Back in the day a buddy of mine worked for a garage door installation company and him and I used to do the maintenance on their fleet of trucks. They were 97-98 F150's with 4.2 V6's and 4.6-5.4 V8's. These trucks were overloaded beyond their capacity, would break leaf springs and were beat on by the techs who couldn't care less. So my buddy and I, who grew up with hotrods and thicker is better oil mentality, would run 20w50 Castrol in all the trucks (which only had 50-80k miles). Now that I look back on it, I wonder if we did any damage to the engines running that thick oil in them. They seemed to run just fine and never made any cold start noises. What's the worst that could happen to a modular engine with 20w50 in it?
20w50 in an 4.6-5.4 Modulars.
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I would not recommend doing this. But each of the engines you posted are known for their durability each any everyone likely still lived a very long engine life.
Originally Posted By: volk06
It wasn't needed but didn't do any damage to it.
Yeah this was about 10 years ago, back then I used 20w50 in everything and changed my oil every 3,000 miles...
It wasn't needed but didn't do any damage to it.
Yeah this was about 10 years ago, back then I used 20w50 in everything and changed my oil every 3,000 miles...
Be fine in socal or phx. Not a good idea in michigan
Originally Posted By: Chris142
Be fine in socal or phx. Not a good idea in michigan
Yeah, 20w50 dino oil on an engine that needs 5w-20 probably would make some fun noises on a super cold morning.
Be fine in socal or phx. Not a good idea in michigan
Yeah, 20w50 dino oil on an engine that needs 5w-20 probably would make some fun noises on a super cold morning.
I used 20-50 in my Chevy truck once for a full interval, just for kicks. Nothing at all happened. I am sure the Fords would tolerate it just as well. No worries...
I doubt you caused any damage to those trucks. My mechanic I used to use(retired) only put 20w50 in everything! Many many 4.6 Taxi's and Towncar's with over 300K. On that note, the 20w50 was unnecessary. I must admit I used to do the same years ago.
My buddy used to run 20W-50 Castrol in his 80's Accord. 260K miles later he traded it in. Engine used no oil and ran fine - rest of the car was rough. Back in the day, 20W-50 was a safe way to go - modern light weight oils have a lot more technology now - and gasoline is a lot more expensive.
I can show you many examples of Modular motors run on nothing but Mid Eastern (i.e. garbage) sourced Group I 20W-50 that still have over 600,000 kilometers on them here.
Ford recommended 20W-40 in export engines up until 1996, when it changed to 10w30. It's been 10w30 ever since.
Ford recommended 20W-40 in export engines up until 1996, when it changed to 10w30. It's been 10w30 ever since.
I had a vortech supercharger on a 4.6 modular that would beat up the oil.
I started running 5w40 synthetic diesel oil and the problem went away.
In my more civilian 4.6L, a stock grand marquis, I stick with 5w20.
I started running 5w40 synthetic diesel oil and the problem went away.
In my more civilian 4.6L, a stock grand marquis, I stick with 5w20.
i wouldn't do it, regardless of mods. i had an 02 gt procharged and i ran 5w20 motorcraft in it. it protected well and the oil was never fuel soaked ect. i had a UOA back in the day but it got misplaced in a move. anything above 5w30 in a modular here in the US is unneeded. other markets use heavier grades because of availabily issues with light oils.
Originally Posted By: donnyj08
other markets use heavier grades because of availabily issues with light oils.
If FOrd think it's necessary, they could ship a case of oil in the boot...basically if the engine can be shipped and sold, I think that moving oil would be a doddle.
other markets use heavier grades because of availabily issues with light oils.
If FOrd think it's necessary, they could ship a case of oil in the boot...basically if the engine can be shipped and sold, I think that moving oil would be a doddle.
Physically, you're quite right, Shannow. However, I suspect that there would be some regulatory nonsense involved with shipping a case or two of oil in the trunk. Yes, crankcases have oil. Yes, oil is shipped all the time. Neither of those negate the likelihood that some bureaucrat somewhere would require a fistful of paperwork to allow a case of oil to be shipped.
I'm not sure about down in your neck of the woods, but up here, they have two sets of regulations for shipping things that might be "dangerous goods." One applies to the average person, who has no problem carrying a jerry can of gas or a case of oil. The other is the business. A business could get away with transporting a single case of oil in a single vehicle. A truckload, trainload, or shipload of cars, each with a case of oil in the trunk might be a different matter.
Personally, and to stay on topic, I doubt Ford really cares from an engine longevity standpoint. They may have to jump through certain hoops in North America thanks to emissions warranties and fuel economy guidelines, but aside from that, they likely don't give two hoots.
I'm not sure about down in your neck of the woods, but up here, they have two sets of regulations for shipping things that might be "dangerous goods." One applies to the average person, who has no problem carrying a jerry can of gas or a case of oil. The other is the business. A business could get away with transporting a single case of oil in a single vehicle. A truckload, trainload, or shipload of cars, each with a case of oil in the trunk might be a different matter.
Personally, and to stay on topic, I doubt Ford really cares from an engine longevity standpoint. They may have to jump through certain hoops in North America thanks to emissions warranties and fuel economy guidelines, but aside from that, they likely don't give two hoots.
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