I haven't seen where anyone has found a reliable reference that says the "% until oil change" message is anything but a 10,000 mile counter.

In otherwords, take your FEH in for its 10,000 mile service and be sure they change the oil and reset the message. Brady is right, changing the oil more frequently than the manufacturer's recommended interval has proven to make engines last longer - although at a $$ and environmental cost.

I am changing my oil and filter every 5000.

 

Is there data that shows this is true for hybrids, or are you repeating 'conventional wisdom'? I'm sure Ford dealers would be happier if everyone changed the oil in their FEHs 2x as often as Ford recommends. The other thing to think about is why would Ford want to shortchange their customer's maintenance intervals (resulting in more warranty liability) and its own dealer network?

 

There is no reason in the universe that Ford or its dealers would recommend a longer interval than is necessary. If anything, they are going to give a shorter interval. As Don said, extending the interval would undoubtedly set them up for more warranty claims and cost them money. And more importantly, longer intervals mean fewer oil changes and less $$$$ for the dealers' service departments.

I changed my oil at 10,000 miles. It was pretty dark at the time. I replaced it with Mobil 1 full synthetic. I'll check it out at 15,000 and play it by eye....if the oil looks good I'll run it to 20,000.

 

One thing to remember with these things is that in reality (I know I've said this in other threads)... mileage has little to do with the oil breakdown.... REALLY its the number of hours the engine has run (along with how many revolutions its turned and such). A normal car is set at 3,000 or 6,000 because the odometer only accounts for the time the car is moving... a large percentage of the time during idle the engine turns, and the odometer does nothing. They undershoot intentionally.

On a hybrid... the engine shuts off, so the odometer is a better measure of oil use.

It does restart more often, which some will say is hard on the engine and its oil.... but really starting is hard on a engine because the oil is down in the oilpan, the engine is cold, and the mixture is rich... On a hybrid during its restarts the oil is hot, well distributed, and the mixture doesn't need to be rich because the engine is already warmed up.

 

Thanks for your replies!

So, would the fact that I drive atleast 50% time in stop and go traffic on the highway mean that I should change it before 10k miles? I do often go from hybrid drive to electric drive to idle and back many times throughout my commute.

I guess I could just pull out the dipstick and check the color of the oil and judge from there...

 

I'll be with good quality oil, everyone would be fine at 10,000 just like the manufacturer recommends. Your dealer, and quick oil change shop is going to say "thats not often enough" because they want you in more often so they can make money and HOPEFULLY find something else to fix for even more profit.

You are supposed to rotate the tires every 5,000 however. So if you want to figure that you might as well have the oil swapped (because it won't do any harm to the engine to do so) while the tires are rotated.... more power to you.

Checking the dipstick isn't bad idea I think. I personally don't wait until the oil looks bad... I'll change it on schedule. But if the oil looks dark early I'll move up the oil change. That does seem to happen more in the winter (either because EV mode is less accessable, the engine is colder, it runs on rich cycle longer, etc.) I'll admit in the winter I tend to lean toward the 5,000 mile oil change myself.

 

I don't think the conventional idea that starts are hard on an engine necessarily works for hybrids.

The idea that the engine start/stops are "hard" on the engine and it's oil is based on the assumption of a conventional engine and that when the engine is switched off it'll probably be left off for hours, overnight, or even days. This extended rest period means that everything that was nicely coated in oil is allowed to drain down. When restarting, parts slide against parts with just a minimal amount of oil because it hasn't had a chance to recoat everything in those first handful of revolutions.

Hybrid stop/starts are different because the engine will only be off for seconds or minutes at most -- but not hours. The oil doesn't have a chance to drain down.

 

To the inexperienced eye....it might be difficult to make an accurate decision based on the color/appearance on the dipstick.

You might need to build a mental database about what the oil should look like after a certain amount of viscosity breakdown (mileage)....over a few oil changes, then you would be a better judge as to whether it was time to change or not. You might just be guessing when you look at the dipstick in this car because it is new (and new to you).

 

There are firms that will take a sample of your oil and analyze it...I have no idea what the fees for analysis are. However I do know that oil color is not necessarily a predictor of oil life.

 

Yeah....I agree. Thats why I said I go with the manufacturers recommendation and in between that interval if I look at the dipstick and it looks really dark and ugly.... i'll move it up. Its not terribly reliable to just look at the oil so I at least would change it to the manf. recs.