Wilburb

I have a 2013 F150 3.7. I'm weird and I read the manual in its entirety. Initially I was planning on listening to the IOLM. I went to the local dealer "oh the manual probably says 7,500 miles, but you should do it every 5,000." I didn't correct him, but the 2013 manual doesn't mention 7,500 miles anywhere.

I talked to corporate ford service and they initially told me to go with the IOLM, then later turned back and said to go with whatever the dealer says. Yeah.....PR.

I decided to take matters into my own hands. Rather than let the dealer change my oil the next service I changed it myself and took a sample. I changed at about 14,000 miles total on the truck, and 6,000 on the oil.

The analysis came back and everything was normal except for copper. Viscosity was within spec. So other than copper, my roughly 50% oil life remaining oil was normal. I understand a trend with multiple samples might be needed to get a good picture, but is it normal for a hardly broken in F150 to have copper at 65 PPM? Would it be expected to be high at 14k miles since new?

And naturally....What do others do in terms of listening to the IOLM vs Dealer?

Thanks.

nihilus

Damn that is high. Metal going to be highest in the beginning and then go away after it breaks in but that seems abnormal. Mine was 5 ppm the first oil analysis and 3 ppm the 2nd time. I went 7,500 miles. 2013 5.0 engine. If I were you, I would do another analysis at 3k miles to make sure that something is not wearing improperly.

RLXXI

Um yeah it does actually. page 419 of the 3rd printing located here http://www.fordservicecontent.com/Fo.../13f12om3e.pdf

Wilburb

My apologies for the confusion. When I said the manual doesn't mention 7,500 anywhere I made an incorrect assumption about people reading my post. l assumed readers would understand I was referring to 7,500 miles for recommended oil change intervals.

In the section you're quoting, Ford is giving an estimate of when to expect the IOLM to let an owner know it is time to change the oil. (Not specifying recommended intervals.)

Some snippets from that section:
"...intended to provide examples..."
"...provided as a guideline only..."
"Actual engine oil change intervals depend on several factors..."
"When to expect the OIL CHANGE REQUIRED message." (caps preserved from manual)

Nothing in that section says anything about changing on a mileage based interval. It actually says the opposite, "This means you do not have to remember to change the oil on a mileage-based schedule;..." I should have included mention of oil change intervals in my original post and that sentence should have read. "...but the 2013 manual doesn't mention 7,500 as a mileage interval for oil changes anywhere."

The only mention of mileage based oil change intervals (and where it appears to imply the IOLM may not tell you) is to not exceed 10,000 miles or 1 year.

Thanks for your info!

Wilburb

Thanks for providing your result! I talked to the lab technician about my results and he said he wouldn't worry about it. He thought my engine had very little for copper parts. That said, he also said it was likely coming from copper tubing in the engine oil cooler, which I don't have. I guess I'll see next time. That is assuming I don't trade it off first. I'm sick of Ford's inability to find other, much more obvious, problems with it. (Weird noises when putting in/out of gear...started at 1k miles; AC/Heat fan speed changes randomly, but appears to be connected at least somewhat to engine RPM...started around 10k.) Probably cheaper to sell off the toys that require a pickup anyway.