PowerBoost Oil Change Interval. Do you trust the oil life meter?

[150ish]

I'm the kind of person that pays zero attention to those Oil Life Monitors, until now. Should I be following the monitor since the PowerBoost doesn't accumulate 100% of its miles from running the gas engine? I typically change my oil every 5000 miles.

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[Sbdavis1]

I'm the kind of person that pays zero attention to those Oil Life Monitors, until now. Should I be following the monitor since the PowerBoost doesn't accumulate 100% of its miles from running the gas engine? I typically change my oil every 5000 miles.

I think the oil life indicator is still going to be accurate as the ICE isn’t running during pure electric miles so there isn’t any wear and tear on the engine or use of oil during those times. You’ll notice the oil pressure gauge drops to zero when operating in electric only mode.

 

[Lippy]

Yes but the engine stops and starts more often, causing more oil wear. Given the capacity is a relatively low 6 qt, I’ll change the oil more frequently than the indicator says, probably 5-6k miles, and with a good full synth like M1 extended.

 

[150ish]

I think the oil life indicator is still going to be accurate as the ICE isn’t running during pure electric miles so there isn’t any wear and tear on the engine or use of oil during those times. You’ll notice the oil pressure gauge drops to zero when operating in electric only mode.

Correct, but the odometer continues to turn. So it displays actual miles driven in electric and gas modes, not just gas.
My thing is I don't trust using the oil life meter. I'm old school and go by miles driven.

 

[150ish]

Yes but the engine stops and starts more often, causing more oil wear. Given the capacity is a relatively low 6 qt, I’ll change the oil more frequently than the indicator says, probably 5-6k miles, and with a good full synth like M1 extended.

That's where my dilemma is. What if only 3K of those miles are gas and the other 2K are electric, then what? My truck doesn't separate total gas vs total electric miles driven. It just has trip meter that would need to reset after every oil change. My thing is, I have trust issues with the oil life meters and have always changed my oil every 5K miles in an all gas engine.

 

[Ford4Ever]

I've only driven my Mustang 300 miles since its last oil change 4 months ago and the oil indicator is at 65%. It uses more than miles driven in it's calculations.

 

[Valrune]

That's where my dilemma is. What if only 3K of those miles are gas and the other 2K are electric, then what? My truck doesn't separate total gas vs total electric miles driven. It just has trip meter that would need to reset after every oil change. My thing is, I have trust issues with the oil life meters and have always changed my oil every 5K miles in an all gas engine.

My dad used to say “when in doubt, change it! You can never go wrong with clean oil.”

 

[150ish]

I've only driven my Mustang 300 miles since its last oil change 4 months ago and the oil indicator is at 65%. It uses more than miles driven in it's calculations.

Yes, it accounts for driving habits. My question is, do you trust it?
When I would hit my 5K mile mark on my all gas engine the oil life meter was usually around 30%. But I still changed it anyway.

 

[JCU Delt Ox]

I don't understand the rationale behind not trusting the oil lift monitor. It's based on some alogrithm that combines a bunch of different factors that Ford thought was suitable.

 

[hillbros_96]

I definitely trust it as there will also be a fudge factor built into it from the engineers, as they do not want engine failures either.

 

[150ish]

I don't understand the rationale behind not trusting the oil lift monitor. It's based on some alogrithm that combines a bunch of different factors that Ford thought was suitable.

I'm at my 5000 mile mark since my last oil change and my oil life is at 55%. It just makes me skeptical. I'm set in my ways and trying to trust in my truck telling when it needs its oil changed, lol.

 

[Stubblejumper]

I don't use oil monitors, and with the history of cam chain issues on the ecoboost engines, I will be using a premium synthetic oil, and changing it every 8000km.

 

[imnuts]

When you reach 5000 miles, or whenever you'd typically change it, pull a sample and send it out for analysis to a lab. Turn around is about a week and they'll tell you about how much life (if any) is left on the oil. Cost is probably $30-40 and it'll either reinforce your belief of changing it early or back up the oil life monitor.

Quality synthetic oil has much longer life these days than years past. I pulled a sample from my car several years ago at 10k miles. Analysis stated that I probably had 2-3k more miles of life in the oil, even though I changed it.

 

[150ish]

I don't use oil monitors, and with the history of cam chain issues on the ecoboost engines, I will be using a premium synthetic oil, and changing it every 8000km.

That's great if you're running the EcoBoost. My problem is with the PowerBoost and not knowing the exact gas/electric miles. I wish they would have put a total in for both.

 

[150ish]

I don't use oil monitors, and with the history of cam chain issues on the ecoboost engines, I will be using a premium synthetic oil, and changing it every 8000km.

That was another thing that turned me away from the monitor. even though that issue is fixed.

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