Use some Pennzoil Conventional 5W-30 and a motorcraft filter. The Pennzoil is touted as a great cleaner and is a good priced oil.
1999 Mercury Mystique, need to choose an oil
- Thread starter 45ACP
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Originally Posted By: gpshumway
Originally Posted By: 45ACP
I should top up the ATF. perhaps even maybe motor oil, i can not yet do an oil change if i wanted to (no tools, etc. Or money, for that, at this time.)
I see the logic in the 30-weight oil. I will either go Castrol Edge, Supertech, or Nextgen hi-mi in the 30. I dont know if it is the "SVT" (probably not) or the I4 or the V6. I will know when i see it.
Of those I vote for Nextgen Hi-Mi. Twelve year old seals need all the help they can get. I mostly used Maxlife synthetic in mine and had good luck with Pennzoil High Mileage conventional as well.
Oh, and no such thing as an SVT Mystique, also all SVT Contours are 5sp manual.
Yeah i was thinking that too! That is the one with moly. Its worth the extra $9. Im more concerned about where the filter is now!
So really just one more question, just to rehash.. shall i select "5W-30" of that oil instead of the 5W-20?
Its either that or the Supertech 5W-30 not 5W-20 if i need Supertech its always soo tempting to get that. Should i get the valvoline though Supertech is good too....
Originally Posted By: 45ACP
I should top up the ATF. perhaps even maybe motor oil, i can not yet do an oil change if i wanted to (no tools, etc. Or money, for that, at this time.)
I see the logic in the 30-weight oil. I will either go Castrol Edge, Supertech, or Nextgen hi-mi in the 30. I dont know if it is the "SVT" (probably not) or the I4 or the V6. I will know when i see it.
Of those I vote for Nextgen Hi-Mi. Twelve year old seals need all the help they can get. I mostly used Maxlife synthetic in mine and had good luck with Pennzoil High Mileage conventional as well.
Oh, and no such thing as an SVT Mystique, also all SVT Contours are 5sp manual.
Yeah i was thinking that too! That is the one with moly. Its worth the extra $9. Im more concerned about where the filter is now!
So really just one more question, just to rehash.. shall i select "5W-30" of that oil instead of the 5W-20?
Its either that or the Supertech 5W-30 not 5W-20 if i need Supertech its always soo tempting to get that. Should i get the valvoline though Supertech is good too....
The owners manual calls for 5w30 but ford back-spec'd it for 5w20 use, so the choice is yours. Since so much is unknown about the car, i'd likely go with supertech 5w30 first and then see what you've got.
Good luck!
Good luck!
1) owner mentioned he "recently changed the oil 6 months ago with straight-30 non-detergent motor oil." I suspect Accel straight-30 from Walmart.
2) Pictures on the way.
Just shy of 170,000 miles, decent condition, some cosmetic damage to the front. Whine under acceleration only, transmission "kicks" into gear sometimes. Four brand new tires. Cracked windshield. Decent ride.
It is the 2.5L V6.
I give the car a 7 out of 10 and for some reason id love to get M1 AFE 0W-30 in there. I dont know. Maybe because it has straight-30 in there now and i want it to flow on start-up more lol
Pics coming.
2) Pictures on the way.
Just shy of 170,000 miles, decent condition, some cosmetic damage to the front. Whine under acceleration only, transmission "kicks" into gear sometimes. Four brand new tires. Cracked windshield. Decent ride.
It is the 2.5L V6.
I give the car a 7 out of 10 and for some reason id love to get M1 AFE 0W-30 in there. I dont know. Maybe because it has straight-30 in there now and i want it to flow on start-up more lol
Pics coming.
Pics
it has the 2.5L V6
just shy of 170,000 miles. Probably has Accel straight 30 in it
it has the 2.5L V6
just shy of 170,000 miles. Probably has Accel straight 30 in it
That's the 4 cylinder, not the V6, count the spark plug wires.
With non-detergent oil in it I'd do at least a couple of changes with a good high-detergent oil. High mileage oils tend to be a little heavier on the detergents as the detergents can interfere with the friction modifiers in energy conserving oils.
In the V6 I have a strong preference for 5w30 over 5w20, but I'm less knowledgeable about the 4cyl. Given that Ford originally spec'd the car for 5w30 and the clearances have likely opened up over the last 170k miles, I vote for a thick 30wt (High Mileage) oil, the aforementioned NextGen should do fine. You could save a bit of cash by using Pennzoil HM conventional.
Look around Contour.org for other knowledgeable opinions on oil for the 4cyl. User "BigJim" is an ASE tech who seems to know oil quite well. He's got an SVT and uses Rotella T 5w40...
With non-detergent oil in it I'd do at least a couple of changes with a good high-detergent oil. High mileage oils tend to be a little heavier on the detergents as the detergents can interfere with the friction modifiers in energy conserving oils.
In the V6 I have a strong preference for 5w30 over 5w20, but I'm less knowledgeable about the 4cyl. Given that Ford originally spec'd the car for 5w30 and the clearances have likely opened up over the last 170k miles, I vote for a thick 30wt (High Mileage) oil, the aforementioned NextGen should do fine. You could save a bit of cash by using Pennzoil HM conventional.
Look around Contour.org for other knowledgeable opinions on oil for the 4cyl. User "BigJim" is an ASE tech who seems to know oil quite well. He's got an SVT and uses Rotella T 5w40...
This car also has a little bit of a rattle/diesel sound at idle, hot or cold. I wonde rif changing the oil will help that? I keep thinking "0W-30," or maybe even Royal Purple 5W-30. Maybe RP will quiet it down. Tip there? Will a different oil help quiet down the rattle at idle? Sounds like valve tap or lash, a diesely sound.
I'm not sure about the rattle, again the limits of my knowledge about the 4cyl. Could be that the oil passages in the lifters are a bit clogged and a good cleaning would open them up.
You could try a treatment of Auto RX.
I can't say I'm a fan of RP oils, but I have no direct experience. Pennzoil Ultra is advertised as having lots of cleaning power, maybe try that, it's cheaper than RP.
You could try a treatment of Auto RX.
I can't say I'm a fan of RP oils, but I have no direct experience. Pennzoil Ultra is advertised as having lots of cleaning power, maybe try that, it's cheaper than RP.
i'd vote for the older M1 5w30 HM, not the SN stuff, if you can find it.
Sorry it took so long to respond. With your conditions, I would not recommend jumping into a top tier synthetic. Do a few shorter runs with something cheap like ST or QSGB. Mine has always had a little start-up rattle also. It dont seem to be affected by filter choice or oil choice. These engines are easy on oil and dont require anything special. I think given the age and mileage, i would start with a 5w30 and monitor oil usage. If it uses none then just stick with the dino 5w30. If it consumes oil or leaks, try a HM oil. How does the engine look inside? You can pop the oil fill cap and look directly at the cam shaft. This may give you an indication of how the engine was cared for. Mine looks absolutely new inside and it has had nothing special done to it. I think you asked about the filter, yea its a little bit of a pain but not too bad. I find getting to it from the bottom is easier.
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One of the few good things on my 96 Mystique was the 4 cyl engine, never used oil in 170,000 plus miles. Used Amsoil 0W30 since I got it with 30,000 on it and changed it once a year as daughter used it in college etc so about 12,000-15,000 a year. Easy on oil and great engine, transmission stunk! Had to replace that at 149,000.
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