First Oil Change?

New 2017 Raptor. Built in February. Purchased at the end of March and driven 900 miles home. 1492 Total miles on it now.

When would you guys recommend I get the first oil change?

The reason I ask is that I just got off the phone with my local Ford Dealer. After some googling and internet research their service department gets very good reviews. The fellow there I spoke to said its a bit early to bring it in for an oil change if it only has 1492 miles on it and was built in February. He recommended at 6 months or so...or even 7500 miles.

This is my first new vehicle in a long time, and certainly the nicest vehicle I've owned. I wasn't sure if I could trust his statement or not. That sounded really high to me. I'd read here, on FRF, all sorts of folks getting their first oil change at 1000 miles give or take.

What you recommend?

I did my first oil change at ~1800 miles to get rid of the break-in oil, but I didn't reset the oil life meter and intend to get it on schedule at 5k mile intervals (so my next oil change will be at 5k, and every 5k thereafter).

Do we even know if Ford shipped it with actual "break-in oil"? (break-in oils tend to have higher ZDPP content than regular oil among other things) It might just be regular oil in there.

I agree that it's not a bad idea to do the first oil change sooner to get any metal shavings from break-in flushed out. 1500-2000 miles sounds about right to me for the first one.

I am not sure about the oil, but the filter that is stock on a new engine is slightly larger than the OE replacement. Would not be surprised if oil is also different.

I did mine at 1,500 miles... I want a pure synthetic oil in there... just makes me feel better about things.

1Wolf said:

...What you recommend?

Click to expand...

Full synthetic at break-in and then every 5K.

It's only oil change #3 on my '17: 1,500; 5000; 10,000

I'm on oil change #43 on my '11: 1,500; 5000; 10,000;....210,000 and still running strong.

~First 1,000 miles then change the oil

I don't remember where I read it, but I believe the engines go through a break in cycle at the engine plant before being installed in the trucks.

If that is actually the case, then:
You do not need to change your oil before the first scheduled oil change
The oil that is in the truck is no different than what the dealer uses
There should be no excessive metal contamination in the oil

If they do not break them in and add a break in oil at the factory:
Changing the oil early will reduce the effectiveness of the break in oil
Ford would include a notification as to when it should be changed

If they do not break them in and do not add a break in oil at the factory:
Changing the oil before the first recommended oil change would only be necessary if there is significant metal particulate in the oil.

Best way to tell is to pull the dipstick after the engine is warm and has been run in the last 5 minutes. check the oil on a white towel. metallic particulate should be pretty easy to identify. There will always be some but it should be very minimal.

I have 5k on mine and have almost no metal.

Just gives peace of mind

Did my first one at 1,500 miles with full synthetic and the Ford performance oil filter. Changing it again at 5500 then I'll switch to every 5k. Overkill, probably.