Just bought a '72 Ford F100 with the 302 Windsor engine and was wondering how often to change the oil?

I change the oil at 3,000 mile intervals with our other cars but should I do differentially with this?

I do mine at 3000 mile intervals too and have never had a problem

3,000 miles it is.

Alot of folks believe 3000 miles is cheap insurance, and alot of research can be done on oil qualities to make an educated decision. Personally, I go 10k on dino oils and 15k on synthetics. Really it's a comfort thing, I haven't had any catastrophic failures and my gas engines last the usual life span. There are also plenty oil analysis sites/threads that will show the oil is still good at my intervals.

Ben I have to ask,How clean is the inside of your engines going that distance between services? I have never heard of going this distance myself.Grant it oil technology has changed from back in the day..but being an engine guy i go with the 3-5000k the reason is living in ohio & climate changes winter especially is harder on an engine.I also like to get the old oil out before it becomes to contaminated thus extending engine life, heck replacing an engine is a pretty big expense.imo changing oil at 3-5000 reduces wear & prolongs engine life.Now the big 3 manufactures of today recommend oil changes at 7500k,imo that would be the ultimate limit..sure the oil will retain its viscosity and still lubricate at your intervals but its the contaminents in the oil that cause the wear.Now i am a bit of old school being an elder,but i have seen the sludge and damage caused by long distance services.imo 3-5000 is cheap insurance.In our vehicles it is ready to change at that point.

BuzzGun79 said:

Ben I have to ask,How clean is the inside of your engines going that distance between services? I have never heard of going this distance myself.Grant it oil technology has changed from back in the day..but being an engine guy i go with the 3-5000k the reason is living in ohio & climate changes winter especially is harder on an engine.I also like to get the old oil out before it becomes to contaminated thus extending engine life, heck replacing an engine is a pretty big expense.imo changing oil at 3-5000 reduces wear & prolongs engine life.Now the big 3 manufactures of today recommend oil changes at 7500k,imo that would be the ultimate limit..sure the oil will retain its viscosity and still lubricate at your intervals but its the contaminents in the oil that cause the wear.Now i am a bit of old school being an elder,but i have seen the sludge and damage caused by long distance services.imo 3-5000 is cheap insurance.In our vehicles it is ready to change at that point.

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There's tons of threads on this topic if you do a search on it through the FTF search function.

I think a lot depends on the

-year of your vehicle (newer models have better technology and can probably go longer),

-engine condition (I have vehicles that burn so much oil that after about 1500 miles, I've pretty much replaced 5 quarts of oil, so other than changing the filter, what's the use, then again my 77 dent's rebuilt with all new parts except for the block and has only 13k miles on the rebuild has gone 2 years with synthetic in it and after only 3k miles in 2 years am wondering if I should go another year before changing the oil and the dual filters)

-use (is it a daily driver, a trailer queen for shows only, etc.)

I'm mechanically challenged, so I can hardly be a voice on this topic, but have read enough of these oil threads and other media articles to feel comfortable with what I'm doing and my vehicles have been lasting just fine.

Out of my 6 vehicles, 2 have synthetic (our family SUV daily driver, and my show dent) and the rest use regular oil which I change every 3k-5k. Our family SUV daily driver with synthetic, I change every 15k miles and it seems to be running in tip top shape the last 4 years I've owned it.

BuzzGun79 said:

Ben I have to ask,How clean is the inside of your engines going that distance between services? I have never heard of going this distance myself.Grant it oil technology has changed from back in the day..but being an engine guy i go with the 3-5000k the reason is living in ohio & climate changes winter especially is harder on an engine.I also like to get the old oil out before it becomes to contaminated thus extending engine life, heck replacing an engine is a pretty big expense.imo changing oil at 3-5000 reduces wear & prolongs engine life.Now the big 3 manufactures of today recommend oil changes at 7500k,imo that would be the ultimate limit..sure the oil will retain its viscosity and still lubricate at your intervals but its the contaminents in the oil that cause the wear.Now i am a bit of old school being an elder,but i have seen the sludge and damage caused by long distance services.imo 3-5000 is cheap insurance.In our vehicles it is ready to change at that point.

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Agreed 100% on cheap insurance and it's the owner's prerogative, whatever you're comfortable with. I'll tell you what started my initial intervals was a nugget from my grandfather. He was a 30 year Ford master mechanic, and it was his belief that the 3,000 mile oil change was the biggest rip off and scam out there. His take was 12,000 miles or once a year...and that's what I've adhered to. As stated, I haven't seen or noticed any less life expectancy in any of the rigs at my house. I'd honestly say, you crack one of my engines open and take a look, you couldn't tell the difference between it and an engine with 1/10th of the milage and 3k intervals. Not to mention, if you do a little digging on oil analysis...chances are you'll find the oil you use has far more life than what's advertised. Theoretically speaking, you think the Smart Tech Wal-Mart oil is as good as Mobil1 synthetic or Amsoil??? If you change your oil every 3k regardless, you're telling me you do. That said, alot of what's on Wal-Mart's shelf, you're just paying for the name...same 'grade' as the special of the day sitting right next to it. There's an absolutely killer thread on this topic somewhere on the board that Lester really dove into some good detail, which brought alot more info to light. can't seem to find it right now though.

UTfball68 said:

Agreed 100% on cheap insurance and it's the owner's prerogative, whatever you're comfortable with. I'll tell you what started my initial intervals was a nugget from my grandfather. He was a 30 year Ford master mechanic, and it was his belief that the 3,000 mile oil change was the biggest rip off and scam out there. His take was 12,000 miles or once a year...and that's what I've adhered to. As stated, I haven't seen or noticed any less life expectancy in any of the rigs at my house. I'd honestly say, you crack one of my engines open and take a look, you couldn't tell the difference between it and an engine with 1/10th of the milage and 3k intervals. Not to mention, if you do a little digging on oil analysis...chances are you'll find the oil you use has far more life than what's advertised. Theoretically speaking, you think the Smart Tech Wal-Mart oil is as good as Mobil1 synthetic or Amsoil??? If you change your oil every 3k regardless, you're telling me you do. That said, alot of what's on Wal-Mart's shelf, you're just paying for the name...same 'grade' as the special of the day sitting right next to it. There's an absolutely killer thread on this topic somewhere on the board that Lester really dove into some good detail, which brought alot more info to light. can't seem to find it right now though.

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Yup, I was going to say that Ben; that Lester is the guy with the good info and experience on oil change intervals.....in that thread that went on for about 6 months....I learned so much from those posts and his knowledge.

taxreliever said:

Yup, I was going to say that Ben; that Lester is the guy with the good info and experience on oil change intervals.....in that thread that went on for about 6 months....I learned so much from those posts and his knowledge.

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Pretty sure it's this one:

http://www.fordtruckfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26069&highlight=oil+change


Page 3 is where it really starts getting good.

http://www.fordtruckfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26069&highlight=oil+change

http://www.fordtruckfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10456

http://www.fordtruckfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4103&highlight=oil+change

Heat breaks down the viscosity of oil. Grandma drives easily on cool Sunday mornings and can get buy with less oil changes, then I can with the way I drive.

m78 said:

Heat breaks down the viscosity of oil. Grandma drives easily on cool Sunday mornings and can get buy with less oil changes, then I can with the way I drive.

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I pretty much drive my rig like Grandma does, but I remember a few years ago, you guys recommended that the best thing for a rig that doesn't get used like mine does is to get on it every now and then and a couple times a year, I take it on a nice long trip across Maine to stretch its legs.

Wow.Ive learned a great deal fellas from the posts of information.I guess i better re think my oil change schedules....I do drive my vehicles easy as well,especially the 79,Might as well put some coin back in my pocket.very informative stuff! Thank You!