21st Century Truck
Well-known member
A non-engineer here whose Mach E front motor did fail, catastrophically (see post #4 here) and whose next, warrantied front motor was about to fail when I traded the car... as well as the youngest brother of three, the others both engineers who never, ever let me forget it 
IMHO this is a question of relative risk. Yes, OEM testing parameters establish reasonable intervals for X, Y and for Z. Yes, IMHO there is no harm in changing oils etc. earlier as long as it is done carefully, with good workmanship and to standards, which is BTW why many of us prefer to DIY these things, as we are sure to do it right and not depend on the unseen back-of-shop 20 year old who might be working to time and not to standards of carefulness, and who might be thinking of his date tonight rather than about the potential to mis-thread something. I once was that 20-year old... just sayin'.
Anyone ever watch thru the open bay doors as the wheel / tire guy grabs that pneumatic tool and goes UGGA - DUGGA on the wheel lugs, instead of even thinking about how to set a torque wrench to a manufacturer's torque setting?
On the other hand, these EV motors on our Lightnings are not easy to get to for example the motor refilling plug up on the side.
My Mach E's front motors were made by Borg - Warner, a company with a long history of good manufacturing. Yet, they both failed, both within warranty... and the 1st failure was absolutely a failure of its internal seals. Cause = unknown to me, of course, so it could have been heat effect, or it could have perhaps been the effect of my installation of German high-end coilover sets which might (??) have slightly changed the half-axle entrance angle within the motors long enough to...??
I write this because, with 76,000 miles on our Lightning now I am weighing having their Mercon fluid (and any filter) changed in both motors. Cost vs. inconvenience vs. relative risk, right?
A key point I learned with the Mach E front motor failure(s): once a motor is changed out under Ford warranty, this particular new assembly's warranty then runs for only the next 12 months, no matter the age of the car or its mileage or its original warranty for the rest of the car. And the warranty cost the dealership charged Ford Corporate for the new motor and labor was a shade over $5,000 (I saw the warranty bill to Ford Corporate... I'm at a good dealership and they work with me).
IMHO this is a question of relative risk. Yes, OEM testing parameters establish reasonable intervals for X, Y and for Z. Yes, IMHO there is no harm in changing oils etc. earlier as long as it is done carefully, with good workmanship and to standards, which is BTW why many of us prefer to DIY these things, as we are sure to do it right and not depend on the unseen back-of-shop 20 year old who might be working to time and not to standards of carefulness, and who might be thinking of his date tonight rather than about the potential to mis-thread something. I once was that 20-year old... just sayin'.
Anyone ever watch thru the open bay doors as the wheel / tire guy grabs that pneumatic tool and goes UGGA - DUGGA on the wheel lugs, instead of even thinking about how to set a torque wrench to a manufacturer's torque setting?
On the other hand, these EV motors on our Lightnings are not easy to get to for example the motor refilling plug up on the side.
My Mach E's front motors were made by Borg - Warner, a company with a long history of good manufacturing. Yet, they both failed, both within warranty... and the 1st failure was absolutely a failure of its internal seals. Cause = unknown to me, of course, so it could have been heat effect, or it could have perhaps been the effect of my installation of German high-end coilover sets which might (??) have slightly changed the half-axle entrance angle within the motors long enough to...??
I write this because, with 76,000 miles on our Lightning now I am weighing having their Mercon fluid (and any filter) changed in both motors. Cost vs. inconvenience vs. relative risk, right?
A key point I learned with the Mach E front motor failure(s): once a motor is changed out under Ford warranty, this particular new assembly's warranty then runs for only the next 12 months, no matter the age of the car or its mileage or its original warranty for the rest of the car. And the warranty cost the dealership charged Ford Corporate for the new motor and labor was a shade over $5,000 (I saw the warranty bill to Ford Corporate... I'm at a good dealership and they work with me).
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