When to get first oil change? (I have a 2020)

[RPDBlueMoon]

Does anyone know when you are supposed to do the first oil change?

I searched the internet and this website and saw different answers, I saw people saying that they did it at around 1,000 miles others doing it at 2,000 and 3,000 miles. Some are doing after the engine is broken in completely (at 1,000 miles) and some are not doing it. I read the owners manual and it didn't say anything about changing the oil shortly after the 1,000 mile break in period, it just talks about the oil life monitor and the mileage intervals at which you will need to get it changed. My oil life monitor says that it's at 80%. I haven't been able to find a definitive answer. I am assuming the oil life monitor is the most accurate.

I had asked a friend about it awhile ago and he said that he did it at around 1,000 miles but he is primarily tracking the car (im not doing that).

Im at 920 miles, never really owned a car like this before so sorry if this is a noob question.

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[Frank.Herbst]

You will get several answers. Some wait till the system displays the change oil message. Some pick an amount of mileage that they feel covers the early break in period. Others change the oil based on track days.
I only put on about 3k miles a year so I change my oil every year. Probably more than it needs, I have never seen the time to change oil message on the display. Oils today are very good but it's hard to let go of our old ways.

 

[Rev Happy]

Does anyone know when you are supposed to do the first oil change?

I searched the internet and this website and saw different answers, I saw people saying that they did it at around 1,000 miles others doing it at 2,000 and 3,000 miles. Some are doing after the engine is broken in completely (at 1,000 miles) and some are not doing it. I read the owners manual and it didn't say anything about changing the oil shortly after the 1,000 mile break in period, it just talks about the oil life monitor and the mileage intervals at which you will need to get it changed. My oil life monitor says that it's at 80%. I haven't been able to find a definitive answer. I am assuming the oil life monitor is the most accurate.

I had asked a friend about it awhile ago and he said that he did it at around 1,000 miles but he is primarily tracking the car (im not doing that).

Im at 920 miles, never really owned a car like this before so sorry if this is a noob question.

There isn't really a definite answer for the first oil change. I'm about to change mine when I get to 1,000 miles. I'm currently at 969 and the oil life monitor is at 88%. The monitor is just going by the Ford recommended interval. Some people change it at 500 miles, some people will change it even before that. Personally, I've always gone by a 1,000 miles for the first change.

 

[dpAtlanta]

I asked one of the mechanics at Ford Performance when I was at the Track Attack in Charlotte.
He said wait until the system says to change the oil.
But like Frank said... you will get several different answers.

 

[GT350HE29]

Does anyone know when you are supposed to do the first oil change?

I searched the internet and this website and saw different answers, I saw people saying that they did it at around 1,000 miles others doing it at 2,000 and 3,000 miles. Some are doing after the engine is broken in completely (at 1,000 miles) and some are not doing it. I read the owners manual and it didn't say anything about changing the oil shortly after the 1,000 mile break in period, it just talks about the oil life monitor and the mileage intervals at which you will need to get it changed. My oil life monitor says that it's at 80%. I haven't been able to find a definitive answer. I am assuming the oil life monitor is the most accurate.

I had asked a friend about it awhile ago and he said that he did it at around 1,000 miles but he is primarily tracking the car (im not doing that).

Im at 920 miles, never really owned a car like this before so sorry if this is a noob question.

Your going to get a lot of opinions on this one. I definitely stay on the conservative side, changed mine at 1000 miles. Since it is not a daily driver and I probably will log 3 - 4K mile/ year, I will be on a six month time schedule, not mileage. Cheap insurance at $120/change, $240/year. All oils begin to breakdown once in service.
Initial filter did have some small metal particulate and paint flakes from assembly, nothing to be concerned about, but get that crap out of there.
Never heard anybody say new oil is bad thing.

 

[460Fred]

I’ve read “get that crappy Ford oil out of there as soon as you get home with the car. Change it again at 100, 500 and then 1000. After that every 5K or 12 months whatever comes first.”
And I’ve read “Ford oil is fine and just change it when your computer tells you to.”
So you will get answers as clear as a mud bog.
I say go mud boggin’

 

[Rapid Red]

That's a opened ended question. Once upon a time first oil change any new or rebuilt motor. 1K was the magic number. I just changed mine at 2K. Next change will happen using the oil life monitor as the bench mark.

Summing it up, change your oil often, never go beyond the life cycle, change the oil .

I will use the Ford oil for now, never read it was crappy oil. Have a hard time believing Ford would use crappy oil, what is in it for them?

The only real way to find out if an oil is of low quality . Is to open the block check bearings, rods, cam, and look for sludge. I do prefer WIX filter over the Ford brand.

 

[el-guapin]

Get all that initial engine wear out. 1k Miles is what i would recommend.

 

[turBO951]

Agree with the 1,000 mile oil change, that is what I am going to do.

 

[GTthree50]

I’ve read “get that crappy Ford oil out of there as soon as you get home with the car. Change it again at 100, 500 and then 1000.

This is exactly what I did. But basically I agree you will get answers all over the place as to what is right. Basically, do what makes you feel comfortable and that will be as correct as anything else.

 

[HEP#15]

I agree - 1000 miles for first change to get debris out as it can't hurt. I switched to Amsoil and will stay with it going forward. I also did a Blackstone oil analysis to track engine wear/break in. From there it depends on how much you drive the car and do you live in a place where you drive it year round like I do.

 

[RPDBlueMoon]

You will get several answers. Some wait till the system displays the change oil message. Some pick an amount of mileage that they feel covers the early break in period. Others change the oil based on track days.
I only put on about 3k miles a year so I change my oil every year. Probably more than it needs, I have never seen the time to change oil message on the display. Oils today are very good but it's hard to let go of our old ways.

Okay thanks, so you changed it 3k miles then for your first time?

Also what is the deal with the oil? It seems like there are just as many answers about what oil to use. I saw that people were arguing over the oil that Ford recommends, people were saying that the SAE rating in the owners manual doesnt meet the specs of the motor craft oil that Ford uses. It doesn't make sense to me why the owners manual or Ford would intentionally put the wrong grade of oil in the car. Seems like people think they know more than the Ford engineers.

I am not going to be tracking the car or pushing it to its limits anytime soon so I am thinking that the normal motorcraft oil would be fine. I don't know anything about this stuff. I always refered to the owners manual for my previously owned vehicles and its never been a problem. But people are saying its hogwash so it would be nice to get some clarification, as I would like to keep my car running lol.

 

[HEP#15]

If you search the forum you will find several articles about what oil to use. There's nothing wrong with using the 5W50 Motorcraft oil called out in the owners manual. I went back and forth on Motorcraft vs Amsoil and decided to switch to Amsoil to give it a try. As I said, I will be doing oil analyses to see how it performs. The Motorcraft oil is typically cheaper than Amsoil if you buy it online so it's a more cost effective oil to use if you are going to do frequent oil changes.

 

[drjeff]

Ask yourself this- why would Ford recommend such a long interval before first oil change if it were bad for the car in any way? The dealers can make money on more frequent oil changes. Ford is on the hook if there are engine problems. There is simply no reason to recommend 10,000 miles unless that’s what is safe for the engine, determined by Ford engineers who designed and tested the damn thing.

 

[pilotgore]

Okay thanks, so you changed it 3k miles then for your first time?

Also what is the deal with the oil? It seems like there are just as many answers about what oil to use. I saw that people were arguing over the oil that Ford recommends, people were saying that the SAE rating in the owners manual doesnt meet the specs of the motor craft oil that Ford uses. It doesn't make sense to me why the owners manual or Ford would intentionally put the wrong grade of oil in the car. Seems like people think they know more than the Ford engineers.

I am not going to be tracking the car or pushing it to its limits anytime soon so I am thinking that the normal motorcraft oil would be fine. I don't know anything about this stuff. I always refered to the owners manual for my previously owned vehicles and its never been a problem. But people are saying its hogwash so it would be nice to get some clarification, as I would like to keep my car running lol.

Glad to see you’re clocking some miles quickly! Are you loving the car?

I think for your application, change the oil around or shortly after 1,000 miles to get the metal flakes, rtv, and other junk out of the oil filter, then after that maybe change the oil when the oil life calculator is down to 20% (which gives you a nice comfortable window to schedule the oil change without going over.). If I remember correctly, you got the extended warranty like I did.

My thought process is, since I don’t want to give them a reason to deny a future warranty claim, I stick to what the manual says and I use recommended parts/viscosity. As we talked about, the manual calls for oil changes after tracking the car (hence the 4 oil changes this year with only 2,800 miles on the odometer. Initial after 1k, then after each track weekend)

RockAuto.com has good deals for our recommended oil, motorcraft 5w-50 synthetic (which is just fine.) Sometimes I use rockauto for the oil filter, sometimes I go amazon. If you aren’t changing the oil yourself then completely disregard.

if you decide to wait on the initial oil change until the oil calculator gets low, I don’t think anyone can really fault you for it since Ford doesn’t recommend something to the contrary. But, as others have said.... old habits die hard. I still recommend 1,000 miles

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