1992 F350 with 351

[zr900]

I have a 92 F350 that has the 351 windsor motor and I was wondering if i can safely run SM rated oil. I have heard that older engines with flat tappet cam shafts should not run SM oil because of a lack of zddp.

 

[40Deluxe]

I dont think that your valve spring pressures are enough to worry about it,10w30 should be fine in it.

 

[Chris142]

It should be fine with the SM oil.

With that said my 79 LTD lost a couple of cam lobes back in the early 90's running whatever spec oil we had back then. I think it was SJ.

 

[electrolover]

your engine should be more than broken in by now. with the stock cam and springs you have nothing to worry about when running SM.

how many people do you think have old cars still running and the owners dont know a thing about oil ratings? it is alot!! and they dont have failures.

but if it bothers you you can safely run a HDEO like rotella t5 10/30. it has plenty of ZDDP and it wont break the bank

 

[UNC017]

I'm not positive, but I'll bet a 92 Ford has a roller cam. I know the 302 went roller in the 80s, as did the Chrysler v8s. The Chevy 350 (in trucks) stayed with flat lifters much longer.

At any rate, it should be fine now that its well broken-in. But if you're in doubt, run one of the oils that doesn't have to go below 1000 PPM- like a 40-weight (HDEO like Rotella, or something like Mobil 1 0W40).

 

[qdeezie]

You are good to go. My truck has a flat tappet cam (confirmed when I removed the intake to fix an oil leak) and I run nothing but modern off the shelf motor oil. I've even used cheap supertech motor oil and it did well.

I know on the 302, 1992 was the first year Ford went with the roller cams on the truck, so I'd imagine the 351 isn't too far behind.

The roller cams were in the Ford cars back in the mid 80s, but didn't make it to the trucks until about 92.

 

[steve20]

I'd pour in some Rustoleum to prevent the oil pan from rusting through j/k- but I would keep an eye on it

 

[OVERKILL]

IIRC, it was 1994 for the first year of roller in the 351W.

302's were much earlier.

 

[TFB1]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
IIRC, it was 1994 for the first year of roller in the 351W.

302's were much earlier.


Correct, first roller 351s were in the '94 models... I've heard late '93 models had roller a cam but that may just be someone reading the mfg date of a '94 built in late '93...

To the best of my knowledge, the '93-'95 F-150 Lightning never had a roller camshaft, I know my '93 doesn't and the same cam is listed for all...

Btw I'm using the Mobil Clean 5000 in my Lightning...

 

[zr900]

Thanks for the replies. The truck only has 27,000 miles and I only put about 500 miles a year on it as it is my firewood hauler. My last oil change was Mobil 1 syn and a wix 1515, but that was last summer. I think I should be ok then with annual oil changes.

 

[TFB1]

As long as you're allowing full warmup when it's used and not idling the engine excessively, you can go two years on that fill of Mobil 1...

 

[electrolover]

Originally Posted By: zr900
Thanks for the replies. The truck only has 27,000 miles and I only put about 500 miles a year on it as it is my firewood hauler. My last oil change was Mobil 1 syn and a wix 1515, but that was last summer. I think I should be ok then with annual oil changes.


wow thats low mileage!! you got a good thing goin with the mobil 1 and wix. the only thing i would be worried about is rust eating the truck down to nothing before it ever sees 50k

but seriously, if its street legal you might think about taking out for a drive on the highway every now and then

 

[zr900]

I bought the truck from my Great Uncle and he only used it for seed corn delivery for 5 years and then retired and the truck was parked in the barn for the last 10 years.

I do drive it but when it only gets 7MPG, I only drive it when I need to.