yyyiiikes

I have a unique oil situation...

I bought a low mileage 2004 with 3500 miles. It was originally traded into a Ford dealer which changed all the fluids including the oil when it received the car. Obviously this is well before the factory recommended specifications for factory oil/additive but there is nothing I can do about that.

So what should my next step be? The car has currently 6000 miles and the oil is 4+ months old. I assume it is motorcraft brand and it has a motorcraft filter. Should I go ahead and change out the oil? I want to go synthetic (Mobil 1), is too early given my situation? Also planned to us a Mobil1 filter too.

Thanks!

VAD

I would change all the fluids myself, so I know exactly what's in it. God only knows if the Ford dealer used the right trans and diff oils! I'd use Mobil Drive Clean 10W30 until it has 10,000 miles on it.

yyyiiikes

I doubt they changed the diff and trans with only 3500 miles, but I do not know.

xviper

No, it's not. Take a look at your maintenance schedule:

Service at the indicated distance or time, whichever comes first.

Under "severe" conditions, the first oil change would occur at 3750 miles or 6 months. Being an '04, the car could be as old as 2 years. It could be on its 4th oil change by now. TIME supercedes MILEAGE if mileage doesn't acrue fast enough. Don't let this "pixie dust", factory additive thing prevent you from doing the required maintenance on the car.

Elistan

Smart-ass answer: Come up to DFW next weekend and join our autocross.

Helpful answer: Wait until 7,500 miles (the next scheduled service for your MY04) and do a normal oil change. Use the Honda supplied filter with "PCX" in the part number. Use whatever oil makes you happiest - I'd personally wait until later to do synthetic, but I have no technical data to back that up.

TR-S2K

If I was you, I would change with regular Havoline GF-4 oil and add one 15-oz bottle of high moly, Valvoline Engine Treatmnent. Also, Honda PCX filter is better than most anything else on market. You can switch to synthetic after this change.

HXMan

There is no way the ford dealer changed the diff and trans fluid.....there was no reason to do so.

vtec9

I would change the oil at 6500-7500 with non synthetic 10w30. I would then wait another 3,000 miles and change to 10w30 full synthetic such as mobil-1. Like xviper said, time precedes mileage when it comes to oil changes. If you drive 10 miles fresh oil, but the car sits for a year, it's time for another oil change.

bitter

Check the filler bolt and drain bolts on the tranny and rear diff to see if the factory markings are still there. If the Ford dealership changed the fluids then the yellow paint/markings on the bolts would be smeared and not match.

yyyiiikes

Thanks for all the input on my original question.

I changed the oil today and stuck with organic for now (Castrol GTX) and switched to the OEM filter.

The Ford clown that changed the oil last time really torqued on the filter. Before draining the oil (but after jacking up the car), I tried to turn the filter but could not so I resort to buying a filter wrench. After solving that problem, then I found the next circus act to be an over torqued drain plug. I struggled to turn it as gently and slowly as possible, but that was not how it was meant to be.

I carefully applied more force thinking I would feel it slowly begin to turn... but it broke free in a sudden snap which resulted in my fist and wrench striking me in the face. After the stars cleared out of my head, I was glad and surprised to find that the bolt was not sheared. I will just have to make up a real good story for work when I walk into the office with a cut and a blueberry on my cheek. The truth would be too embarassing; my office mates would not understand.

Lastly, I discovered that there was not a chrushable washer on the drain bolt... I am surprised that there were no leaks without a washer. I installed a Fumoto valve and adaptor without any problems. But I find the dipstick hard to read with fresh oil... I added about 5.3 quarts and cannot exactly determine where in the range of XXs the level is. I will just check it frequently.

I would like to thank everyone that has contributed to jack point and jacking threads in the archives. These were very helpful tips when working with a car this low, I didn't realize how high the car would need to go up to fit the stands under the rails.... great to know I was doing it right.