2012 Ecoboost F150 FX4

[Coprolite]

The 3.5L calls for 6 quarts of oil. I plan on buying 5 qt jugs. This means 5 OCI from 6 jugs, assuming no usage and perfect fills. I have seen a few UOAs showing disturbingly high fuel dilution. How concerning should this be? I am currently considering following the OLM for filter changes and changing the oil twice. I am willing to use any affordable synthetic oil with a cap around $5-6 per quart. I will cycle through QSUD and Pennzoil under rebate to see which one "is liked better" by my engine. I will start with the questions and then list the oils under consideration, with current inventory.

1)How big a deal is running a full OCI with high fuel dilution?
2)With shortened OCI, should I worry much about mixing up to a quart of a different oil?
3)Does anyone know if the BMW full Syn(LL01) meets the Ford requirements?
4)Besides Pennzoil and Quaker State, does anyone run warranty rebates? I plan on test running any brand that does, Syn or not. My Acura seemed to like PU, with the Infiniti being indifferent.

I am not against rotating oils, but don't like having opened and unused oil sitting around for years. I actually like to believe that using different oils of the same caliber might be beneficial, as long as it isn't every time with mixing of add packs each time. Leftovers will be happily used for the lawnmower.

Oils:
-BMW Full Syn 5w30 (7 Qts, "Free" with BMW purchase)
-PP 5w30
-PU 5w30
-M1 5w30 (EP only if fuel dilution not a big deal for full OCI)
-M1 0w30
-QSUD 5w30
-Lubrication Engineers (LE) 5w30 Synthetic.
-Amsoil of the lower end variety ($$)

If anyone would like to split a shipment of Lubrication Engineers 5w30, I live in the DFW area. The price is not obscene, but minimum order is a case or 5 gallon bucket. If anyone likes the stuff, please let me know. I used to use it in the 90s for the 350 that I built. It was great.

Filters(covered in filter thread, but here for ref):
-MC FL 500S
-PureOne or Classic (P)L22500
-Napa Gold

I left out a bunch of the "common" wisdom, even though a lot creeped through. I did want a few responses. I do have a colleague that can get me Amsoil with the PC or dealer subscription. Pablo, a PM with possible candidate oils and prices would be appreciated. I don't want to pester him until I have decided.

I am currently at only 700 miles, so I have some time to work this all out.

Thanks folks.

 

[JHZR2]

There were lots of scare tactics a while back about fuel dilution and DI, but Im not sure that with the latest oils and engines that it is necessarily absolutely a concern.

Maybe it is, and obviously less is probably better, but does the presence of fuel really mean that a good syn oil is shot at 1000 miles when still making viscosity?

Its not like fuel dilution is going to make a sump full of gasoline.

Deposits are a concern and consideration...

I like the idea of five OCIs on six jugs and then swap brands if you desire.

 

[volk06]

With OCIs on the 3.5L ecoboost in the F150 the max OCI should be 5-6K. I have UOAs to back up my claim. Im currently in an experiment in regards to OCI. I'm going to run a shorter OCI, 3-4K, and compare the wear rates. It seems the longer the oil is contaminated with fuel and the longer you go, the higher the wear rates are.

Here are my UOA.
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2852963

What I do is buy a OCI special at AAP or AZ and get the single quarts. Then go to walmart and buy the 5qt jugs. This way I dont have to have opened jugs of oil sitting around.

 

[oilstudent24]

I would go around 5,000 myself with this engine. I would stick with the Motorcraft filter and whatever oil meets the ford spec if you wish to be safe concerning the powertrain portion of your warranty.

 

[cptbarkey]

would in theory driving the vehicle for no less than 10 minutes help lessen the fuel dilution issue?

 

[SteveSRT8]

Yes, but in the real world these engines seem to do it no matter what.

I have yet to see any engine with any real substantive damage from it though. My guess is follow Volk06 as he's been tracking these closely.

 

[volk06]

Originally Posted By: cptbarkey
would in theory driving the vehicle for no less than 10 minutes help lessen the fuel dilution issue?


In theory, yes but in real life, not really, mine was driven on the interstate for 25 miles at a time, 2 times a day and still saw fuel dilution issues.

 

[BeerCan]

Coprolite
I think you have already seen the uoa on my ecoboost
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2914343#Post2914343

I, like volk06, feel that oil change should be between 5 and 6 thousand miles. However if for some reason I went the whole OCI (10K) I would not worry that much. It is not like some catastrophic event is going to happen. IMO it is the difference between a 250k mile motor and a 240k motor (assuming you did all 10k changes).

Even though every one of my reports had high fuel dilution I still think the issue is overblown. Only once did my oil smell like fuel. Purely on gut instinct I think that it is closer to 3%. If you look at my first uoa that compared blackstone to polaris you will see that blackstone does not even mention the fuel http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubb...681#Post2613681

BTW just so you know my first 2 UOA's were PU. You can see that it did quite well on that oil.

 

[Coprolite]

BeerCan and Volk, I based many of my decisions on your UOA information. Thanks for posting the information. I was considering going with the PP, which will be almost free and $10 of for each jug. I do really like the GTL PU and the low noack (if it is to be believed). Being a little thicker than the PP would help offset some of the viscosity loss to a certain degree. I will also definitely run some QSUD through it.

As much of this will be subsidized through rebates, I will look into testing the oils and posting the results. Since I plan on using a MityVac, what is the best sampling procedure? One more thing to Google on BITOG. The hardest part would be getting the Vac canister clean enough for accurate testing.

 

[steve20]

OP you can go to Harbor Freight with a coupon and purchase a handful of hand pump liquid transfer devices (siphon pump)-I think they are 4 bucks a piece and each comes with a small diameter vacuum line so it will fit easily in the dipstick tube.
No use getting the MityVac lines and can dirty

 

[Cujet]

Our company pickup, with Ecoboost, has a 10,000 mile OCI. That's too long. The truck starts acting up, idling very rough and getting noisy if we go that long. I'm cutting back to 5000 mile OCI's.

UOA results show plenty of fuel dilution.

Thinking about it for a bit, this truck gets abused. It runs it's little heart out. It's twin turbocharged, it makes huge HP and it's asked to work hard. I'd never consider extending a conventional truck to 10,000 mile OCI's under those conditions.