'04 4.6l Ford, Motorcraft 5-20, 3592 miles

[Titan]

First UOA on '04 Grand Marquis with 32819 miles, 3592 on oil, Motorcraft 820S filter, I have to take a service advisor's word that it was Motorcraft 5-20 semi-synthetic, as I bought this car off a lot, and it was serviced prior to my ownership.

If I didn't put down a value, it was Zero:

Al 2
Fe 10
Cu 2
Moly 37
K 1
Boron 154
Si 10
Na 2
Ca 1975
Magn 13
Phos 704
Zn 825
Barium 13
SUS visc. at 210F 49.8 (50-57 expected)
cSt visc. at 100C 7.22 (7.3-9.6 expected)
Flashpoint 400
Fuel Insoluables 0.3%

Their remarks were that "You got a good one", zero coolant, good filtration.
Have Mobil Clean 7500 in there with another Motorcraft 820S, plan on running it the entire 7500 miles, as I run 98% highway cruising. This beast averaged 26.5 mpg this past month (a little over 5000 miles for me), running lower 70 mph. I'm VERY pleased to have this near-perfect condition Leather LX that I stole for 12K as my new cruiser. I kept my Subaru for bad weather, but, it sure is easier to put in a 600 mile day now!

 

[Mokanic]

Have you settled on a particular oil for that 4.6 yet?

 

[theedge67]

Looks like it sheared down a little, but wear numbers look excellent!

 

[JustinH]

Looks great. Great car, i'm a 25 year old guy and wouldn't mind one as a daily driver.

Stick with that motorcraft filter for sure.

 

[Titan]

I have 24 quarts of a Pennzoil Platinum 5-20 stash (at an average price of about 1.50 per quart) that I'll be running right after the current batch of Mobil 7500 Clean (that I got for FREE) has it's turn. I'm thinking the PP might go a full 10,000 mile OCI...I'll do a UOA to make sure, though.

 

[Titan]

Originally Posted By: JustinH
Looks great. Great car, i'm a 25 year old guy and wouldn't mind one as a daily driver.

Stick with that motorcraft filter for sure.



I never knew how inexpensive these cars were, nor how nice they cruise, nor how good the mpg is. 26+ mpg at just over 70 mph impresses me for a car that weighs more than 2 tons dry weight. And, since it comes with front and side airbags, it's gotta be fairly safe compared to most. I wish I would have known this when I was 25! B~)

 

[jorton]

Originally Posted By: Titan

SUS visc. at 210F 49.8 (50-57 expected)
cSt visc. at 100C 7.22 (7.3-9.6 expected)"eek"

This beast averaged 26.5 mpg this past month (a little over 5000 miles for me), running lower 70 mph."thumbs up"


I hope your Pennzoil doesn't get that thin. Great fuel economy, I can't believe it's only 6 mpg lower than my 4 cyl Focus.

 

[Glockycharms]

Originally Posted By: Titan
First UOA on '04 Grand Marquis with 32819 miles, 3592 on oil, Motorcraft 820S filter, I have to take a service advisor's word that it was Motorcraft 5-20 semi-synthetic, as I bought this car off a lot, and it was serviced prior to my ownership.

If I didn't put down a value, it was Zero:

Al 2
Fe 10
Cu 2
Moly 37
K 1
Boron 154
Si 10
Na 2
Ca 1975
Magn 13
Phos 704
Zn 825
Barium 13
SUS visc. at 210F 49.8 (50-57 expected)
cSt visc. at 100C 7.22 (7.3-9.6 expected)
Flashpoint 400
Fuel Insoluables 0.3%

Their remarks were that "You got a good one", zero coolant, good filtration.
Have Mobil Clean 7500 in there with another Motorcraft 820S, plan on running it the entire 7500 miles, as I run 98% highway cruising. This beast averaged 26.5 mpg this past month (a little over 5000 miles for me), running lower 70 mph. I'm VERY pleased to have this near-perfect condition Leather LX that I stole for 12K as my new cruiser. I kept my Subaru for bad weather, but, it sure is easier to put in a 600 mile day now!


Do you have any idea what the gears are in that thing?

That is really good gas mileage so i assume the gears,highway and maybe grandma type driving got you there?

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Personally, I would go 7.5K on that Mobil Clean 7500 run. Keep it to 5K max. You engine will thank you later.

 

[Titan]

2.73 rear end. Standard fare for this car. I don't usually floor it, but, in city traffic, I do push it aggressively...just don't have much city traffic, thankfully. On the highway, I simply set the cruise on 73 and motor down the road! In big, rolling terrain, I'll rest my foot on the accelerator going down big hills, up to about 80 mph, so there's a little more momentum starting up the next big hill before the cruise takes over. Oh, and if the car has to downshift to maintain 73 up a steep hill, I'll cancel the cruise and go up at about 65 mph, which allows the torque converter to stay locked up.

Oh, I use Fuel Power 3000, also.

 

[kballowe]

According to the owner's manual for my 4.6L '03 Marquis - 3800 pounds, curb weight. About the same as the new Mustangs.

Yes - 26+ mpg hwy (summer) and slightly less in winter. Interstate driving daily commute 90 miles round trip. No, I don't warm it up before driving off.

168,000 now: MC - 5W20 & FL820S @ 4,000 OCI since new. No oil consumption so far. Original spark plugs, brakes, battery. Turned the rotors (lightly) twice.

My son has driven this car since about 120,000.

The MC 5W-20 seems to be doing OK for this one. Sorry - never sampled it.

 

[JustinH]

Those cars do great on fuel economy.

I had a ford thunderbird with the 4.6L v8 and 3.08 gears and it would do 26+ on the freeway every time.

 

[theedge67]

New Mustang coupes are around 3,450lbs. The GT500 is around 3,800 though if that's what your thinking about.

 

[Titan]

Originally Posted By: kballowe
According to the owner's manual for my 4.6L '03 Marquis - 3800 pounds, curb weight. About the same as the new Mustangs.


Re-checked, mine says 3970 lbs. for the '04 LS.

 

[HawkeyeScott]

Congratulations on the car and the UOA. I just sold a 97 Crown Vic, which I bought when I was 25. (The guy who bought it? Also 25.) Mine had 72K when I bought it and I sold it with 111K. While I had some heater issues and the intake cracked, I was VERY confident in this motor. Loved it. Used mostly the MC 5/20 and in the winter, Valv. 5/30 in the summer. THE ABSOLUTE PERFECT CAR FOR ROAD TRIPS. Got 28 mpg. on one 1000 mile interstate trip with the car loaded. And it sounds like you drive it EXACTLY the way I drive mine. The way that sucker was geared, accelerating and letting off as the lay of the land allows, got me an extra 2 mpg.

Nice car. Good luck and happy, comfortable motoring.

 

[Titan]

Supposedly, they changed the intake design to a metal coolant pathway. The old design that was cracking were no longer used on any of the variants sometime in early 2002. This upcoming week, I'm due to put 2000 miles on it! Great car for highway cruising....