so you could add it yourself later. Chances are they would say its not available for sale separately and that they have to add it at the time of oil change.

All oil change service centers operate the same way. They cannot pay the bills by simply changing oil and oil filters, and they expect/require a good percentage of people using an oil change service, regardless if part of the dealership, to not fully understand or have the knowledge to care or question what's being done, as long as they don't get dirty doing it. These are the customers that oil change service centers like, as they get their oil, air, wipers, and other fluids changed or topped faster than recommended in the owners manual, all to pad the service bill.

Unless the oil change service was included in the purchase of a new car, I've never ever paid for an oil change on my personal cars, period.

2013GTBBQ said:

edit: tl;dr: Dealer recommended oil additive at 60,000 miles did not say what it was. This is snake oil or something you've heard of?

I brought my car to the dealer for my 60,000 mile service last week and the TSB on the axle/diff vent leaking. When the service rep read out a list of things they recommend doing for this service, he specifically mentioned an oil additive in addition to the oil change. I declined both because I'd already taken care of the oil change. I asked what the oil additive was, the answer was vague and said, 'it's something we recommend [to increase the lubricity of the oil].' I asked again, and he remained vague.

Does anyone have any idea what he was talking about? Is there some oil additive that Ford recommends adding at 60,000 miles or is this dealership snake oil? And if they add something at 60,000 miles, what could they possibly add that would have lasting effect unless you add it every subsequent time you change your oil?

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Was the additive for the motor oil or for the diff oil ???

I will put my 2 cents in here. Oil has seen a large reduction in zinc due to emissions over the past 10-15 years. Zinc has anti wear properties and zinc additives have been used in racing engines for break in for many years. Especially the old solid tappet cam profiles.

If you search around multiple forums the famous tick issue has been debated and appears to be a little bit of a mystery. Some blame the cam tensioners, crank bearings, timing chain tensioners, etc. etc. Fact is Ford is not stepping up with solid solutions outside of offering a ZDDP additive or similar products to reduce friction through the oil. Now if your running stock cats stay away from zinc products as it is not good for them. I recommend Hyper Lube zinc replacement additive. Supposed to be more effective than zinc and uses Ket Jenlube 135 (cat safe) as it's friction reducer. I started using this at 3000 miles. Motor got whisper quiet after use...FYI. From now on I will use this product at every oil change.

Snake oil...? Maybe, but for 20 bucks I will wager my motor will never experience the tick (nor any friction wear issues) based off my experience with this product. Good luck.

zinc03svt said:

I will put my 2 cents in here. Oil has seen a large reduction in zinc due to emissions over the past 10-15 years. Zinc has anti wear properties and zinc additives have been used in racing engines for break in for many years. Especially the old solid tappet cam profiles.

If you search around multiple forums the famous tick issue has been debated and appears to be a little bit of a mystery. Some blame the cam tensioners, crank bearings, timing chain tensioners, etc. etc. Fact is Ford is not stepping up with solid solutions outside of offering a ZDDP additive or similar products to reduce friction through the oil. Now if your running stock cats stay away from zinc products as it is not good for them. I recommend Hyper Lube zinc replacement additive. Supposed to be more effective than zinc and uses Ket Jenlube 135 (cat safe) as it's friction reducer. I started using this at 3000 miles. Motor got whisper quiet after use...FYI. From now on I will use this product at every oil change.

Snake oil...? Maybe, but for 20 bucks I will wager my motor will never experience the tick (nor any friction wear issues) based off my experience with this product. Good luck.

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Fair enough. I'm at 55,000 now I just did the service a little early. I've had that mysterious tick, I made a thread about it. Almost all the people who get new engines had the problem pop up around the time they changed their oil the first time. Mine popped up at 40,000 miles. I went a few miles early just to get that on the books and get the diff vent TSB under warranty at the same time. I got it to go away last time I changed my oil--it started after the dealership changed it, twice--which is why I really don't want to let the dealership near that. My engine runs just as well as the day I bought it, but it is not whisper smooth anymore. Around idle it's a lot less smooth on the passenger bank around the pcv valve - so cam phaser/timing belt area. All dealerships say it's normal wear.

moonrakercat said:

Was the additive for the motor oil or for the diff oil ???

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Engine oil.

kn7671 said:

No way of really knowing, which is the reason to avoid add-on's such as this.

You could have forced his hand by stating that you might be interested in purchasing the oil additive, but only if he could sell you the additive in a bottle so you could add it yourself later. Chances are they would say its not available for sale separately and that they have to add it at the time of oil change.

All oil change service centers operate the same way. They cannot pay the bills by simply changing oil and oil filters, and they expect/require a good percentage of people using an oil change service, regardless if part of the dealership, to not fully understand or have the knowledge to care or question what's being done, as long as they don't get dirty doing it. These are the customers that oil change service centers like, as they get their oil, air, wipers, and other fluids changed or topped faster than recommended in the owners manual, all to pad the service bill.

Unless the oil change service was included in the purchase of a new car, I've never ever paid for an oil change on my personal cars, period.

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Yea definitely understand your point. Sometimes I have the time and a clean garage, others I don't. I have not let them change my oil since they put semi-synthetic when I requested full synth and that was also when the ticking began. They didn't follow directions and unrelated or not the ticking began that change.

Straight from the owners manual:

"Do not use supplemental engine oil additives, cleaners or other engine
treatments. They are unnecessary and could lead to engine damage that
is not covered by Ford warranty."

BLK 5.0 said:

Straight from the owners manual:

"Do not use supplemental engine oil additives, cleaners or other engine
treatments. They are unnecessary and could lead to engine damage that
is not covered by Ford warranty."

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Makes me wonder what they actually intended.

Hey 2013gt BBq Tick, which dealer did you take it too? Im in the east bay too and always take mine to the Walnut Creek Dealership and have them put 5w-50.

60,000 miles on a `13? I find that humorous. My `13 just turned 933 miles, & i`ll have had it a year next month.

BLK 5.0 said:

Straight from the owners manual:

"Do not use supplemental engine oil additives, cleaners or other engine
treatments. They are unnecessary and could lead to engine damage that
is not covered by Ford warranty."

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Definitely this ^. Any good quality oil needs no supplements.

stevegt2012 said:

Definitely this ^. Any good quality oil needs no supplements.

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That makes me want to call around the dealerships to see if anyone else tries to charge for it and find out if they're actually putting anything in. I have had dealerships give contradictory advice before. I usually call around to see what I'm saving by doing the work on my own and some try to get you to do more than necessary if you go with their service dept.

My "old" dealer put an oil additive in my truck (diesel) without asking or even telling me. It wasn't until I got home and noticed the non-descript line on the invoice and then I called the dealer to get an explanation. It is an up-sell. I did a little research and found that it's neither needed or recommended by Ford. Further research into the product itself and I discovered the "benefits" didn't even apply to diesels. My "new" dealer has a service department that I trust and a mechanic that takes time to talk to me. Much better.

kenv said:

60,000 miles on a `13? I find that humorous. My `13 just turned 933 miles, & i`ll have had it a year next month.

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now, I find THAT humorous -- that's a very expensive garage decoration!

Additives

My 2014 has 10,000 miles as I travel from Port Lavaca,Tx. to Corpus Christi,Tx. for cancer treatments & follow ups! Laugh at that. I use Lucas stabilizer "Heavy Duty" 1 qt. to 5 qts Valvoline synthetic oil.

50blackout said:

Hey 2013gt BBq Tick, which dealer did you take it too? Im in the east bay too and always take mine to the Walnut Creek Dealership and have them put 5w-50.

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I take it to WC as well. I've heard people to me they don't like the sales arm there but their service dept has usually been ok. You don't happen to have a black track pack with recaros do you?

Did the mustang community ever decide why the track pack uses different oil from the non-track packs? I see the argument that 5w20 is very thin oil but if it's designed to run with it...
How many miles have you got on yours?

kenv said:

60,000 miles on a `13? I find that humorous. My `13 just turned 933 miles, & i`ll have had it a year next month.

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You've got some catching up to do. I'm at 55500 and I've had it since July 2012. This engine sure is a gem huh? And 5500 bucks for a new one to put in the trunk at Summit Racing right now. Until August this year it was my daily driver. Before now I drove the briones twisties just about every day. I have one of the higher mileage 2013s but...man 933 miles that is deferring self gratification.

My mother died in August. I took care of her for the last 30 months. She suffered from ALS. I've also done all the maintenance on her '03 Accord (and it only has 107000 miles, I sure as hell drive the Mustang a lot), so it's in perfect shape and it's now my daily. It has slightly slowed the rate at which the odometer spins out of control on the Mustang.

audioAl said:

My 2014 has 10,000 miles as I travel from Port Lavaca,Tx. to Corpus Christi,Tx. for cancer treatments & follow ups! Laugh at that. I use Lucas stabilizer "Heavy Duty" 1 qt. to 5 qts Valvoline synthetic oil.

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Buy it to drive it, right? I'm holding off on any additive for the moment. Got 5,000 miles of warranty before I'm on my own.

Good luck on your treatments and followups. I spent the last two years driving to UCSF and Forbes Norris for doctors appointments and clinical trial appointments for my mother's ALS. The longest appointments with traffic took over ten hours, so I know it's tough. How often do you have to make the trip?

JBert said:

now, I find THAT humorous -- that's a very expensive garage decoration!

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Yeah, but its a nice garage decoration. In fact, I bought a pre built garage just for my car. As long as I`ve had it it has never seen rain/snow. The DD is a `14 Jeep Grand Cherokee.