I Just Did My First Oil Change Today On My 2025 Ford Bronco Sport, and the Oil Has a Green Look To It, Has Anyone Ever Seen Such a Thing, and Should I Be Worried

As a proud Ford Bronco Sport owner, I am always on the hunt for interesting stories about this exciting model. This week, I found a post that asked a question I would have gotten wrong. The post was made in the Facebook Ford Bronco Sport group. This is a very well-run group with many owners sharing helpful tips. And this tip was very helpful to many.

Here’s what Bronco Sport owner RSS posted in full:

I did my first oil change today on my 2025 Bronco Sport. It's around 1,300 miles. The old oil is green?  Has anyone seen this before?

Boy, I could not wait to weigh in and tell everyone that I was certain it would be coolant in the oil and that the head gasket must have been breached - or worse. I was not alone in thinking this. Here are some other owners who commented, thinking this must be the cause:

• SD - “Looks like you drained the coolant.”
• KS - “How is your coolant level?”
• BB - “That's like coolant in the oil. Bad head gasket or something.”

Ford Bronco Sport Owners are very sensitive when the topic of coolant comes up. Some of us have had to replace their oil pump as many as FIVE TIMES. 

To see if the coolant was the reason for the greenish color of the oil, RSS looked at the coolant reservoir and even showed the group an image. Normal level. Perhaps it was not coolant after all?

Many other owners and a few folks who identify themselves as Ford techs and mechanics said that the green oil is not unusual for a FIRST oil change. Apparently, Ford must use the green-tinted oil. Others added that if you leave that first oil in longer, it becomes more of a classic brownish tint. The green is only seen when the oil is relatively new and from the factory. 

Torque News is fortunate to have the support of some great Ford dealers in the Metro Boston area. In fact, I was at one today! I asked the service advisor if he had ever heard of this, and he was stumped. He offered to investigate for me, and I was very thankful for his help. He walked back to chat with a few techs, who confirmed that this was indeed something they see on occasion when changing oil on a new Ford with very few miles. They also confirmed that unless there are any symptoms of a coolant issue, the owner should not be worried one bit. 

Many in the group speculate that Ford’s mysterious green oil is not an accident. They surmise that it may be special “break-in” oil that contains a dye. The dye is helpful when identifying a leak. While I suspect they are right about this, the engineer in me wonders why green would be selected since the coolant in a Bronco Sport is also green. 

What do you think about this? Did you assume that the green coloration was indicative of a coolant leak into the oil?

Have you ever done a first oil change early and seen green oil come out with your own eyes? Please tell us in the comments below. 

Story Image Notes: We've used a representative an AI image at top of page, but the actual green oil is inset in the bottom left. Image of Ford Bronco Sport Coolant Reservoir By John Goreham.

John Goreham is a credentialed New England Motor Press Association member and expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE int). In addition to his eleven years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can connect with John on Linkedin and follow his work on his personal X channel or on our X channel. Please note that stories carrying John's by-line are never AI-generated, but he does employ grammar and punctuation software when proofreading and he also uses image generation tools.