Notes from an away game (a/k/a a forum post) regarding the eternal question: How often should I change my oil?
Manufacturers are under significant pressure, mostly from European regulators, to lengthen their service intervals to reduce the environmental impact of their vehicles. There's also a significant marketing advantage to claim only 10/15/20K service intervals are necessary, which also allows manufacturers to inexpensively throw in regular maintenance for a few years. All of those things are enticing to new buyers.
Many new car purchasers also don't keep their cars beyond the warranty or lease period, so they don't care about the long-term effects of the manufacturer's maintenance intervals. Those intervals are set to give most vehicles a good chance of not having a major issue before the warranty expires. They are NOT designed to get you significantly beyond the warranty. [Another forum member] 's experience with BMWs sludging up is also seen with some VW, Audi, and Toyota engines because of poor PCV designs and unrealistic recommended service intervals. Direct injection creates a whole 'nuther range of issues with carbon fouling and fuel dilution of the oil.
Take a look at Ford's owners manuals; you may be surprised at the "severe service" recommendations and how easy it is to fall into the "severe service" classification. I buy brand new vehicles and I try to keep them for 10+ years. When it comes to maintenance, I generally follow the severe service recommendations and they haven't failed me yet.
Bringing us back on topic, I do used oil analysis to determine my oil change intervals.
On a new engine I do an oil change after a couple hundred miles of full throttle blasts to about 75% of redline, then coasting down, to get the rings to seal well. I do everything I can to constantly vary the RPMs. There are a lot of initial wear particles that are generated during this period, so I like to get them out of the engine before they can adhere or wear against other components and cause trouble down the road.
Then I go about 3,000 miles on the new oil and send a sample to the lab. Sometimes the oil is working well and I can extend the interval, but sometimes it isn't and I need to find a different oil that can handle my specific application better. The only way to know this is by testing.
The Ford Oil Life Monitor (OLM) is pretty neat, but it doesn't actually test the oil so it's only giving you a best guess, subject to the previously mentioned pressure to maximize the length of service intervals.
(And, no, dealers don't make a bunch of money doing your oil changes so Ford doesn't have an incentive get you in there more often. Dealers do them, and the free 32-point (or whatever) inspection, because they're hoping to find other service items that need to be done that actually do make them money.)
So go ahead and follow the OLM. It's better than many other manufacturer's systems or generic written guidelines. But, it's not perfect and it's not optimal if you value longevity more than convenience. The way to optimize your oil change intervals is through testing your used oil, not arguing over how perfect Ford's engineers are (or are not).
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