When changing your own oil...
 

I have been changing my own oil since I began driving about 10 years ago. I changed my oil today and made a little mess which reminded me of a horrible mess i made ONCE with a Ford Ranger 4x4 I had a while back.

When you drain your oil and go to take off the oil filter MAKE SURE THE OIL FILTER GASGET COMES OFF WITH IT!!!!! Or remove it if it does stay behind, because if you install the new filter with the old gasget still intact, you will start your vehicle and spray oil EVERYWHERE!!!!

Now that I have wisened up a bit, I check for this each time and almost crack up as I remember this not so fun moment of being a shade tree mechanic.

Another thing, I have read countless post on other sites whether it is F150, Honda, Jeep or whatever about "What oil/oil filter should I use?" Here's my thought... Stay with the manufacturer's recommended weight (5w20 in my case), oil/oil filter brand. I have always used motor craft and have never had an issue with any of the 4 fords I've owned. Although today for some reason, every store was out of my FL820s Motorcraft oil filter and I was forced to use Fram. I am not worried about it, but just like to use what is recommended.

Just food for thought... Have a good one and good luck in the garage!!!

TxOutlaw...

How often do you change your oil on your F150? Every 3000 miles? I'm never sure if that is somewhat of a myth to get you to pay for an oil change more often than you may need to.

I change every 4-5K miles depending on how hard I am on my truck... If I do alot of offroading or towing, I will change 3-4K, but I do alot of highway driving and feel 4-5K is good. I think the 3K or 3mo. rule is more of a Jiffy Lube sales pitch. Our oils are far more advanced now than they were back in the day when 3K/3mo. was ok... Also, the synthetic blend in motorcraft is a superior oil to a natural oil.

I normaly go 4k. But also check the condition of the oil starting around 3k.

I change mine every 3k or a little before. I heard that if your engine starts on normal oil that switching to synthetic is not a good idea. Any feedback wheather this is true or not. I would like to get the most life and power from my engine. My truck has a little over 73,000 miles on it.

i change mine about ever 4K no matter what. i think 3K is a ploy by the oil comapnies to get us to buy more oil and filters. i change my oil ever 4K and i change my oil filter ever othger oil change and my truck runs perfect doing it this way.

Dean I have not heard that. I don't think there are a whole bunch of cars that come from the factory with full syn. in the enqines... Maybe all the high end cars??

Many thanks Tx. The guy who told me that said that synthetic is more fine/thiner and coats the walls better. Where as regular has some larger particals in it. His reasoning behing telling me was that your engine walls get tiny nicks and grooves in them and the regular oil helps to fill those imperfections where as synthetic doesn't fill them in as well because it is fine/thiner. Think I will be switching to a blend next oil change.

Might as well just use what Ford recommends... Thats my policy!

There are many myths concerning synthetics and their usage. Break-in period, voiding warranty, etc. Here's a link to Mobil's website that may help to clear up any confusion.

http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/...ics/Myths.aspx

And yes, I do understand that the info provided may not be 100% objectionable, but I still see it as helpful none the less.

Oh, I change my oil myself every 5K as it is what the manufacturer recommends and it's one heck of a lot easier to remember than to trying to remember where I wrote down the milage from my last change. I use Mobile 1 extended performance (rated for 15K intervals), this way I feel that I have all of my bases covered.