Change today or wait for OLM?

BIC

Joined
Jul 2, 2011
Messages
11
Location
Kansas
My 90-year old father-in-law has a 2017 Lincoln Continental with the twin-turbo, 400HP, 3.0-liter GTDI V6 engine. Bought used from Lincoln dealer In September 2020. Per invoice, dealer changed oil in September at 33,770 with 6 quarts of V0-5W30, part # SYN-BLE 004768. I'm surprised they didn't use full synthetic in the high-performance engine.

In October, they sent him a letter for a free oil change today (7/29/21). Current mileage is 35,982. That's all of 2,212 miles since last oil change. Not sure if does a lot of short trips. Probably. I'm sure there's an OLM, but he probably wouldn't be able to find it and I can't see the car today.

I do see in the manual that there is a OLM warning light at 10% and again at 0%. Presumably, he hasn't seen those. The manual says the OLM is one-year or 10,000 miles. Also, the manual says syn-blend, full syn optional.

Should we go today or reschedule when OLM hits 10% or something else? Should we switch to full-syn? If so, should we do that now regardless of OLM? Thanks.
 
If the free oil change offer expires today, then I'd be inclined to go in and take advantage of it. Or call them and ask if they'll give you a raincheck and allow you to get a free oil change in September.

I'm sure the owner's manual calls for an oil that meets some particular Ford spec (WSS-M2C946-B1 ?). As long as the oil meets that spec, you should be fine, regardless if full syn or blend.
 
Last edited:
I’d change it and go with 5w30 MC synblend again. Maybe shorten interval to every 6 months/5k miles. Although miles aren’t a factor here.
 
It's been 10 months. One-year will be mid-September. No expiration on free oil change.
 
Like Q.P. said. Take the free oil change then do yearly changes. On my F150 I do about the same miles-per-year as your father-in-law and change the oil every 2 years.
 
Modern Fords are frequently 1-year or 10,000 miles for an oil change so in his case, the 1-year timer applies.

I'm surprised they didn't use full synthetic in the high-performance engine.

I do see in the manual that there is a OLM warning light at 10% and again at 0%. Presumably, he hasn't seen those. The manual says the OLM is one-year or 10,000 miles. Also, the manual says syn-blend, full syn optional.
Why would a dealer use an oil that's not necessary ? As you say, the manual only recommends a synthetic blend.

The instrument cluster should have a menu that shows the exact oil life %, probably under Information > System check (or status).
 
With that engine, I would take advantage of the oil change. But, after that, I would change every year or every 5000 miles with full syn. If it did mostly/only short trip-ing, I would back that down to every year or 3000 miles; but that's just me.
 
Interested to know what OP decided!
the worldCapture.JPG
 
Back
Top