Scotty, I just bought a new 2021 Ford Ranger Lariat 2.3l 10 speed turbo. I want to make it last as long as i can.
I have not read the owners manual cover to cover yet but my biggest question is should i follow it to a T?
Im coming up on 2k miles and planning to change the oil at its first 3k miles.
The owners manual calls for 5w30 synthetic blend so i picked up Castrol gtx 5w30 motor oil and a mobile one filter was that a smart choice?
How accurate are these 10k mile oil change intervals?
What other maintenance should I be keeping up on and at what intervals?
I want to make this truck last as long as it can. As you always say, engine oil is cheaper than a brand new engine!
- Thanks
Adding to what BruceRee said, follow your owner’s manual in general but I like to be more aggressive on the engine oil and transmission oil changes since those are the highest ticket items (if they fail), so that means every 5,000 miles for oil changes and 40,000-50,000 miles for ATF changes (exception of course would be if the manual says to change the ATF sooner than the interval above). Fluid changes are cheaper than a new engine/transmission. Since it will be done more frequently, be sure someone competent is performing the service especially on the transmission, as there is a lot of incompetence at dealerships these days on such ‘simple’ oil changes.
Just follow the recommended maintenance from Ford.
First all, just my nitpick. Don't font to big. Pls more small lol
3k I would say is a little excessive. For the time being 5k would be pretty alright. Modern oil technology is actually a really sophisticated. Any more and you just be hemorrhaging money. For sure do not follow the manual with 10K oil changes remember manufacturers will make more money if your car breaks down faster. Less oil changes means that the oil deteriorates and wears down your engine faster, hence more money in the dealer's pocket.
As for your oil choice, I would actually stick with the ford recommend of motorcraft oil. The oil is made in line with the ford engine so even though castrol is the best overall oil, motorcraft would probably work better for the long haul I would say. Though As long as it is a recommended specification in your manual's oil then any one of them works fine.
As for other general maintenance just see to it as it comes. There really is no exact guideline to when parts fail just an estimate of when they do. You can find information on these parts online or other TSBs from previous models.
Thanks for the feed back!
A few thoughts. I believe motorcraft is simply a rebranded oil but that's neither here nor there.
Now, 2 questions. Synthetic or synthetic blend? My owners manual says to uae the blend but in one of scotty's videos he says to use an oil specifically rated for gdi high pressure engines which mine is. Apparently since its designed for that, it supposedly lubricates it better. As some folks are saying a 5-7k oil change is better. The castrol i was looming at that was designed for high pressure gdi engines was full synthetic yet the owners manual says to use synthetic blend? What should i do.
Lastly, was the mobile one oil filter a good choice? If im going to stick to a 5-7k mile oil change regimen I have time get what's right for my truck. Im also looking into the pure guard oil filters that scotty recommends.
Thoughts.
Thanks
From what I understand as I'm not a lube tech, Synthetic blend is the "new" conventional oil. It is better than the conventional oil from back then but mixed in such a way that they need to call it a blend rather than just full synthetic. Since you have a GDI engine and if scotty recommends it then I would be inclined to go with his suggestion. I just know that the motorcraft oil was designed side by side to their engines. And that's what I based my recommendation on.
Just to let you know, there is no reason that they wanted to use a blend instead of full synthetic. What the manufacturer here wants is just blend is the bar. Can't go worse than that. You can use full synthetic no problem on your car. I can't explain it well but it's like this: you can use full synthetic on a car that recommends blend but cannot use blend on a car that recommends full synthetic.
Regarding your filter choice, it is fine. As long as you are not going for the cheap cheap ones than you are gonna be alright with whatever is on the shelf. Brand of filter doesn't really matter if you keep to the maintenance if the mobil one filter be your standard, others of the same price/value will do just as well.