Are 5,000/6mo oil changes needed on 07 T4R w/43,000 mi?

[jow]

Are 5,000/6mo oil changes needed on 07 T4R w/43,000 mi?

Will the appearance condition of 5W20 synthetic blend from the Dealer help to determine if the 5,000 mi/6 mo is needed? I’ll have to get busy to drive 5,000 mi in a year vs the 3,000 mi I have averaged since retirement. I also changed my oil (10 W30 Castroil GTX) myself once a year and saw no sign of moisture or contamination (in my past Ford Explored of 15 years). If the fish start "Jumping Into The Boat", this matter could change. LO!

I want to do what is best for recent purchased 07 T4R but it is new to me w/o past experience of any T4R. If the 6 mo oil change with less than 5,000 mi is best, I’ll do it. The money I’ll save on gas should take care of the 6 mo oil change if needed “to stay in warranty” also.

1. Can you purchase the 5 W 20 blend that the Dealers use at local Auto Store (in Dallas/Fort Worth TX Area)?

2. Will the Warranty honor you changing your oil with proof of purchase w/o a problem?

Thanks In Advance! jow

 

[mole177]

A little bit of money can go a long way...

just change the oil yourself.

the dealer uses normal dino oil... (last time i remember)
unless you specify you want synthetic.

 

[Gecko123]

Are 5,000/6mo oil changes needed on 07 T4R w/43,000 mi?

Will the appearance condition of 5W20 synthetic blend from the Dealer help to determine if the 5,000 mi/6 mo is needed? I’ll have to get busy to drive 5,000 mi in a year vs the 3,000 mi I have averaged since retirement. I also changed my oil (10 W30 Castroil GTX) myself once a year and saw no sign of moisture or contamination (in my past Ford Explored of 15 years). If the fish start "Jumping Into The Boat", this matter could change. LO!

I want to do what is best for recent purchased 07 T4R but it is new to me w/o past experience of any T4R. If the 6 mo oil change with less than 5,000 mi is best, I’ll do it. The money I’ll save on gas should take care of the 6 mo oil change if needed “to stay in warranty” also.

1. Can you purchase the 5 W 20 blend that the Dealers use at local Auto Store (in Dallas/Fort Worth TX Area)?

2. Will the Warranty honor you changing your oil with proof of purchase w/o a problem?

Thanks In Advance! jow

As the previous person said, just change the oil yourself or change it regularly. You cannot see signs of contamination. As a matter of fact, some oil gets burned off during normal driving and gets replaced with gas/water and other contaminates. So, when you check your oil and the oil level is fine, you would think, no problem, but in reality, the oil is slowly getting contaminated. If you read your manual, it actually describes it a lot better than i can.


Best thing to do is call the dealer and ask them if they will honour the warranty if you change it yourself. I know where i live they do, but to be on the safe side, just pick up the phone and call them. Or email Toyota USA.

 

[Hi-Fi]

Walmart sells Ford Motorcraft 5W20 semi synthetic relatively cheap. I used it on my 6.8L V10 for years and it seemed to be pretty good oil.

 

[Nuke]

I'm 55 and it took a bit to get me out of that "old school" mentality.

Dino oils are good for more than the old 3000 mile rule of thumb but in my opinion, I'd still change dino at 3,000 miles or 6 months.

Synthetic blends are good for about 7500 miles max or 6 months unless you're doing a pile of short trips and stop-n-go driving, in which case I'd knock that down to 5000-6000 miles. Most good, name brand oil filters can handle that 7500 miles.

Full synthetics are good for 10,000 miles or more or 1 year (a bit conservative). You'll need a high capacity filter like the M1 or Amsoils' Ea filter although I HAVE used the garbage Fram filters for multiple 10,000 miles oil changes on an SUV that I sold with 205,000 miles on it which now has 375,000 miles. Quite a few people I know are going 15,000 miles on full syn and others are going longer but having oil analysis done every few thousand miles. IMO, for the cost of the analysis you may as well just change it.

You can't tell squat by looking at an oil. Jet black oil is no indication of an oil's depletion. I've seen black oils test better than used oil that was still amber.

 

[Gecko123]

I'm 55 and it took a bit to get me out of that "old school" mentality.

Dino oils are good for more than the old 3000 mile rule of thumb but in my opinion, I'd still change dino at 3,000 miles or 6 months.

Synthetic blends are good for about 7500 miles max or 6 months unless you're doing a pile of short trips and stop-n-go driving, in which case I'd knock that down to 5000-6000 miles. Most good, name brand oil filters can handle that 7500 miles.

Full synthetics are good for 10,000 miles or more or 1 year (a bit conservative). You'll need a high capacity filter like the M1 or Amsoils' Ea filter although I HAVE used the garbage Fram filters for multiple 10,000 miles oil changes on an SUV that I sold with 205,000 miles on it which now has 375,000 miles. Quite a few people I know are going 15,000 miles on full syn and others are going longer but having oil analysis done every few thousand miles. IMO, for the cost of the analysis you may as well just change it.

You can't tell squat by looking at an oil. Jet black oil is no indication of an oil's depletion. I've seen black oils test better than used oil that was still amber.

I agree. I am old school too when it comes to changing oil. I use the dino stuff and change it every 5000km (3000 miles). I know cars today are more efficient and there are probably less contaminates going into the engine, engine burns cleaner, etc, etc. but I feel a lot better changing it at 5000 km interval.

Yes, you cannot tell by visual inspection if oil is good. Some people use to rubber the oil between their fingers and thumb to tell if it's good. If you can feel roughness, it's way too late (gone way pass the change interval). What I'm saying is... it's impossible to tell visually or by feel.

The way I see it: Changing the oil yourself is cheap. Rebuilding an engine is very expensive.

I always change my oil just before a long road trip as well.

 

[Nuke]

Walmart sells Ford Motorcraft 5W20 semi synthetic relatively cheap. I used it on my 6.8L V10 for years and it seemed to be pretty good oil.

Both my '07 Mustang GT and the g/f's '06 Mustang V6 came from the factory with the Motorcraft synthetic blend. I've continued using it in the g/f's Pony. I concur; it is relatively inexpensive and seems to be up to the task.

 

[ran]

Good thread. I am semi retired and do less than 7000 miles a year on my '07 SE V6.