2014 3.5 Ecoboost Oil

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Probably one of many posts about Ecoboost oil, but wanting to confirm my thoughts. I purchased a very nice 2014 F150 King Ranch with a 3.5 Ecoboost. The truck has 155k miles on it. It has been serviced fairly religiously every 5k with synthetic oil, and is completely silent at startup and when running. The Ecoboost makes me nervous, but many times you don't hear the good stories and only the bad. What also makes me nervous is I'm getting rid of a Toyota (sedan) to get this Ecoboost 😅. I'm hoping to avoid any major issues with the truck for as long as possible by changing all the fluids again (they were all last done at 100k, along with spark plugs) in the next few months, and then continuing the 5k mile oil change interval. What concerns me is what I am reading about fuel dilution in the 1st gen Ecoboosts. I have fairly short commute to work at only 1.5 miles, and then depending on the day I may or may not make similary short trips between buildings during the day. Outside of work the truck will be driven a little further and have more time to warm up, but not the probably hour or so I would assume it takes to clean up the fuel dilution. It may only get the good hour or more drive once every week or two. So, my plan at this point as we get closer to fall and then winter temps, is to plug the block heater in if the temp is low enough, remote start the truck when getting ready to leave so it has a minute or two to circulate oil (I've never warmed vehicles before, only given a few seconds for oil pressure and then drove away gently while it warms up), then make sure I try and get a good drive on it on a somewhat regular basis and/or consider 3-4k oil intervals depending on how that goes. I am intending to run Quaker State Full Synthetic 5w30 as that's what I've been running in our 5.4 Triton 3v F150, our 2017 Edge 3.5 Duratec, and even our lawn mowers and snow blowers (one oil across the board great simplicity!), and a Motorcraft filter. The truck did just have an oil change but I noticed tonight when looking around that they used a AC Delco filter, so I'll likely do a QSFS oil and motorcraft filter oil change soon to remedy that. My other intentions are looking into getting a catch can as well as doing the1/16 weep hole in the bottom of the intercooler.
 
How long would it take to go 5k miles? Sounds like a really long OCI at mostly 1.5mi each. Hours would probably be a better metric than mileage in this case.
 
See, one and a half mile commutes worry me when it comes to direct injection engines and engine oil. That’s just a really short commute, right or wrong in my mind I’m picturing moisture and fuel sitting in that oil/crankcase, until your workday is over and then you drive back home on your 1.5 mile commute and that stuff sits in there overnight to do it all over again. I know you say occasionally you’ll give it a decent run here and there, but man that commute really could be tough on oil. I’d buy something inexpensive that meets certifications, like Super Tech, and change it every 3,000 miles. Just my opinion.
 
5K OCI's are about it for the 3.5L EB. I found that by 4K the oil was fully contaminated and fuel diluted. And that's highway miles/FL hot weather. I chose 10W-30 and 5K OCI's. Truck is still running perfectly 160K miles of torture.
 
How long would it take to go 5k miles? Sounds like a really long OCI at mostly 1.5mi each. Hours would probably be a better metric than mileage in this case.

5k miles 1.5 miles at a time is more like 10k miles for a lot of drivers.
I do usually around 9-10k a year in the end despite the short commute. Summer doesn’t concern me as much as the truck will stay warm between trips and eventually get a good warming cycle almost every day. Winter concerns me because the aluminum block won’t hold much heat in cold weather so it’ll be hard to get it good and warm without specifically taking it on a longer drive or a trip out of town and back. But if that needs to be a once a week thing that’s totally doable. And I’m thinking a catch can will also help with this.


5K OCI's are about it for the 3.5L EB. I found that by 4K the oil was fully contaminated and fuel diluted. And that's highway miles/FL hot weather. I chose 10W-30 and 5K OCI's. Truck is still running perfectly 160K miles of torture.
This makes me feel like I’m likely over reacting, hopefully 🤞. If I could get my 5-6 years out of it with just regular maintenance that’d be great.
 
I do usually around 9-10k a year in the end despite the short commute. Summer doesn’t concern me as much as the truck will stay warm between trips and eventually get a good warming cycle almost every day. Winter concerns me because the aluminum block won’t hold much heat in cold weather so it’ll be hard to get it good and warm without specifically taking it on a longer drive or a trip out of town and back. But if that needs to be a once a week thing that’s totally doable. And I’m thinking a catch can will also help with this.



This makes me feel like I’m likely over reacting, hopefully 🤞. If I could get my 5-6 years out of it with just regular maintenance that’d be great.
Maybe 2 oil changes throughout the winter and 1 in the summer then?
Btw my wife's Hyundai Sonata is GDI and it used to do a lot of short trips when we lived in the city and she worked like 3 miles from home. The oil smelled really gassy. We moved to the country now it gets a better mix of highway driving and the oil doesn't smell like gas anymore.
It also stays clean longer now, but it got a new engine a few months ago at 90k miles when it seized up, but that is Hyundai life.
 
Your plan is fine with Quaker State Synthetic 5w30. Yearly 9-10k miles, so change oil in the Spring and Fall.
The default Quaker State is thicker than the Advanced formula. Should help to soak-up some dilution from your engine
 
I do usually around 9-10k a year in the end despite the short commute. Summer doesn’t concern me as much as the truck will stay warm between trips and eventually get a good warming cycle almost every day. Winter concerns me because the aluminum block won’t hold much heat in cold weather so it’ll be hard to get it good and warm without specifically taking it on a longer drive or a trip out of town and back. But if that needs to be a once a week thing that’s totally doable. And I’m thinking a catch can will also help with this.



This makes me feel like I’m likely over reacting, hopefully 🤞. If I could get my 5-6 years out of it with just regular maintenance that’d be great.
I think you will be just fine. Remember, these engines need just two things. Adequate viscosity and clean oil. In the winter, even with some fuel dilution, viscosity will be adequate. Plus it does seem that you drive sufficient miles to warm up the oil every week.

Really, not too far off what I did. Drive short trips to lunch during the week days. Travel for work on the weekends.

Of note, spark plugs are 50,000 mile items on these engines. Change them for better results.

My 5000 mile OCI's are on the 5's. 25,000, 30,000, 35,000, 40,000, etc. Never missed one, or went much beyond. By doing this, even if I went 500 miles beyond, the next one would be 500 miles early. I'm an M1 guy, zero issues. Tons o miles on my F150's. Highest mile one had 355K when sold.



EDIT: I know it is tempting to go the full OCI on these. I promise the guys that have Phaser and Chain issues are doing this. These engines, esp the 1st gen, really contaminate the oil. While the 400,000 mile guys use good oil and change regularly.
 
Maybe 2 oil changes throughout the winter and 1 in the summer then?
Btw my wife's Hyundai Sonata is GDI and it used to do a lot of short trips when we lived in the city and she worked like 3 miles from home. The oil smelled really gassy. We moved to the country now it gets a better mix of highway driving and the oil doesn't smell like gas anymore.
It also stays clean longer now, but it got a new engine a few months ago at 90k miles when it seized up, but that is Hyundai life.
That was another thought I had other than going specifically off mileage was do a change in October/November, change in January/February to get fresh oil in half way through, and then again in March/April to get fresh oil in again for the summer.
Your plan is fine with Quaker State Synthetic 5w30. Yearly 9-10k miles, so change oil in the Spring and Fall.
The default Quaker State is thicker than the Advanced formula. Should help to soak-up some dilution from your engine
9-10k miles makes me kinda nervous on one of these. The QSFS is so cheap that it doesn’t matter to me to do it more often than necessary, especially when the oil capacity is only 5 quarts so it just the one jug each time.
I think you will be just fine. Remember, these engines need just two things. Adequate viscosity and clean oil. In the winter, even with some fuel dilution, viscosity will be adequate. Plus it does seem that you drive sufficient miles to warm up the oil every week.

Really, not too far off what I did. Drive short trips to lunch during the week days. Travel for work on the weekends.

Of note, spark plugs are 50,000 mile items on these engines. Change them for better results.

My 5000 mile OCI's are on the 5's. 25,000, 30,000, 35,000, 40,000, etc. Never missed one, or went much beyond. By doing this, even if I went 500 miles beyond, the next one would be 500 miles early. I'm an M1 guy, zero issues. Tons o miles on my F150's. Highest mile one had 355K when sold.



EDIT: I know it is tempting to go the full OCI on these. I promise the guys that have Phaser and Chain issues are doing this. These engines, esp the 1st gen, really contaminate the oil. While the 400,000 mile guys use good oil and change regularly.
It did have plugs at 100k and now is at 155k so perhaps it should have another set of plugs again. The fluids were all done at 100k too but I was going to redo the transfer case and diffs again since it’s cheap and easy. Brake fluid looked kinda cloud so I was going to do that as well. The first owner did 35k miles before bringing the truck back (lease) and the dealership had oil change invoices for every 5k during that so that made me happy (I called them and asked). The owner after that, who I purchased it from, did oil changes every 5k as well and didn’t follow the OLM. So odds are I will get some good life out of this truck as it’s been maintained well.
 
Just about completing my first week of driving the truck as I normally would. Checked the oil this morning before starting and it was not overfilled or gas smelling, which means so far so good I think. I will keep an eye on it, especially as we start getting colder. If increased oil level or gas smelling oil starts appearing I'll try to make accommodations like specific longer trips or shorter OCI as necessary.
 
What does the manual say about Severe OCI recommendation? I would stick to that like glue.

I just posted oil analyses for my Hyundai Santa Fes which are 2.0 turbos GDI, and they dilute like crazy. I'm doing 3k miles max (Severe OCI) on mine going forward.
 
Keep your transmission fluid clean…ie change it on some regular schedule, and people appear equally divided between genuine Mercon LV vs boutique (the top HPL guy sure was proud of his green ATF, which rumor has it, is “battlefield-tested” in a largely Ford fleet at our southern border, but that would be an investment, and I’m not sure who is going to do that 100% fluid swap for you).

Regarding the engine, your use-case lends itself to the fuel dilution. Whatever you want to call my use-case, I have the dilution issue. Some do not have the problem, despite their use-case. Go figure. Oil analysis will show you if you do. (use Oil Analysers or WearCheck, Test Oil, or Speed Dynamix…in other words, not Blackstone or NAPA WIX. Blackstone does “fake” fuel dilution reading, and usually waay off, I don’t think WIX even tries).

I tried QSFS once, and although it didn’t totally suck (though OCI was a mere 2700 miles), Castrol Edge did a bit better, on equally short OCI. But boutique oil did MUCH better. That said, that particular boutique oil is either gone from the market, or extremely hard to get. HPL markets their oils as being the heir to that “cleaning oil” throne (actually so does Valvoline…but it’s not the same manic juice). I currently have Amsoil in mine, but a freak injury has kept me from driving for quite some time, so I won’t have a report until at least the end of the year, so can’t comment from personal experience whether it will impress or not.

I’ll throw out this suggestion, if Walmart is your source: Mobil 1 ESP 0w30 is now available there (at least here) in 5 qt jugs at good price, maybe $5 higher than the QSFS. That is cheap enough to still do 5k changes. That or the 5w30 version, or their 0w40 Euro FS. Most any Euro oil might survive the fuel problem a bit better than USA-type 5w-30. Even QSFS Euro 5w40, though we’re beginning to get a bit thick there in these last 2 cases. A bit….not horribly. But I would try the Pennzoil Euro 5w30, or the Castrol Euro Edge before the QS 5w40 Euro, but that’s just an opinion, no hard facts to back that up.
 
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Have you ever seen a UOA where fuel dilution had any affect at all?
As big a supporter of 10k OCI that I am, I would do 5K on one that had that many short trips.
 
You may be overthinking your maintenance.
It does not need a catch can or a weep hole.
The weephole thing is stupid.
People driving in wet weather for an extended period of time and the flooring the truck "may" experience that problem.
Drive like an adult, problem solved.

If dilution is more prevalent during cold weather..... why in the world would you add idle time when it's cold?
Start it up and drive as normal.

I owned a '13 from new until '17. 10k OCIs.
I put 147k on it. Mine would rattle every now and then. It's not a big deal.
Sometimes the chain adjusters leak down a bit.
Mine would dilute a little. It never had any affect.
Somewhere on this site a guy took his back to Ford for dilution.
They said it wasn't a concern until it reached 8%.
That sounds high...... you won't get anywhere close to that.

I currently have a '17 owned since new... it has around 148k at this point.
I don't drive as much as I used to..... it may rattle a little now and then.

It's a really good engine.... way better than the internet Yahoos would have you believe.
Just drive it and enjoy it.... it is not fragile.
 
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