Gene K

I like to change my fluids early to get the break-in material out.

2011 Mustang GT 5.0
1062.5 Miles
IOLM at 94% Oil Life Remaining
22.2 mpg lifetime average based on miles divided by gallons (Info center reads 7% Low)
Roughly 80% City and 20% Highway

Changed the Engine Oil and Filter after a 20 minute drive. Factory FOMOCO Filter appears to be a Champion PH500 although it may have some internal differences. I seem to recall them having a higher Bypass Spring Pressure than the 8-PSI the Motorcraft FL-500S (Purolator) has. Its a little longer than the replacement Motorcraft FL-500S. The engine appears to drain completely as it took the entire 8 Qt of Motorcraft 5W20 Synthetic Blend Oil. Oil cap is located over the timing chain tunnel so you dont have to wait for it to drain through the head. Removed dipstick and waited 5 minutes before checking to allow all the oil in the dipstick tube to evacuate so I could get a clean reading. Filter mounts on a 45 degree angle. Pre-filled the FL500S as much as possible without spilling any. No indications of low oil pressure on restart.

Changed the rear axle fluid and refilled with 2 Qt of Motorcraft 75W-140 Synthetic with 2 oz of XL-3 Friction Modifier (I always put in less than the 4 oz speced and add more if I get any chatter in corners. This increases clutch bite.)

I drained the engine oil through fine stainless mesh into a clean pan and caught exactly nothing. I then ran it back through a white cloth and picked up a little gray powder that might have been from ring seating, Thats it.

I repeated the process with the axle and picked up almost nothing. What gray powder there was I found mostly on the magnetic plug.

I think factory machining and assembly may have finally reached the point at which I no longer feel the need for early changes. Next time I will likely just pull and clean the plug in the axle.

Didnt bother with oil analysis at this point as it would just point to elevated metals and good oil condition which I already know about.
__________________
Gene

Driver72

Good choice Gene.
I do the same with my new cars.
i usually wait a bit longer than you though, I normally change the OEM oil out at between 1500-2000 miles as full break in does not take place at 1000-1200 miles.
Most manufacturers say that is the amount of miles you should put on a car before you wring it out FULLY, but does not mean it's fully broken in.

To be honest, I think a motor needs 4-5k miles before it's fully broken in and running at top performance however, as in some dyno testing i've done and just how well cars run, they seem to feel better at around 4-5k miles than they did even in the first 2-3k miles, and especially in the first 1k miles.

But I think you are right too, computer spec'd engines these days are so good that in many respects I feel I am not getting anything out of changing the oil early.

Though many manufacturers now are saying with the fully synthetic oils we have and how good the engines are and run, oil changes are needed only every 10-15k miles (BMW says 15k and I know many others are 10K)

To me that's still a bit long. But it's ridiculous to change the oil every 3k miles like ONLY the oil companies WANT you to do. Wonder why that is?
Kind of like the shampoo companies that tell you to wash your hair, rinse and then repeat. LOL

I feel best about changing the original oil at 1500-2000 miles then I change the oil every 5000-5500 miles thereafter.

cidsamuth

Gene, you are hardcore. Every car forum needs one like you.


Agreed, this would make me comfortable, and it is likely what I will do.

Snakebite64

Glad to see someone else that's ****. I did the fluid changes at 803 miles.

Paul1588

Im doing the same at 1000miles, but im not going to run the synthetic blend,im going full synthetic and im also changing tranny fluid as well,imo changing the tranny fluid after an initial break in may even be more important than the oil,just my 2 cents

Driver72

Gene, how difficult was it to change the tranny fluid anyway?

Gene K

I didnt do the tranny fluid yet. With the clutch items they are going to replace I thought it best to leave the transmission alone just in case. Not to mention I still need to pick up some of the Ford MTL which is a specific spec 75W-90 / 10W-40 (Depending on which system you use) GL-4 Synthetic.

The rear axle is a bit of a pain to get to the filler plug with the bottle of rear axle lube with everything still attached. You will have to support the car by the jack points instead of the rear axle.

Nuke

I agree, Gene. With the past decade's engine manufacturing process', there's no need to do the early flush due to trash remaining from the factory. We've become a nation of fluid change freaks. I consider our consumption of oil due to this as devastating as the gulf disaster except it's spread out over the entire continent and it's 6 gallons here, 6 gallons there, multiplied by the # of oil changes performed early.

Excellent write-up. Keep us posted on your 5.0.

Laloosh

Gene, what clutch related issue are you having?

Driver, hello again

Driver72

What's up bro.
Glad you decided to come on over, so welcome!
I'll be ordering my 11 GT soon.
It's been killing me waiting for the past 3 months since they became available to order, but I wanted to make sure there were no early major issues with the brand new 5.0
I haven't had a 5.0 since 1990, and as you know it's the reason I got rid of my 335i back in September when I heard it was pretty much "official" the 5.0 was coming in the 2011 GT
Let's party.