Oil change interval

According to the 2016 manual the 4cyl and 6cyl engines should use the same oil, SAE 0W-20 (synthetic). It also states 'if 0W-20 is not available it is OK to use 5W-20 but it must be replaced with 0W-20 during the next oil change'. And as was stated the maintenance guide recommends oil changes every 10K miles or 12 months unless driving in extreme conditions, then 5K miles or 6 months.

 

Not sure why there's so much confusion. Thank you for posting this, Zinger. You should copy and paste this in EVERY gen-3 oil thread!

 

The oil is 0/w20 full synthetic

 

I think these longer oil changes stem from a combination of synthetics being required and higher oil capacity(more oil to break down). The 2.7l takes more oil than v6 vehicles I owned that were designed in the 90s. But those basically had lower capacity with lower quality oil hence 3k was the standard.

Changing the oil a few thousand miles earlier than recommended wouldn't be a bad practice. I intend on doing 3k intervals on my 2.7L because I do a lot of short trips. If I had the v6 that recommends 10k I would personally do something along the lines of 6-7k.

If I did a lot of high way driving I would go with the recommended schedule. Engines and oils love long drives on the high way.

In the manual it actually says that under severe conditions the oil should be changed more frequently. It lists several definitions for severe conditions and regular short drives under 15miles is one of them. I think towing and offroading were other definitions listed.