Coyote First Oil Change

[Daral]

Now that I have my build completed, I will be putting some miles on my Gen 3 Coyote this spring. What is the recommendation for the first oil change in a Coyote?

[k-roy]

That is a loaded question. Like asking what engine should I put in, to paint stripes or not. After my first start, had someone come back and say how to properly break in your engine. A guy in our car club tells us we change the oil to much (he also repairs airplane engines). I have heard it all. Listen to this guy, he seems reasonable, then make your choice. This is the "motor oil geek" talking to an engine builder. Look at about 26 minutes in and he discusses it (although no clear answer). The whole video is interesting/educational.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fu7PlRsqMyA

The Motor oil geek also discussed topics from break in oil, detergents, etc. You can spend hours listening to him. Look him up on YouTube.

[Bob Cowan]

Its a street car. Follow the manufacturers recommendation on weight, and change it every spring. It's in a light weight car, so the engine gets less abuse than it would in a Mustang or F150.

[edwardb]

Its a street car. Follow the manufacturers recommendation on weight, and change it every spring. It's in a light weight car, so the engine gets less abuse than it would in a Mustang or F150.

X2. That's exactly how I've treated my two Coyote builds. The Ford recommended change is 10K miles or 1 year. I'm only doing 2-3K per year, but still change at the end of every driving season. There's no required or recommended break-in reduced cycle. Only thing Ford says is take it easy for the first 1,000 miles. "Your vehicle requires a break-in period. For the first 1,000 mi (1,600 km), avoid driving at high speeds, heavy braking, aggressive shifting or using your vehicle to tow..."

[Daral]

My car is a street car so it will not get driven hard. Once a year is what I do on my 67 Camaro (original 350 small block) but that is an old-school engine. I wasn't sure if there were other recommendations for breaking in these higher performance engines. Thanks for the advice. Once a year it is.

[TrackDay17]

The Motor Oil Geek on Youtube is definitely an excellent source. He recommends an oil change on a new or rebuilt engine in the first 1,000 miles.
There is a video of him changing and analyzing the oil on his daughter's new car.
Science based, no speculation.
Certified Tribologist which is something I'd never heard of, lubrication specialist.
I think he changes at 1,000 , 3,000 and then 5,000 on a new engine and does oil analysis on the initial one and the next one to see if wear metals are going down as expected.

[rich grsc]

I prefer to follow the advice of the major auto manufactures, who spend hundreds of millions on research, engineering and design. They also stand behind that with a warranty. Some guy making his living on YouTube, well maybe not. His channel wouldn't do well if he just agreed with the major engine builders and oil companies.

[OB6]

I prefer to follow the advice of the major auto manufactures, who spend hundreds of millions on research, engineering and design. They also stand behind that with a warranty. Some guy making his living on YouTube, well maybe not.

Agree, and think about the number of Coyote-powered vehicles that were driven off the lot without a care for all of this, and are doing fine many years and miles later.

[Jeff Kleiner]

I'm in the same camp as Rich and Terry. There's nothing special about a Coyote; it's a production line engine same as you get in a new Mustang or F150. Buy one of those at the dealer and they'll smack it on the a$$ and send you down the road without a second thought and tell you to come back in 7,500 miles for an oil change.

Jeff

[J R Jones]

Interesting thread. my Jaguar and BMW cars specified Castrol synthetic which is available and cheap at Walmart. It became my default at 5000 mile intervals.
My current Acura and Honda V6 cars have oil condition monitoring that reads "50% used" at my 5000 mile change. They are 100K & 240K mile engines and do not consume oil.
I was looking at BMW Minis recently as an RV tow-along, but most for sale had major engine work by 80-100K miles. Their recommended change interval is 10-12K miles.
jim

[DanQ]

I agree 100% with Lake Speed Jr. regarding oil changes. My F5 Hot Rod gets serviced once a year, which is usually around 3,000 miles. It is not like we take these cars into a Valvoline Oil Change shop and have to pay $$$ to have them do it (hopefully not, after all we built the damn car, we easily can service it) so for the price of a good Wix filter and 5 quarts of oil, I will happily spend that $25 and do it myself once a year, or 3,000 miles. My daily drivers get 5,000 mile service intervals, even though the oil change monitor still reads 50% at that time, I just feel better giving my cars better than minimal oil change intervals. I saw another video regarding extended length oil change intervals, and he agreed stretching them out will easily satisfy warranty requirements and will clearly not make any difference for the car that is leased or traded in every three years, but it does make a difference for the person like me who keeps a paid off car for 10-12 years and runs then beyond 200,000+ miles. I have been a fleet maintenance manager for a large fleet of commercial trucks and we have quite a few Ford F350 trucks with 5.4 gas motors and have often seen 300,000-350,000 miles on those original engines, without any major repairs needed. These are company owned and abused trucks which we are still seeing that kind of engine life, due to 5,000 mile oil changes with a quality oil filter. Extended oil change intervals clearly benefits the manufacturer, not the owner.