2018-2019 GT Owners

Wayne K

Member
Aug 21, 2009
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I have a 2018 GT that now has 9500 miles on it. I would consider myself a spirited driver but certainly not hard on the car. My first oil change was at 7000 miles. I did it not because the computer told me it was time but because it was down a quart and I didn't want to add. I have about 2500 miles since the change and it is down a half quart. Anyone else experiencing oil consumption? My 2015GT never used any to speak of.
 
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You need to add a catch can to the motor. I have a 2018 GT and added a Ford Performance catch can at 600 miles. At 2K, I was surprised by how much oil was caught in this can. These motors really do churn up a lot of PCV gas and oil vapor. Just read the GT350 article in Car and Driver and their long term test car used 21.5 quarts of oil in 40000 miles on top of /plus 5, 10 quart dealer oil changes. C&D said that this was the highest oil consumption they have ever had in a test car. Ford said it was not an issue.....yikes!
 
You need to add a catch can to the motor. I have a 2018 GT and added a Ford Performance catch can at 600 miles. At 2K, I was surprised by how much oil was caught in this can. These motors really do churn up a lot of PCV gas and oil vapor. Just read the GT350 article in Car and Driver and their long term test car used 21.5 quarts of oil in 40000 miles on top of /plus 5, 10 quart dealer oil changes. C&D said that this was the highest oil consumption they have ever had in a test car. Ford said it was not an issue.....yikes!
I can confirm that the Ford Performance catch cans work well. It's the same one that I have, but that's only a remedy for power not consumption. According to the dip stick my gen 2 motor didn't use any oil between changes and that can would be full of oil. (a couple of ounces) I expect my 2019 to show oil loss between changes and I don't think all of that oil will end up in the can. I've read (don't know if it's true or not) that Ford is building these engines a little looser and that is contributing to some oil loss. Maybe someone on here has some details? It's a good idea to keep an eye on your oil level in general but especially on a gen 3 motor.
 
As I understand it, the can (I use an oil separator, not a catch can) gets most of its oil during startup and initial idling. Most people who have one installed empty the can at the first 500 miles and see what is there. Afterward, they mostly empty them every 1,000 miles or so.

You are generally going in with open eyes and KNOW the Gen 3 has a 10 quart oil change (2019, anyway) before you buy i. So, it's hard to complain about that one. When you purchase it, you accept the capacities as received. I don't have mine yet (2 more weeks), but I assume it is like most high-performance engines. If you run it at high rpm, it uses a bit of oil. If you generally run it at lower rpm, it probably won't use much oil. A good warm-up before putting your foot into it would help a LOT.

Many people, engine people especially, feel the effectiveness of an engine can be measured with BMEP. Personally, I am a bit blown away by this engine, mostly because of BMEP (Bake Mean Effective Pressure). For a long-life, naturally aspirated, 2-valve per cylinder, pushrod engine, a BMEP over 200 psi is difficult to achieve and requires a serious development program with very specialized components. A 2006 Formula 1 engine (4-valves per cylinder) had a BMEP of about 220 psi and a NASCAR Cup engine has a BMEP of about 216 psi. About 750 HP for the F1 engine, but peak torque was down around 214 lb-ft @ 19,000 rpm!

The 307 cu. in. Coyote engine makes 420 lb-ft of torque at 4,600 rpm, for a BMEP of 209.7. That is right on par with Formula 1 / NASCAR engines of 2006! From the BMEP numbers, I'd expect a supercharged or turbocharged Coyote engine to be a bit fragile. Not sure if they are proving to be so, but the stress would point in that direction.

This is directly borne out by the Mean Piston Speed in ft/min. At 7,000 rpm, with a stroke of 3.650", the mean piston speed is 4,267 ft/min. Anything over 4,000 is considered a good candidate as a very short-life engine. Hence, I'd leave the upper rpm band for racetrack use and shift much more conservatively in normal street driving if I wanted it to be fun for 10 years or more. Just an observation from many years of track following and calculation for several classes of cars.
 
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