Oil Change At 3000K?

[Big Dazza]

I planned on changing the oil and filter at the 3000k complimentary service. Was quoted $270.00 from FORD for mineral grade oil change..........WTF! They cannot be serious. On this basis, my car will never see the inside of a Ford service department after the 3000k complimentary service, and I don't even pay the servicing costs directly.

So I will do an oil change myself, I plan on sticking with mineral grade oil until around 10000 to 15000k then changing to full synthetic. The owners manual says to use 15W-40 Castrol mineral grade for the life of the vehicle(Seems cheap and nasty for a 60K high performance vehicle).

I know that this has been discussed at length previously. Any comments!

[Wenier]

There is a huge thread about engine oil, who uses what length between changes even when changing from mineral to syn. Search for it and youll find it.

Will your warranty on the vehicle be voided if you do the oil change yourself? Something to think about.

[Big Dazza]

Thanks. Will check the oil thread. I know there will be lots of different opinions. My main surprise was that FPV recommends cheap Castrol GTX as its oil of choice for the F6. I guess that way the dealers can charge $270 for the oil change and use $30 worth of oil.

By my calculation the first year apprentice is getting charged out at around $400 per hour to do the oil change. The poor bastard senior mechanic at Ultra Tune who services my wifes Magna gets paid the princely sum of $21/Hr. Do the math. Sorry, I will get off my soap box now!

If I use a genuine Ford filter it would be impossible to tell if I had done my own oil change, hence no warranty issues.

Edited 14/01/11 02:04 AM by Big Dazza

[Turbonator]

  On 14/01/2011 at 1:44 AM, Wenier said:

Will your warranty on the vehicle be voided if you do the oil change yourself? Something to think about.

There isn't any problem with warranty when doing your own oil change as long as you keep the receipts for the oil/filter. I always purchase my oil/filter from Supercheap, Autobarn, etc., whenever they have a sale. I do not like the mess associated with changing my own oil, so I am happy to pay my mechanic for one hour of labour ($70) to change the oil and filter. I would never take my car to Ford except for warranty work.

[plcains]

But you still need the stamped 15k services in the log book for warrenty though yeh?

Edited 22/01/11 08:44 PM by RHR
No need to quote above post. USE FAST REPLY

[Turbonator]

That's where that $70 for the mechanic enters the equation.

It isn't necessary at 7500k interval oil changes, but I always get the logbook stamped at 15000k intervals.

Edited 22/01/11 08:44 PM by RHR
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[Roof]

Don't listen to Ford, get synthetic in to her at 5000km's and change every 5000km's.

Ford will like to do the usual 15k interval servicing to keep warranty, they have to retention the turbo and manifold bolts on a regular basis. I have serviced and fixed my cars for the last 10+ years, hate the idea of paying someone to do an oil change - I wouldn't dream getting under mine though.. zero clearance under there to remove/refit oil filter, need a hoist. I get XFT to do my 5k oil/filter change as they do the retentioning every time and ONLY use synthetic. My FPV guys quoted me about $20 Litre for synthetic on oil changes - $140 extra

I know what ya mean though, I was shocked to find out that the first 3000km service DIDN'T have an oil change included!

[SuckSqueezeBangBlow]

  On 14/01/2011 at 7:21 PM, Roof said:

. zero clearance under there to remove/refit oil filter, need a hoist.

not quite true, if you turn the wheels, you can easily reach and undo the filter without jacking the car up. For me with a toddler and pregnant wife who use the car quite often, its easiest to do oil changes of an evening instead of taking to a mechanic.

[Roof]

Cheers bud I will have another look under there, from memory the sump plug looked to be too far accessing from the side

Edited 22/01/11 08:46 PM by RHR
No need to quote above post. USE FAST REPLY

[ebxmple]

All I have ever used in mine is the 15W40 LPG oil that Ford recommends. Its $27 for 5 ltrs from Ford and its a good enough oil.I change it every 4-5,000km so dont want to spend big bucks on oil. Car has been tuned for 4 years,still runs like clockwork and oil is spotless when dipped.

The FGs arent supposed to require re torquing of the manifolds like the BA/BF as they run a different bolt with some killer loctite on em. I have done a few heads on them and the bolts are tight to get out. Doesnt hurt to check I guess.