1997 F-150 4.6l

[Stelth]

I just bought a 1997 F-150 with the 4.6L V8. Is this one of the engines that's back-spec'ed for 5w-20? With 200k miles on the clock, I think I'll probably stick with 5w-30.

I think it has sat for a little while, so I changed the oil today after driving it about 400 miles in the last two days. I put in Peak 10w-30 and an STP filter, neither of which I'm excited about, but I figure a short OCI like maybe 1000 to 1500 miles might be a good idea, followed by a good 5w-30 with a filter I like better, say a Motorcraft FL-820S.

What do you think?

 

[big_impact]

i agree w staying with the 5w30 1) because as you said that yr ford specd that weight, 2) because the miles

 

[Kuato]

Agree that it's best to keep feeding it what it's been having. A couple of short OCIs won't hurt.

 

[Astro14]

+1 It called for 5W30 originally, stick with that. Particularly with 200K on the clock...take a look at your hot oil pressure - if you're at the roughly 10 PSI/1000 RPM range, you're OK for viscosity. ( higher is OK, lower not...)

If the engine has not been taken care of (i.e. poor air filtration), then you can get less pressure than that becuase of bearing wear...and then I might consider going a bit heavier to bring it into the proper range...

 

[Stelth]

Originally Posted By: Astro14
+1 It called for 5W30 originally, stick with that. Particularly with 200K on the clock...take a look at your hot oil pressure - if you're at the roughly 10 PSI/1000 RPM range, you're OK for viscosity. ( higher is OK, lower not...)

If the engine has not been taken care of (i.e. poor air filtration), then you can get less pressure than that becuase of bearing wear...and then I might consider going a bit heavier to bring it into the proper range...


Interestingly, the oil pressure gauge virtually "snaps" up to a fairly high pressure when the truck is started, and does not move when it warms up. So I feel that the bearings are probably OK. I also changed the air filter today as well. I drove this truck from San Diego to LA and back before changing the oil, and everything seemed good.

 

[lanteau]

I also have a 1997 F150. I hate to tell you but that oil pressure gauge is nothing more than a mere oil pressure switch. More than 8psi it reads full pressure on the gauge, less than that the gauge reads zero. I double gasketed a filter once and the gauge read full pressure as it was dumping oil on the ground.

 

[Stelth]

Originally Posted By: lanteau
I also have a 1997 F150. I hate to tell you but that oil pressure gauge is nothing more than a mere oil pressure switch. More than 8psi it reads full pressure on the gauge, less than that the gauge reads zero. I double gasketed a filter once and the gauge read full pressure as it was dumping oil on the ground.


Well, [censored]. Maybe I'll have to get a real one.

 

[big_impact]

why not run a few short ocis of mobil clean? not only does it say 'clean' but it smells like lacquer thinner, somethings gotta happen with that combo

 

[beast3300]

You will be good with 5w30 in that 4.6L.

 

[OVERKILL]

Yup, just run 5w30. If you want to go exotic, you can try 0w30, LOL.

 

[MNgopher]

Yep, the gauge is a glorified idiot light. This was done as too many people see a gauge move and they assume something is wrong, when oil pressure varying with engine load and temperature is perfectly normal.

I had a '97 F150 with the 4.6 and a '99 F150 with the 4.6. Just run any name brand 5w30 and sleep easy...

 

[Astro14]

Ah...rats...my '00 Expedition gauge seemed to work correctly, was guessing that yours was the same...

Guessed wrong I see...

 

[Stelth]

The more I think about this gauge thing, the more it ticks me off. The truck has an oil light too, so Ford thinks I'm dumb enough to need TWO idiot lights. My wife's 99 Astro van has an actual gauge, with numbers and everything, so score one for GM, I guess.

 

[Jim Allen]

Yeah, I have a real gauge on my 5.4L 3V. Hot (w/5W20) it reads about 26 psi at idle and 63 psi from about 1200 rpm on. More when cold, of course

 

[El_Schaf]

I have a 97 as well, also with around 200K on it. It has not had issue with either 20 weight or 30 weight that I have put in it. It seems to still run well regardless of what goes in it, and consumption did not appear to change between the grades.

 

[Nickdfresh]

I'd just keep on using 5W-30. 5W-20 won't hurt anything, but I've seen some increased consumption when switching to 5W-20 in an older Ford/Mercury...