I purchased my 13 Lariat in Dec. 2013 and it had nearly 10,000 miles on it. I have been on the road almost non stop (Just within a few states) and I racked up over 7000 miles on the oil change the dealer did when I purchased it. The Oil Life was still at 38% on my dash. Does anyone know whether this thing is anywhere near accurate or not? I just did an oil change using straight synthetic and am curious how accurate it might be going forward.

 

I personally won't do the 10k oil changes. At the longest I would go is 5-7.5k. I know that the oil can last that long, but why do that? Full synthetic is what makes it last so much longer, but I'm still paranoid about build-ups in the oil eating my engine. The oil life gauge is set to factory setting of 10k. They just reset the "timer" on your gauge when you get an oil change.

But again I usually do mine right aroun 5k. It's more money now that can save me more money down the road as I'm sure these engines are expensive as hell. lol

 

I'm not sure if the monitor accounts for extreme conditions, such as short commutes that never get the engine up to temp. I had them change it when I bought it used at 37k but looking at the oil now at 42, it is black as night. I wonder if they snuck in conventional oil. Anyway, I'm changing it this week or next for full synny.

 

Actually the newer OLM is a much more complex algorithm than just a set # of miles. It takes into account idle time as well as a number of other measurements. I go by the OLM. You're not going to hurt anything by doing so. The color of the oil is also not indicative of the life your oil has left.

 

I rarely sit in heavy traffic thanks to my work hours and I'm on the open highway enough to keep things lubed well but 10,000 just scares me. Hell, going 7000 worried me.

 

I'm about to get my first oil change next week at 5k miles (give or take a hundred). I'm also going to try to get an oil sample taken like some other people on here have done to see if there is anything I should be concerned with. Not sure how much it would cost, but it's worth the extra knowledge about my truck.

 

Your initial used oil analysis might show higher metal levels than later tests due to engine break in.

 

I've routinely changed oil on my vehicles at 7,500 miles, using conventional oil. I've never had a vehicle that used synthetic until this one. None of the vehicles I've owned, since my first one over 30 years ago, has ever had any type of engine problem. My plan is to follow the OLM.

 

With full syn I think you will be fine at 7K. But, if you feel the need, an oil change is cheap enough to sooth your mind. We all know oil is the life of a motor.


BTW, we always said "If you run, you'll just go to jail tired". We didn't have dogs back in the stone age. As a rook I ran so many they should have called me "Rover."

 

Some BMWs call for 15,000 miles oil changes.

Now that's nuts.