Oil Change Frequency

[Floridakamper]

My owner's manual says change the oil every 7500 miles or every six months. On the first oil change of my ownership, I filled with Mobil 1, full synthetic. It's been six months since that change and I don't even have 2500 miles on it. Will I risk warranty issues if I don't change at six months. I purchased new but I'll bet it was over a year without an oil change between build and sold.

If warranty wasn't an issue, I'd feel comfortable with 12 months between changes if the miles didn't justify an earlier change. Thanks for your input.

[Waiter21]

Personally, I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize the warranty. There is a risk that a claim could be denied if the damage could be attributed to negligence and you cannot prove you followed the schedule. You probably only have a couple years for the warranty, so oil and filter will cost less than $20 a change if you do it yourself every 6 months (or the 7500 miles). Install a Fumoto valve, makes changing a lot easier.

I use 5w30 in the wifes car (new car warranty) and save the receipt for the oil and filter.

On my 99 Southwind, (no warranty), I use 5w30 and change at 5k mile intervals (plus or minus for trips). I do not change based on calendar days. If I know I'm approaching a long trip, or a long storage, and the mileage isn't quite right, I'll change anyway. Oil is cheap and it only takes a few minutes to change it.

[Hikerdogs]

The warranty on the complete chassis is 3 years or 36,000 miles. The warranty on the drive train is 5 years or 60,000 miles. I would follow the recommended service intervals to keep the warranty intact.


There have been others on this forum who have chosen not to follow the recommended service intervals. Some have had problems. In one case repairs were denied by Ford because the oil was not changed within the time or mileage interval. The OP was appealing the decision, but I have no idea of the final resolution.


Should you be unlucky enough to have problems down the road the first thing Ford will ask for is the service records. Why risk a potential claim denial or protracted battle to get repairs done under warranty when you can avoid the situation by following the published maintenance schedule?

[Floridakamper]

Originally Posted by Hikerdogs

Why risk a potential claim denial or protracted battle to get repairs done under warranty when you can avoid the situation by following the published maintenance schedule?

You're right. Oil is cheap compared to a denied warranty claim and changing it on these beasts is no big deal.

[vsheetz]

Change per the manufacturer during warranty. When out if warranty change annually. I change oil/filter in all my low mileage/hours engines in my birthday month - makes it easy to remember when due.

[biggcrisp]

I'm following the six months rule. Regardless of mileage. This has worked out to 3,000 miles per oil change.

I can afford it and it's mine.

[TeJay]

I don't hear much about warranty claims and Ford denying them. I suppose it happens but usually the burden of proof is on Ford.

By that I mean If your engine craps out and you did the oil changes as prescribed and showed them your receipts for oil and filters is that good enough??? Is just having a receipt proof that you did it?? No it's not. I'm here to tell you that Ford will analyze the oil to determine if they can shift the burden of proof on to you.

I'm sure owner oil changes have been through the courts dozens of times.
They can't stop you from doing your own oil changes. They will have to prove that the oil was the cause of the failure and not build quality. Think about it!!!! They will have to determine that you did something. Missing an oil change by a 1,000 or 3,000 miles is not going to be the issue. Or not having done it exactly as they want you to will have to fall on them to prove.

Yes some will argue with my thinking but I'm not going to be anal concerning the oil change interval. It's just not worth the thinking effort. That goes along with should I use semi or full synthetic oil. Hey if full is better how could a court argue with anybody.

Our coach was purchased in August of 2014. This August it will be 3 years old. We currently have somewhere north of 21,000 miles on the odometer. That's close to 7,000 annually. We have a few more trips so in August we'll see.

We average 50 miles for every hour of driving. One hundred engine hours means 5,000 miles. One hundred and fifty engine hours means 7,500 miles. That sounds good to me. I'll change the oil filter every 150 engine hours.

Here's the exact figures. 21,336 miles 424.6 engine hours = 50.2259 miles for every hour of engine operation. When the engine is running 99% of the time I'm driving. I do not allow it to idle more than 2-3 minutes. More contaminants build during idle so I avoid it. It really does not get any easier than that.

Why does the manufacturer use time and mileage??? The key to the correct answer is simple. Short stop and go driving is the worst on any engine. WHY?? In order for contaminants (co, water, gas fumes, other blow by gases etc, etc) to boil out of the oil it has to be driven long enough (ambient temperatures are a big factor) to heat up then long enough to vaporize them and vent them into the PCV and crankcase breather system.

Short trips cause build up of contaminants and that causes sludge. A MH is usually driven long trips but not as often as your daily driver going 30, 40 or 50 miles to and from work.

[Floridakamper]

I'll change it as reguired by the owners manual. Seems funny to me that I have a couple of late model GM products that come with free oil changes for the first few years. If mileage is not meet they will only change the oil at the one year point.

[oakcreekeric]

I'm with TeJay...

I converted my oil to Mobil 1 synthetic shortly after I brought her home with about 2500-3000 miles on it in 2012. and I have since changed it once a year.. I've got slightly over 30K on it now..

I average about 6000-8000 miles per year and my season is only 6-7 months long.. seems to me... it would be foolish to change the oil while it's sitting in hibernation just because the manufacturer says to change it every 6 months...

Now.. maybe when my season is year-round (someday ), I HOPE to be changing it far more often.. due to miles !!!

[marjoa]

Originally Posted by Waiter21

so oil and filter will cost less than $20 a change if you do it yourself every 6 months (or the 7500 miles)

The OP says he's using Mobil 1 Syn.

Your advice of doing it himself for $20? For 7 quarts of Mobil 1 and a filter? Please share where you buy your supplies. I want in on this.

[TeJay]

Well maybe Waiter21 missed the cost estimate a bit (50%) its still a smart thing to do for you and the engine.

I can buy the Ford V-10 oil filter at the dealer for $6. I got Mobil 1 on sale at Wally World for $25 with tax. That works out to be $5 a quart. Even when it's not on sale it about $6 a quart.

Seven quarts of oil and filter makes it $41 for at least 7,500 miles of driving. Small price to pay for quality care.

I haven't bought regular oil in so long I don't know what it costs. I suspect it's about 1/2 the cost of synthetic.

[Waiter21]

Marjoa;

I don't use Mobil one. I use regular ole 5x30 that meets ASE requirements and sells for less than $2 a quart. seven quarts and a filter typically costs me less than $20.

If I were changing oil every six months on a motor that hasn't run, I wouldn't be putting Mobil one in it.

On my warranty vehicle, I stick reasonably close to what the manufacture says, but I always hit the miles before the months. We often hit the local tire shop that will do a change for $19,.

If I had a new MH that was under warranty but hadn't been started in six months, would I change the oil??? Maybe, if I did, I'd use that oil in one of my other vehicles. Regardless I'd make sure I could document my oil changes.

Would a receipt prove I changed my oil? Not really, It proves I bought oil. Would an arbitrator accept this as proof, probably so, If I can show a track record that this is what I do.

[hfbundy]

TeJay is the only respondent who offers much of a technical basis for his oil change program and I agree with him. At one time I was intimidated by the possibility that Ford or any other manufacturer would deny a claim because I did not follow its oil change recommendations to the letter. Over the years I have concluded changing oil based only on time, which would usually be the limiting factor for me, is ridiculous. Like TJ, I avoid idling the engine every chance I get and hardly ever drive in extreme conditions. I use only synthetic oil and am certain that the engines in all my vehicles are pristine.

[EdInArk]

My manual says to change the oil every 5000 miles or six months if towing. How many of us tow a car with us most of the time?