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First oil change

51957 Views 93 Replies 43 Participants Last post by  jmrtsus, 
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1. When will you do your first oil change?

2. Will you perform the oil change yourself, or have the dealer (or third-party) do it?

3. Will you use/specify a certain brand of oil?
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wash
I just did my first change. I wanted to do it earlier but it wound up at 1,300 miles.

I upgraded to a Purolator Pure 1 PL20195 oil filter. The stock filter is a Motorcraft fl910s which is the smaller version of the Motorcraft fl400s and the PL20195 is an upgraded more efficient version of the fl400s. Purolator makes the Motorcraft filters so its almost a factory upgrade.

The hard part is getting the filter in place, the oil/water heat exchanger hoses get in the way but after you get the filter past that it fits fine. Even the small filter has that issue getting in and out.

One minor change I did was rotate a spring clip on one of the heat exchanger hoses, that gave it more space and less likely to bust a knuckle on when you are removing a filter.

I'm going to do a 1,000 mile weekend road trip soon. My next change will be after that, hopefully before 3,500 miles, then I'll switch to a 5,000 mile interval on oil and maybe 10,000 on filters if they look good after 5,000.
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wash
Yep, that's a busted knuckle...

I'm getting ready for my second oil change after my SEMA road trip. I meant to look for an oil filter cutter but that is one thing I forgot. I think I'll try to order one and change once it arrives.
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wash
I looked around and the Longacre oil filter cutter seemed like a good choice from a reputable company at a good price. The only thing significantly cheaper was the Summit private label filter cutter.

I found a good price on Amazon along with cheap Purolator PL20195 oil filters, a case of Royal Purple, a K&N air filter, spline drive lug nuts and a ratcheting 1/2" drive torque wrench.

I went with the free shipping option so sometime next week I'll be ready for an oil change and a couple upgrades.
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wash
My oil arrived last week and the rest is scheduled for Tuesday delivery.

I'll probably do the change on Thursday, now I have to line up a lift.

I have two options, one rental place and a race shop that will probably help me out because I'm going to order a twin scroll EFR turbo from them.
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wash
Yeah mine was really tight too, it took a chain style oil filter wrench and left the can with lots of dents and scars.

The second time around should be much easier.
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wash
As much as manufacturers add anti-friction and ultra clean assembly, engines still break in and most of that wear happens early. In my opinion its better to get that factory oil out of there sooner rather than later.

There is no reason to push the change interval right away.

Also with a 21 psi boost level, blow by is going to contaminate the oil more than other cars so a conservative oil change interval is probably smart until we figure out what they can really handle.
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wash
My second change was at 6,700 miles, 5,400 after my first change.

Feeling some of the oil as it drained, it seemed clean and although it was black, it was not so black that it stayed black when spread in a thin film on the new filter's gasket.

I'll probably do a used oil analysis after my next change.

I cut open my filter and was impressed by what I saw, the filter media seemed quite clean, not too much gunk between the pleats and the media was straight and in good shape. I would say a 10,000+ mile filter change interval would be fine with the PL20195 and a good oil might last 7,500+.

Its too bad I didn't have a filter cutter for the factory filter at 1,300 but I feel like my engine is well protected and in excellent health despite my harsh treatment.
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wash
I spent a minute looking between the pleats and didn't see any flecks like you had there.

Its probably a lot harder to see with an oily filter but I think what you have is the residue of initial break-in.

Next time I bet its cleaner.
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wash
Good luck with that.

Even with the car on a lift fishing in a dry filter is a pain in the butt.
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wash
I ordered a case of Royal Purple from Amazon and despite using the free slow shipping, it arrived about two days after my order and the rest of my order arrived about a week and a half later.

I don't know if that works for every oil order but I suspect they do that so there is less chance of an oil slick in the shipping facility.

Either way, if you look at your odometer you can see when your oil change should be coming. Order two weeks early and you're set even with slow free shipping.
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wash
How many knuckles must suffer this sorry fate?

For the filter, I suggest the Purolator Pure1 for a few reasons. First, Purolator is the OEM for Motorcraft oil filters. Second, the Pure1 line has all the features of the Motorcraft filter except with a premium filter element that removes a greater percentage of contamination from the oil. Third, the Pure1 is fairly easy to find at many retailers. Finally, I didn't see anything else with construction or quality that looked any better than the Pure1, inside and out.

With that in mind, I chose a slightly larger than stock filter which theoretically reduces the pressure drop across the filter and increases the total amount of contamination the filter can hold before it starts to bypass unfiltered oil.

My initial results suggest that the filter is probably just $3.00 of overkill but for this application, slight overkill is what I'm going for.
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wash
The filter I use is a direct replacement for the FL400s I think. That filter is what Ford based our stock filter on, they just shortened it.

If I ever have to go in for a warranty repair, I'll take it in with a Motorcraft filter.

I would rather protect my engine than my warranty.

There are not that many parts to an oil filter, but if you look at Ford's spec for the stock filter and the FL400s, you can see they both have a silicon anti-drain back valve, and something like 13-14 psi bypass pressure.

The spec for filtration effectiveness is not the same but the Pure1 filter spec exceeds both.

Finally, Purolator makes the Motorcraft for Ford and you can see that many of the internal parts are identical, its really just filter media and length that are different on the inside and the outer can is a little different with an anti-slip coating.

It all comes down to what you are concerned with when you are picking a filter.

I won't tell anyone that they can't use a Motorcraft, just that they can use a Purolator Pure1 as an upgrade that is probably overkill.

The spring clip advice is different, everyone should change that.
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wash
It can't hurt but what is going to wear that is steel/iron?

I can only think of camshafts, followers, valve stems and the oil pump.

Everything else is aluminum or protected by non-ferrous bearings.

The stuff I did mention wears very little as long as they have oil.

Oh, piston rings, but they hardly wear too.

If we had an iron block, flat tappet cam and timing chain rather than belt, it would make more sense but its still a tough sell to me.
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wash
I'm getting ready to do my third oil change before I drive down to Willow Springs.

I'll cut the filter and try to photograph the element and any debris I find (hopefully none).

I'll do the intercooler hose tightening and maybe replace the necked down tube that runs under the passenger side of the engine.
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wash
Hmm, a Mobil FAQ that says you can use Mobil oil?

You won't see that every day.
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wash
So some of their cars use Mobile 1 for break in, why not all?

Why do a few exceptions make a rule?

How many of those cars use Mobile 1 so that the manufacturer gets a price break on all Mobile oil, synthetic and conventional?

Mobile 1 isn't a bad product but in general you should decide on research or personal experience more than marketing.
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wash
I just did my third oil change, at 11,600.

Still using the PL20195 filter.

Afterward I was looking at the internet and read that the Fiesta ST filter is not actually the FL-910s but is the FL-2057.

I'm still fairly confident that everything in the PL20195 is equal to or better than OEM but I can't find any info on the FL-2057.

Two things I know is that the FL-2057 is roughly the same size as the FL-910s so the filter element can not be as big as the PL20195 and the threads must be identical because I've never had more trouble with the oil filter threads than when I removed the first filter.

Any way, more research is warranted but I think the 2.0 EcoBoost used the FL-910s so I'm still feeling good about using the PL20195 until I can figure out what's in the FL-2057.
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wash
Yes, but what is the difference?
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wash
Yeah, the 910s has been around long enough that people have cut them open to see the construction and there are some filtration specs too.

My search for FL-2057 returned a few Fiesta web sites, nothing from Ford, then various unrelated results.
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wash
From what I can tell, the SN spec does not have anything to do with making oil perform better, it just limits additives so that if you are burning oil it won't foul the catalytic converter or oxygen sensors.

But one of the things we are trying to avoid by using premium oils is burning oil...

That seems to be backed up on BITOG because the better SM oil UOAs seem to beat any SN that is tested.
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