I had the oil changed with Mobil 1 on my 2018 Ford F150 (V8). Supposedly you can go 10000 miles between oil changes with Mobil 1? After the oil change, a 6000 mile trip towing a travel trailing (under 5000 lbs). The message came up - maintenance required, which I assume is a standard message to change the oil after 5000 miles. How often should I should the oil when I use Mobil 1 and how does towing affect that duration?
Thank you for all the suggestions, and insights.
You are still in the warranty period so see a dealer and get the real answer . And you qualify for severe service so look in the manual for what that is.
Unless you tow a trailer.
Go by what your oil monitor says
this is from your owners manual
âChange engine oil and filter as indicated by the information displayâ
Your assumption is wrong.
The truck is telling you to change the oil based on how hard you used it. You towed, so it triggered the service at 6K. Ignore what it says on the Mobil 1 bottle and change the oil. The truck doesnât know you used Mobil 1 but the safest way to maintain your warranty is to change it when the truck says to.
All this is spelled out in your owners manual.
I have a 2013 with the v8. For less than 50 bucks the dealer will change my oil and filter using semi synthetic and motorcraft filter.
My advice is donât get cheap on maintenance on an expensive truck.
I treat mine like Iâm going to keep it forever, because Iâve seen the prices on new ones
Thatâs what Mobil 1 tells you.
Mobil 1 didnât build your FORD truck.
Follow what FORD tells you in the owners manual.
Tester
If your F-150 maintenance warning light works like the system on my Toyota Siennas-- both the 2011 I used to own and my present 2017, the maintenance light comes on every 5000 miles. It has nothing to do with the condition of the oil
The maintenance light can be reset no matter what has or has not been done. It comes on automatically after being reset after the Sienna has traveled 5000 miles. The manual calls for 10,000 mile oil changes, but 5000 mile tire rotation.
On the other hand, the maintenance light on my 2006 Chevrolet Uplander came on when some set of algorithms calculated through a set of algorithms that the oil life had been depleted. In the winter, with stop/start driving, it might indicate that the oil should be changed after 3500 miles. In the summer, I could drive over 10,000 miles before the oil life was depleted. I donât know which system your F-150 uses.
I preferred the system on my Uplander. However, I prefer not even having a maintenance required system. Iâvne owned enough cars and understand engined well enough to change oil based on the conditions under which I have driven my vehicles.
When deciding on the optimum interval for changing the engine oil, best bet is to error on the side of caution. The manufacturer may not think you really need to keep your F150 running on the same engine for 300K miles, so they may spec the interval to a more modest 200K mile objective. If you want to get the full 300K miles youâll have to decrease the oil change interval to more frequent changing than the manufacturer recommends.
Most OLMâs are based on using standard oil not high synthetics like Mobil 1 . The OLMâs do not know you have synthetics in there and all their parameters(engine revolutions,drive time periods, outside temps ,etc) are based on standard dino oil . So if you drove it hard by towing it will considerably shorten your oil change interval . Time to get your oil changed . If you decide to go Mobil 1 , you are on your own as far as changing the oil and you better have every single receipt to cover your butt if something happened within the powertrain warranty period .
My 2013 Ford does not just come on at any specific mileage. It has a use algorithm. I canât imagine a 5 year newer Ford product would not have the algorithmic OLM.
As others have said, this is simple. Your engine is under warranty, so change it at least as often as the OLM says, if not more often. NEVER less often, regardless of what type of oil you use. Once youâre out of warranty, do as you please. Iâd follow the OLM then, also.
@Mustangman. Toyota is behind the times on this maintenance due system. The maintenance due comes on 5000 miles after it is reset. Tire rotation is to be performed every 5000 and oil changes at 10,000 miles. Both my2011 and 2017 Sienna worked this way. The 2006 Chevrolet Uplander I owned had a display that indicated the percentage of oil life left and it varied with the conditions under which the vehicle was driven. I prefer the maintenance information system that was on the Uplander, though I know enough that stop and start winter driving when the engine may not get fully warmed up is harder on an engine than open road long distance trips.
And remember, your power train warranty is 5 yrs/60,000 miles, longer than your âbumper to bumperâ warranty (3yrs/36k).
Is âMaintenance Requiredâ the normal message for time for an oil change on a 2018 Ford F-150? Check your owners manual to be sure.
And Iâd change my oil after a 6,000 mile trip towing a trailer.
The OLM display percent of oil life remaining. I think âChange Oil Soonâ comes on at 10%. I usually change when between 15-20%.
I bet this is covered in the ownerâs manual.
Probably, but I still change it before it gets to that point.
Whatâs up with all the posts from people who own expensive vehicles, but want to âsave moneyâ by delaying oil changes, using regular fuel in an engine thatâs designed for premium, etc?
I suspect that todayâs long oil change intervals are based more on marketing than on improvements to oil and oil filters. I wouldnât go more than a year or 5000 miles on any vehicle, even if itâs way out of warranty. And of course, check frequently and add if needed.
The confusion comes from several sources, including oil life monitors and manufacturer recommendations. I mean if a guy buys a car and does what the manual says or goes by the oil life monitor, I canât fault him.
Like you, I change oil at 5k miles. I didnât reset the oil monitor on my 2005 Buick once, just to see when it would tell me to change it. It was around 9k miles. That was with quite a bit of highway driving, though.
When we bought a 2013 Toyota, it came with âToyota Careâ. Toyota doesnât (or didnât) have an oil life moniter. Rather, youâd get a âmaintenance requiredâ message at 5k mile intervals. The dealer refused to change my oil under the âYota Careâ program at 5k. So I just did it myself and had it changed again at 10k under the program. But I wouldnât blame someone if they waited until 10k, since thatâs what the people who sold them the car are telling them to do.
One of my best friends in college is now an engineer for Honda. He said he followed the oil monitor on his Yukon, going up to 10k on an oil change. He traded it at over 100k miles with no issues. So maybe it works ok to some extent to extend the interval. But Iâm too cautious. And I shoot for at least 200k miles before I trade.
No offense to to your friend . . .
If I was buying a used car, Iâd rather buy one that had the engine oil changed every 5K