03 mercury grand marq. oil too thin?

[hnoppenberger]

the recommended oil is 5-20, would it be better to run thicker?

quick history-
bought the car new- factory fill was semi synth motorcrap 5-20. ran that with 5k intervals until 15 miles.

got hard and expensive to find so i switched to castrol syntec 5-20 and now have 20k miles.
just did another oil change with the stuff.

the engine is the 4.6 v8 (i believe its a 3 valve head) and has the performance package... something like 20 extra then standard (240 i think)

anyways, i dont care about gas mileage, would it be better to run a thicker oil? id like to keep this car for a long time since it has no resale value... any thoughts?

 

[98LSC32V]

your motor has 2v PI heads, you can run 5w-20 or 5w30 it won't make a difference.

 

[Merkava_4]

Quote:

---

the recommended oil is 5-20, would it be better to run thicker?

---

I think so, but there's going to be plenty of guys who disagree.

 

[hnoppenberger]

i work at a bmw shop, would running bmw 5-30 snyth be a good idea ? i can get it real cheap....

 

[Merkava_4]

Quote:

---

running bmw 5-30 snyth be a good idea ?

---

That would be a yes from me anyway.

 

[Stanley Rockafeller]

I've worked ona few BMW's and the BMW syn oil is FANTASTIC! and it smells great to boot! (seriously, crack a quatr open and you'll see the oil is a slight greenish colour and has a menthol smell!

Even Amsoil or M1 cannot claim that!

 

[Camu Mahubah]

Here is a UOA of a Crown Vic with the same motor as your Mercury. Valvolne Synpower 5w20 was ran 5000 miles.

http://theoildrop.server101.com/forums/s...true#Post908515

 

[mechtech2]

hnopenpht - Motorcraft is excellent oil - really.

 

[Nickdfresh]

"Motorcrap?" MC has been responsible for mostly excellent UOAs...

 

[MNgopher]

I have a 99 F150 with the 4.6. I've run everything from 5w20 to 5w40 in it. UOA's showed the 5w40 was ever so slightly better on wear than the 5w20 or 5w30. That being said, the difference was so slight it was arguably within statistical noise. With 5w40, I took over a 5% fuel mileage hit (I have long term fuel and maintence records over the last 90,000 miles) and the engine felt sluggish on the butt dynometer.

My advice: Run the 5w20 or 5w30 of your choice and sleep well at night. The Motorcraft oil in 5w20 is a quality product not deserving of the "motorcrap" ridicule.

 

[hnoppenberger]

whoa whoa whoa.
1) calling it motor ---- is funny
2) im sure its a great oil, but its as much as castrol's syntec and its only a semi synth, (but then again so is castrol they just dont say that lol)
3) did i mention im a bmw tech? think i like fords?
4) motorcrap- haha seriously. did i mention thats funny?

ok but in all seriousness, i appriciate the help. ill prolly start dumping in bmw synthetic (which is 5-30 and a castrol product) in the new couple oil fills becausae my cost on it is like 4.15 a quart... pretty tough to beat although ive been buying castrol syntec 5 qt at walmart for 22.50 on sale the last couple times at wallyworld, and it the perscribed wieght oil...

my main car is a 99 m3 with a race head, i inherited this car and want to keep it for a DD and mod it a little bit-

-seems like a real nice car and seems accessable to work on.

thanks for the help guys. great website.

 

[Camu Mahubah]

Run the BMW 5w30.