Ford cmax review and oil

[hankbanks]

Hey everyone,

New to the forum, i know there is welcome page but figured general would be ok as well. 

Also noticed the energi forum was suppose to be integrated but from a powertrain perspective its the same engine and trans just ones got a bigger battery, less cabin space, and so on. So this forum will be OK for us energi dudes too i hope. 

 

Anyways my story is i bought the car brand new and was given wonderful opportunity to personally review the car in final assembly with some Ford folk at the warren plant on the day it was built. Outstanding team there and cant wait to see the new bronco come out of there but at the same time sad Focus and Cmax are no more. 

Now close to 52000 miles I can really only say amazing things about the car.

 

Its particle, fits larger humans in the back without complaints, fit decent amount of things with seats down for vacations/adventures, and its a phev where i have charging capabilities at work. have gone over a 1000 mils on tank at least 5+ times. 

lifetime MPG's is 59.0, no major issues with the car expect for a couple of issues that were mine + natures fault. The air intake mounting point for the front rad structure broke when trying to replace the airfilter. if you dont want to make my mistake please unscrew the bolts that mounts it in the front rad structure. ?

2nd and third issue was 02 sensor harness was chewed out by some furry friends, and driver seat was creaking at high G load. Fixed at my dealers all under warranty or open tsb. The seat was actually a TSB and was easy to fix. rubber hose and clamps at a cross beam support. Simply yet effective. 

 

Longer interval changes look to have been correctly been established and tested from the ford team. Having lived in Europe and talking with car friends from the region i know longer changes are the norm there. But they also mostly use full syn oils.

Prior to 40k i was doing 20 k oil changes as i got them for free at my dealer.

Dealer was using motorcraft 0w-20 syn blend. However those blends are not held to any standard as to how much is blended and that info is not publicly given out. For that reason i did a shorter interval as i no longer had free oil change

I was made into true believer of full syn. after the 40k mark i put Penzoil ultra full syn 0w-20 and have had some positive results. Below are the results. 

Always have used the motorcraft filter too. cant beat 4 bucks @ wallmart for silicone and aem rubbers used in the seals.

I have always had small fuel in the system due to me not running the car long enough before the change, im bad i know,  but TBN numbers suggest oil is still bueno. 

Also have always used 93 octane or highest octane i can get, as i have seen the evidence of better fuel additives in higher octane gas. also i get good enough gas mileage so its not as big of  burden on me considering my previous car was a lincoln MKZ 3.0t. Do miss the speed and cabin from that car.

Next change will be at 15k mark as i want to hopefully graph linear response in metals, tbn, and viscosity to make even better judgement on modern oil and health of the car. 

 

Hope everyone is safe during these unusually times and hopefully we can get back on the road to enjoy adventures with your Cmax soon!