The past two oil changes I had to make a decision on whether to change it at the 3 month date or wait beyond that for the 3000 miles. Meaning I have been slow at getting to 3000 miles before the 3 months. What is everyones opinion on it, should I get it on the 3 month date or wait til the 3000 miles? Thanks in advance for the wonderful info once again.

 

With the motorcraft synthetic blend 5w20 recommended by ford, I change every 4-5K miles. If I do some serious 4wheeling or lots of towin w/ OD off I will change sooner... But for normal driving, I don't see a need for 3mo, 3K...

 

What type of oil should i be using in my 04 5.4L V8 4x4 F150 Fx4? I just went and bout 5w20 by Valvoline, but its not Sythetic. I bought the truck used about a month ago, and i'm not sure whats in it now, should i be using synthetic or not? And for an oil filter i got the motorcraft FL-820S.

Please let me know if I should be using something different before i make the mistake of using this stuff.

For reference my truck is jus shy of 40k miles

 

The Valvoline product should be fine for your truck. Just check to make sure it is an "SM" rated oil.

As far as the mileage versus time question -- what kind of driving are you doing? Lots of short (10 miles or less) trips? If so, I might be inclined to change at 3 - 6 months regardless of mileage. What happens in this scenario is that your engine never comes up to full operating temperature, and does not burn off the moisture and other contaminates that accumulate in your oil.

If it's just infrequent use of the truck, I'd be inclined to leave the oil in longer, even if you're going over a set time limit for the oil.

 

I have used Valvoline in the past. I really don't think it matters. Any oil, any filter, changed 3-6K miles. I'm just not a fan of spending more than 20-25 bux on an oil change when I do it myself! I like that motorcraft has a syn blend (as to why I used valvoline before) so it was an easy change. And its only 2.40 a quart and another ~4.00 for the motorcraft filter...

 

I totally agree with this. I am sticking to the 5K changes since I do not do much towing/offroading any more. Oil now is the best it has ever been with minimal breakdown and great surfactants for suspending dirt. I just stick to the Motorcraft oil so that there is no questions down the road. Actually, the scheduled maintainance manual says every 5K unless the truck has been used hard.

 

 

for what it is worth, i use mobil 1 and change it every 5K. it's cheap insurance and easy to remember. no need to write down when it was last done. in prior trucks with using reg oil i would change when the odometer said xx0000 or xx3333 or xx6666. that did it a little over every 3K miles. knock on wood i have never had an engine with problems or one that used or burned oil. doing it yourself especially in a truck, not having to jack it, is easy.

 

I always goes by mileage instead of time. I change mine every 3K, with Motorcraft 5W20.

 

If it’s taking forever to put 3K on (over six months or so) you probably should change the oil on a timetable instead of miles

 

How long the oil is in the motor really doesn't matter. Oil doesn't "go bad", the additives in it wear out over time. It's the mileage you need to be concerned about, testing has determined that 3000 miles is how long it takes for the additives to dissipate enough to need changing. It takes me about 5-6 months to put on the appropriate mileage, so I change my oil about twice a year. I would go by time though if you drive in extremely dusty conditions or if the engine never gets a chance to fully warm up. In these cases I would change every 3 months.