2009 Oil change info

[jkrywalski]

The 2009 Escape, 6 cyl. owners manual indicates that the oil should be changed every 7500 miles, or, at 5000 miles under extreme conditions.

At aprox. 3000 miles, my vehicle greeted me with "CHANGE OIL SOON" every time I started the engine.

At aprox. 3400 miles, I got "OIL CHANGE REQUIRED" every time I started the engine.

I changed the oil myself, and it looked as clean as the fresh oil I replaced it with. (I know that looks don't tell the whole story, but it's a fair way of telling how the engine looks inside).

I reset the "ENGINE OIL LIFE" on the display back to 100%, and am wondering why I had the messages so soon.

Is it a time based, engine hours based, miliage based, or, some other formula only known by three people, and two of them are in Bombay?

[bbf2530]

The 2009 Escape, 6 cyl. owners manual indicates that the oil should be changed every 7500 miles, or, at 5000 miles under extreme conditions.

At aprox. 3000 miles, my vehicle greeted me with "CHANGE OIL SOON" every time I started the engine.

At aprox. 3400 miles, I got "OIL CHANGE REQUIRED" every time I started the engine.

I changed the oil myself, and it looked as clean as the fresh oil I replaced it with. (I know that looks don't tell the whole story, but it's a fair way of telling how the engine looks inside).

I reset the "ENGINE OIL LIFE" on the display back to 100%, and am wondering why I had the messages so soon.

Is it a time based, engine hours based, miliage based, or, some other formula only known by three people, and two of them are in Bombay?

 

Hi jkryzwalski. :D Greetings from Bombay! The oil change intervals are 6 months/7,500 miles Normal Service and 6 months/5,000 miles Severe Service. So it is time and/or mileage based.

 

Perhaps your car was on the lot for some time before you purchased it (just guessing)?

 

But the time/mileage factor is probably the answer to the mystery.

 

Good luck. :beerchug:

[betaiota]

My experience with the modern Ford trip computers is that they are mileage-based. When I'm at about 4900mi, it'll tell me that an oil change is due soon, at 5000mi it will say it's required. IDK some vehicles may take time and number of starts into progrmming too.

Edited May 5, 2009 by betaiota

[bbf2530]

Hi betaiota. :D While older Ford vehicles only took mileage into consideration, the newer Ford systems take both time and mileage into account.

 

From the 2009 Escape Owners Manual (I underlined and made bold the relevant passages):

 

Oil life

An oil change is required whenever indicated by the message center.

USE ONLY RECOMMENDED ENGINE OILS.

To reset the oil monitoring system to 100% after each oil change

[approximately 7,500 miles (12,000 km) or 6 months] perform the

following:

1. Press and release the SETUP

control to display “OIL LIFE =

XXX% HOLD RESET = NEW”.

2. Press and hold the RESET

control for 2 seconds and release.

Oil life is set to 100% and “OIL LIFE

SET TO 100%” is displayed.

3. While “OIL LIFE SET TO 100%”

is displayed, if a lower oil life start

value is desired, press and release the RESET control to reduce the start

value. Each press of the RESET control reduces the value by 10 percent.

Note: Oil life start value of 100% equals 7,500 miles (12,000 km) or six

months. For example, setting oil life start value to 60% sets the oil life

start value to 4,500 miles (7,200 km) and 108 days.

 

 

As you can see, the "Oil Life" warning on the 2009 Escape does calculate both mileage and time to determine oil change frequency. Additionally, it can be set to lower the interval in 10% increments to a lower interval than 7,500 miles. This is handy for those who wish to change their oil at earlier intervals (5,000 miles, 3,000 miles etc).

 

Hope this information helps.

 

Good luck. :beerchug:

[jkrywalski]

Thanks for the info.... But... can anyone tell me what actually happens to oil in an oilpan in 6 months that requires it to be changed?

I can understand the 7500 miles requirement, but, at half that number , (actually, even less than half), just because the oil is 6 months old, it needs to be changed?

Sounds extremly wasteful to me...

What is the difference if I have the oil in a 5 qt. container in the garage, or in the oilpan in my Ford vehicle?

What mysterious forces of nature act upon the oil in the crankcase that don't occur in a plastic container on a Walmart shelf?

I can understand if I had it in my barn, mice and other wildlife would make a home in the engine, but never have I seen a wasp nest in an oilpan!!!!!

Edited May 5, 2009 by jkrywalski

[bbf2530]

Thanks for the info.... But... can anyone tell me what actually happens to oil in an oilpan in 6 months that requires it to be changed?

I can understand the 7500 miles requirement, but, at half that number , (actually, even less than half), just because the oil is 6 months old, it needs to be changed?

Sounds extremly wasteful to me...

What is the difference if I have the oil in a 5 qt. container in the garage, or in the oilpan in my Ford vehicle?

What mysterious forces of nature act upon the oil in the crankcase that don't occur in a plastic container on a Walmart shelf?

I can understand if I had it in my barn, mice and other wildlife would make a home in the engine, but never have I seen a wasp nest in an oilpan!!!!!

 

Hi jkrywalski. :D Yes, it needs to be changed, and it is not some vast yet hidden conspiracy to get us to use more oil than necessary. You will be able to find a lot of information by using Google to search this subject, but here is a short explanation:

 

Oil does not only need to be changed because it gets visibly "Dirty". It also needs to be changed because as a car is driven, contaminants pollute the oil and some of those contaminants are highly acidic and corrosive.

 

So, let us say that I only drive my car 2,000 miles per year. If you only change your oil every 7,500 miles, those contaminants will be in you oil/oil pan unchanged for over three years.

 

If you do not properly change the oil, those contaminants will eat way at your engines internal components, oil pan etc.

 

I have personally seen oil pans that have been corroded from the inside out by the highly acidic contaminants contained in improperly maintained and changed oil. To the point where the oil pan has become porous. The oil was not leaking from the drain plug, it was seeping through the steel of the oil pan. An extreme case? Yes. But it happens.

 

Those are the "...mysterious forces of nature act (that) upon the oil in the crankcase that don't occur in a plastic container on a Walmart shelf?

 

You do not have to worry about oil sitting in the jug or quart bottle in Walmart, the barn or garage getting acidic and corrosive contamination. It is oil that is in an engine being used in day to day driving that becomes contaminated and is the problem.

 

And that is why there is also a time limit on oil changes. This is not something new. In fact, when the Industry wide oil change interval used to be 3,000 miles, it was 3 months/3,000 miles, although most people were ignorant of the 3 month time limit (as many are now ignorant of the 6 month time limit).

 

Whether you follow the recommendations is up to you. If you do not, it will hurt your car in the long run.

 

Bottom line: There are very good reasons why there is a 7,500 mile/6 month oil change interval.

 

Hope this information helps.

 

Good luck. :beerchug:

Edited May 6, 2009 by bbf2530

[mettech]

Bobistheoilguy.com

[jkrywalski]

Thanks for the lesson. I was vaguely aware of acids in the oil, but this set me straight.

Bottom line, oil changes are the cheapest way to keep the engine clean..

 

Now, can someone tell me... How do I drill this into my wife's head, (short of a 2x4 session), that she needs to let me know when it's time to change her oil?

[akirby]

Thanks for the lesson. I was vaguely aware of acids in the oil, but this set me straight.

Bottom line, oil changes are the cheapest way to keep the engine clean..

 

Now, can someone tell me... How do I drill this into my wife's head, (short of a 2x4 session), that she needs to let me know when it's time to change her oil?

 

You can't check the odometer?

[mettech]

Thanks for the lesson. I was vaguely aware of acids in the oil, but this set me straight.

Bottom line, oil changes are the cheapest way to keep the engine clean..

 

Now, can someone tell me... How do I drill this into my wife's head, (short of a 2x4 session), that she needs to let me know when it's time to change her oil?

 

Get an oil analysis from someone like Blackstone.

 

The vast majority of the time, oil is being changed when it's not needed. :reading:

[rscalzo]

The trouble to get an oil analysis to tell you the oil has life is not worth the effort. Every so often to detect the onset of a problem, yes. But to tell you the oil still has life? The cost or the test is about $25.00 including postage. I'll just have it changed every six months which comes to about 4500 miles. I know it has life left as I use Amsoil with a high grade filter. but it's cheap insurance, I have it done locally at a cost of $65.00. It I did it myself, it would probably drop to around $45.00. The savings is just not enough to try and stretch out the changes.

 

All the oil removed is recycled so it isn't an issue. The greatest benefit to the tests are the detailed review of a engine with a significant amount of use. The test can tell you a lot of how it is holding up.

 

I have a white board in the garage with the dates and mileages of the maintenance. Oil, filters and other routine maintenance is posted. I check the vehicles for the items needing replacement. If i waited for my wife to tell me I'd have engine parts on the garage floor.

[mettech]

The trouble to get an oil analysis to tell you the oil has life is not worth the effort. Every so often to detect the onset of a problem, yes. But to tell you the oil still has life? The cost or the test is about $25.00 including postage. I'll just have it changed every six months which comes to about 4500 miles. I know it has life left as I use Amsoil with a high grade filter. but it's cheap insurance, I have it done locally at a cost of $65.00. It I did it myself, it would probably drop to around $45.00. The savings is just not enough to try and stretch out the changes.

 

All the oil removed is recycled so it isn't an issue. The greatest benefit to the tests are the detailed review of a engine with a significant amount of use. The test can tell you a lot of how it is holding up.

 

I have a white board in the garage with the dates and mileages of the maintenance. Oil, filters and other routine maintenance is posted. I check the vehicles for the items needing replacement. If i waited for my wife to tell me I'd have engine parts on the garage floor.

 

 

Understand... I to run ASM 0W-20 in my '03 Sable. 28K miles and still a good TBN with low wear numbers.

[rscalzo]

Understand... I to run ASM 0W-20 in my '03 Sable. 28K miles and still a good TBN with low wear numbers.

 

Those extended changes might be nice...until you have a major warranty repair on the engine. My VW had the oil pump crap out. Not uncommon on that engine. the dealer would not talk to me until I could prove oil changes every 6 months or around 5k. While the small shop I use to change oil uses only Amsoil, I still go with the 6 month schedule.

[MIAMI-DADE]

Thanks for the info.... But... can anyone tell me what actually happens to oil in an oilpan in 6 months that requires it to be changed?

I can understand the 7500 miles requirement, but, at half that number , (actually, even less than half), just because the oil is 6 months old, it needs to be changed?

Sounds extremly wasteful to me...

What is the difference if I have the oil in a 5 qt. container in the garage, or in the oilpan in my Ford vehicle?

What mysterious forces of nature act upon the oil in the crankcase that don't occur in a plastic container on a Walmart shelf?

I can understand if I had it in my barn, mice and other wildlife would make a home in the engine, but never have I seen a wasp nest in an oilpan!!!!!

 

According to the Ford dealer [Pompano Ford Lincolon Mercury] the oil needs to be changed at 6 months or 5K miles even if you only went only 100 miles....They claim after 6 months the oil does not have the protection to protect your engine any longer...Plus they can void your warrenty if your car is under warrenty..I really don't have a problem with that really cause in 6 months I think its a good idea to put the car on the rack and check it out anyway...Plus the tires need air by that time.

 

BTW the dealer told my sister who has a 07 Grand Marquis the light cannot be re set to 5K miles...It is set to come on at 3K miles like it or not and there is nothing that can be done with it...That is hard to believe the dealer just can't re-program it to 5K miles.

[mettech]

According to the Ford dealer [Pompano Ford Lincolon Mercury] the oil needs to be changed at 6 months or 5K miles even if you only went only 100 miles....They claim after 6 months the oil does not have the protection to protect your engine any longer...Plus they can void your warrenty if your car is under warrenty..I really don't have a problem with that really cause in 6 months I think its a good idea to put the car on the rack and check it out anyway...Plus the tires need air by that time.

 

BTW the dealer told my sister who has a 07 Grand Marquis the light cannot be re set to 5K miles...It is set to come on at 3K miles like it or not and there is nothing that can be done with it...That is hard to believe the dealer just can't re-program it to 5K miles.

 

Excellent rules of thumb from a dealership.

 

If you want additional quantitative data, get it from an engineer and chemists.