Oil Changes

[tkrupka]

With my 2010 FFH I have been getting the oil changed about every 10k miles. I am at 102K now and I am just waiting for my 2013 to be built and delivered. My current vehicle is starting to be really loud, and I do not know if it was due to the infrequent oil changes or something else entirely.

[Guest RRF985]

Loud in what way?

[hybridbear]

The 13 has an oil life monitor. Does the 10? Because I'm a little paranoid with this being my first NEW car I changed the oil myself after a couple hundred miles to get out any metal shavings that fell into the oil. The dealer gave me 3 free oil changes per year for 3 years so I plan to use all of those up. I used one after about 1000 ICE miles and then another one after another 3000 ICE miles. I figure I'll be able to get the oil changed every 3000 ICE miles for the first few years using up those free oil changes. Changing the oil every 3000 ICE miles will be about every 6000 odometer miles so that seems like a reasonable interval to protect the car for a long time. I'd like to see this car go 200,000 or more miles

[jeff_h]

The 13 has an oil life monitor. Does the 10?

 

Yes the 2010 has an oil life monitor, I used to reset it with each change.

[wacevedo]

What does the manual say?

[47Minutes]

What does the manual say?

 

When to expect the OIL CHANGE REQUIRED message: Normal driving conditions = 7500-10000 miles | Severe driving conditions = 5000-7499 miles | Extreme driving conditions = 3000-4999

 

*Do not exceed one year or 10000 miles between service intervals

[jcg1005]

On my 2011 Fusion, the manual says 10K. no way I am going that long. I change my oil every 5K. I also use Motorcraft Synthetic blend oil. I thought about 10K and full synthetic, but after reviewing about 1000 websites and talking to the techs directly, I went the way I did.

 

I will continue this on the new car unless the manual says something different. We do all of our cars the same.

[apm]

On my 2010 Fusion Hybrid I used to change the oil when the monitor reached between 5 and 10% oil life left. For me this was about once a year. I had the car for three and half year and I changed the oil and rotated the tires a total of 4 times. Each oil change/tire rotation cost me $40, so during the 3 1/2 years I owned the car, I only spent $120 in maintenance, as there are no other maintenance items that need to be performed during this time (at least the dealer never told me I needed anything else!)

 

I plan to follow the oil maintenance life on my 2013 Fusion Energi.

 

Regards,
APM

[twintornados]

I change my oil in my 2012 Fusion SEL when the oil life monitor hits 25%....works out to approximately 7500 miles.

[lmp180psu]

I am going to have my first oil change done this weekend early (almost 6000 miles, and 3000 ICE miles), then will most likely follow the oil life monitor after this. I had no issues with following the monitor in my TL (I got close to 7500 miles out of each oil change with it).

[GaryG]

I change my oil according to the oil life monitor under normal driving conditions as per the manual. I have no decrease in MPG, so why use any more oil that is not needed. On the other hand, I did see a drop in MPG at ~3,000 miles with non Synthetic oil. I got better MPG than Synthetic when I changed to non Synthetic, but it was reduced as a got to 3,000 miles. If I changed back from non Synthetic to synthetic or synthetic blend, there was no improvement in MPG. Both synthetic and synthetic blend will go 10,000 miles without any reduction in MPG. I concluded that both Motorcraft and Motorcraft blend gave me identical MPG the entire 10,000 miles. Having said that, I buy Mobile One 5W-20 for my '09 FEH and '11 Explorer because it's ~$26.00 for 5 qts at Walmart. Mobile 1 gives me the same MPG as either Motorcraft oil for 10,000 miles.

 

The manual says nothing about changing the oil during or after break-in, so I take Ford's advise and change the first oil at ~10,000 miles when the oil life monitor says change oil soon.

[HyTi Fusion]

I have a dumb question, pardon my ignorance - what is iCE stand for? What is the difference between ICE miles and overall miles and its impact on oil changes?

[rprobst]

ICE = internal combustion engine

[FusionHybrid2013]

I have 8,300 miles (~3,300 miles on the ICE) on mine and my oil monitor says I'm at 21% life. Based on that I should be able to get a little over 10k miles before my first oil change. I'll have had the car for 6 months next week, so I'm debating getting my first oil change done at 6 months or holding out another month to get to 10k miles. I still need to get the headlight recall and MFT update when I bring it in too.

[tkrupka]

The engine is just loud, especially around 35mph. Even the salespeople at the Ford dealership I went to had no idea what was causing the noise when they checked out the car for trade-in.

 

I do not recall an ICE trracking on my 2010...is that something with the newer models?

[HyTi Fusion]

ICE = internal combustion engine

 

Thanks for your answer. Now that I see it I'm thinking "oh yeah." Duh.

[jcg1005]

I have 8,300 miles (~3,300 miles on the ICE) on mine and my oil monitor says I'm at 21% life. Based on that I should be able to get a little over 10k miles before my first oil change. I'll have had the car for 6 months next week, so I'm debating getting my first oil change done at 6 months or holding out another month to get to 10k miles. I still need to get the headlight recall and MFT update when I bring it in too.

 

What is the headlight recall? Obviously a new vehicle now will not have the issue. I am just curious.

 

As for oil change, I am old school. My opinion would be to always choose the shorter interval of the two. So, go with the 6 months.

 

I know that the engines run to keep them at temperature, and when it is above 50 or so it is never an issue, but in my '11, when it cold and I am where I can run on electric a lot, the temperature gauge will fall to the "the engine has to run to keep warm" level. That temp swing has always had me thinking about true oil life. This is one of the reasons I feel the need, unnecessarily probably, to change at 5K.

[jeff_h]

What is the headlight recall? Obviously a new vehicle now will not have the issue. I am just curious.

 

Headlight assembly was an action announced in November for cars built before a date in October....

 

www.blueovalforums.com/forums/index.php?/topic/51824-field-service-action-12c27-headlamp-assembly-replacement/

[wacevedo]

Those of you changing oil soon, are you planning to do that yourself or taking to the dealer for PM? Makes a lot of sense to purchase synthetic oil at places like Walmart, but if you take the car to the dealership I wonder how you can be sure they are putting the oil you bought and not a cheaper one...

[Guest RRF985]

I'm getting my oil changed this coming Monday. My first service is free at the dealer. I just rolled past 2,200 miles and I want that original stuff out of it. It's starting to get pretty dark and it's been in the engine for about 5 months now with a bit of extended idling while I played with the systems and also quite a few short trips which adds up condensation that hasn't been burnt off. I plan on changing it again at 5,000 miles and switching to synthetic at that time.

 

If I took my own oil to the dealer to have them put in I'd ask for the bottles back. Just tell them you have other crap to put in them. Other than that I'm not really sure on how you can prove they put the oil you took them into your engine.

[GaryG]

With my 2010 FFH I have been getting the oil changed about every 10k miles. I am at 102K now and I am just waiting for my 2013 to be built and delivered. My current vehicle is starting to be really loud, and I do not know if it was due to the infrequent oil changes or something else entirely.

 

Getting back to your OP, you may have engine damage from overfilling the oil.

 

What it could be that is a problem with the 2.5L engine is oil level. I have the same engine and my first oil change I used my front wheel ramps. This caused over a quart of the old oil to be trapped and not drain from the engine. I added 5 quarts of 5W-20 Mobile One oil like the manual called for and checked the dip stick after running the engine.

 

I'm am a serious hypermiler so I know when my MPG drops. Also, I had a '05 FEH and never had a problem using my ramps to change the oil. I know now to keep the '09 FEH level when changing the oil. Since my new oil was mixed with the old oil overfilling my engine, I drained all the oil and measured the amount. This confirmed the drop in MPG was from overfilling the engine oil.

 

This problem started showing up with the '10 FFH (same engine) and people were posting that their engines were smoking. Sure enough, many of them had the oil changed at the dealer prior to seeing smoke from their tailpipes. I told them to check the oil level and all of them posted back that the oil level was high. The oil level should be half way between the Low and High marks on the stick. Not on the high mark at all. BTW, the dealers were only draining some of the mixed oil to lower the level to stop the smoking.

 

Check your engine oil level on level ground.

[milleron]

I always buy the oil at Walmart, like Wacevedo, and then take it to a mechanic I trust.

My sort of "old school", too, but my compromise is buying the Mobil 1 extended mileage synthetic which is even more durable than Mobil 1's original full synthetic. They guarantee it for 15K or one year, Using that product, I then follow the oil monitor, and I've been going about a year between changes.

Note that the aftermarket oil-filter manufacturers have started producing filters that are supposedly OK to leave in place for 10K or one year. I guess that they did in response to Mobil 1's extended-mileage product and in response to the newer oil monitors that are allowing owners to go a year between changes. I'm not sure if Motorcraft has such a part or not, but if I were going to change per the recommendations of the car's monitor, I'd be sure not to use a "standard" oil filter.

[lmp180psu]

I got my oil changed at the dealer I bought the car from on Saturday morning, and let's just say I am not happy now. First, I went to pay for it. I got "The Works" service which included the oil change, tire rotation, and checks of fluids etc for $39.95. When the cashier told me the total was $46.XX, I was like, uh that seems high, and it should be $42 something with tax (6% in PA). I walked over to the service counter to ask about it, and they said that only includes up to 5 quarts of oil, and they had to put in and charge for an extra quart. I was a bit puzzled why a 4 cylinder engine would require 6 qts, but that is what they said. Well, they agreed to not charge for the extra qt, and I paid and left to do my days errands. It was a hectic day, so I wasn't thinking to check the oil level and owners manual to see what the capacity is.

 

Today I decide to check the oil and owners manual. I checked the level and my partner looked at it too. He agreed with me it was way overfilled (a good inch over the hole in the dipstick which is above the full mark. The owners manual says 4.5 qts for the Hybrid which makes sense. Even my old 6 cylinder Acura TL didn't take 6 qts (it took 4.5). So now I have to call the dealer tomorrow and demand they drain the oil and set the level to the correct level. I will also mention that I hope they aren't doing this to all cars. Since the dealer is not close to my house or work (almost an hour away), it will be an inconvenience for me, but it has to be done. Yea, and when I drove by the dealer this weekend, EV+ is showing now as one of my more frequent destinations...not a good sign.

 

It could be that I knew the oil level is high, but the engine sounds like it is louder. Maybe it is trying to process the extra oil and is sort of "choking' on it. The fuel mileage hasn't seemed to suffer, but that is tough to tell with the EV mode and depending on how much EV has been used.

[steveo358]

I got my oil changed at the dealer I bought the car from on Saturday morning, and let's just say I am not happy now. First, I went to pay for it. I got "The Works" service which included the oil change, tire rotation, and checks of fluids etc for $39.95. When the cashier told me the total was $46.XX, I was like, uh that seems high, and it should be $42 something with tax (6% in PA). I walked over to the service counter to ask about it, and they said that only includes up to 5 quarts of oil, and they had to put in and charge for an extra quart. I was a bit puzzled why a 4 cylinder engine would require 6 qts, but that is what they said. Well, they agreed to not charge for the extra qt, and I paid and left to do my days errands. It was a hectic day, so I wasn't thinking to check the oil level and owners manual to see what the capacity is.

 

Today I decide to check the oil and owners manual. I checked the level and my partner looked at it too. He agreed with me it was way overfilled (a good inch over the hole in the dipstick which is above the full mark. The owners manual says 4.5 qts for the Hybrid which makes sense. Even my old 6 cylinder Acura TL didn't take 6 qts (it took 4.5). So now I have to call the dealer tomorrow and demand they drain the oil and set the level to the correct level. I will also mention that I hope they aren't doing this to all cars. Since the dealer is not close to my house or work (almost an hour away), it will be an inconvenience for me, but it has to be done. Yea, and when I drove by the dealer this weekend, EV+ is showing now as one of my more frequent destinations...not a good sign.

 

It could be that I knew the oil level is high, but the engine sounds like it is louder. Maybe it is trying to process the extra oil and is sort of "choking' on it. The fuel mileage hasn't seemed to suffer, but that is tough to tell with the EV mode and depending on how much EV has been used.

That is the main reason I prefer to change my own oil. I have trust issues with mechanics.

[GaryG]

I got my oil changed at the dealer I bought the car from on Saturday morning, and let's just say I am not happy now. First, I went to pay for it. I got "The Works" service which included the oil change, tire rotation, and checks of fluids etc for $39.95. When the cashier told me the total was $46.XX, I was like, uh that seems high, and it should be $42 something with tax (6% in PA). I walked over to the service counter to ask about it, and they said that only includes up to 5 quarts of oil, and they had to put in and charge for an extra quart. I was a bit puzzled why a 4 cylinder engine would require 6 qts, but that is what they said. Well, they agreed to not charge for the extra qt, and I paid and left to do my days errands. It was a hectic day, so I wasn't thinking to check the oil level and owners manual to see what the capacity is.

 

Today I decide to check the oil and owners manual. I checked the level and my partner looked at it too. He agreed with me it was way overfilled (a good inch over the hole in the dipstick which is above the full mark. The owners manual says 4.5 qts for the Hybrid which makes sense. Even my old 6 cylinder Acura TL didn't take 6 qts (it took 4.5). So now I have to call the dealer tomorrow and demand they drain the oil and set the level to the correct level. I will also mention that I hope they aren't doing this to all cars. Since the dealer is not close to my house or work (almost an hour away), it will be an inconvenience for me, but it has to be done. Yea, and when I drove by the dealer this weekend, EV+ is showing now as one of my more frequent destinations...not a good sign.

 

It could be that I knew the oil level is high, but the engine sounds like it is louder. Maybe it is trying to process the extra oil and is sort of "choking' on it. The fuel mileage hasn't seemed to suffer, but that is tough to tell with the EV mode and depending on how much EV has been used.

 

How does overfilling decrease MPG? The crankshaft is hitting the high oil level in the oil pan and throwing extra oil on the cylinder walls. The pistons and the rings fight the oil that's not needed. The crankshaft has oil passages already to oil the cylinders and moving parts correctly with the oil pump. If you get smoke from overfilling the oil pan, the oil is getting by the rings and into the combustion chamber and mixing with your fuel mixture. Even a little oil will not cause noticeable smoke, but it will drop your MPG as in my case.