3.0EB The belief of oil brand switch problems

Joined
Jul 7, 2020
Messages
17
Location
Sofia - Bulgaria - EU
3.0 Ford Ecoboost at 45k miles
Guys, I've been using Ravenol DXG 5W-30 for the past ~30k miles it's fully certified as per Ford, Acea, ILSAC, Dexos, etc., it's additivized with Tungsten, Molybdenum, OFC, etc. Had no problems, changed it every 4 to 5k miles.
Here's the question:
I couldn't resist buying 7qt of Motorcraft Synthetic 5W-30 this spring as well as a bottle of Motorcraft 75W-140 for the PTU.
Now it sits in the box and makes me nervous.
Side note: what made me curious was that at 15k mi the Ravenol in the PTU looked worse than the OE Motorcraft at 20k mi.

So, there's this belief that problems occur when changing brands and types of oil. It's believed that problems occur in the process when the new oil washes away the special additives of the previous brand.
With 7 oil changes with the Ravenol I consider the engine is completely surfaced with tungsten and Moly.
Would you risk and pour in the Motorcraft just out of curiosity?
I want to see whether the engine will change mechanical noise, whether it will be more efficient, things like that.
Then I plan returning to the Ravenol.

P. S. I've read the suggested related threads. I want scientific answers, not "I did it for 200k mi and no problems" ...
I also picked up the opinion that problems occur after brand switch from the present forum.
 
What engine is this - is there a new 3.0 litre Ecoboost engine? Weird, they already have a 3.5 and a 2.7!
Anyway, no problems with changing brands of oil. Motorcraft oils are generally very good-performing oils, would not worry a bit.
 
I would not worry at all about changing oils. Especially between Dexos licensed oils.

The spec box for the Dexos licensed products, is very small. There’s only so many approved ways to meet it. And they’re all very similarly done. I used to have a pdf from Afton, all 300 something pages of specs.

There is 0 worry between switching engine oils. And it’s doubtful that you would notice mechanically any difference for at least 2 oil changes. As you’re going to have a a large portion of old oil in the engine still.
 
What engine is this - is there a new 3.0 litre Ecoboost engine? Weird, they already have a 3.5 and a 2.7!
Anyway, no problems with changing brands of oil. Motorcraft oils are generally very good-performing oils, would not worry a bit.
Based on the 2.7 with a few more cubic inches. Comes in explorer ST, Bronco Raptor, and a few Lincoln’s. High performance engine in the 400hp range.
 
Considering the numerous and frequent changes in formulation within the same brand if this were a problem one would think it would show up by now.
The amount of formulation changes in the last ~16 months is staggering.

An unnamed major oil company company, by April of this year, had 150 formulation changes across their product line up.
 
Definitely an urban legend. Oils' formulas of the same brand change constantly, little to our knowledge.
 
It's believed that problems occur in the process when the new oil washes away the special additives of the previous brand.
With 7 oil changes with the Ravenol I consider the engine is completely surfaced with tungsten and Moly.
Would you risk and pour in the Motorcraft just out of curiosity?
I want to see whether the engine will change mechanical noise, whether it will be more efficient, things like that.
Then I plan returning to the Ravenol.

I had Ravenol SSO 0w30 in my engine for 50 000 km. When I used this Ravenol for the first time, I noticed that the engine sound is a little bit harsher than I expected for a new premium oil. But this harsh (rough) sound started to disappear rather quickly and the sound was getting more smooth over the first approx 200 km. By the end of the 500 km, the sound was more smooth than ever before - the improved smoothness was noticeable especially when the engine was cold. I have used Ravenol SSO in this car for several years now. This September another oil was used after the previous 50 000+ km on Ravenol SS0 (4x Ravenol SSO). This time Honda Type 2.0 0w-20 was used as I had no Ravenol SSO available when the oil change was due.
Initially, the engine sound on Honda oil was super smooth (Honda oil has really high levels of Moly. ) and the engine was running more freely when cold (noticeable difference between Honda 0w-20 vs Ravenol SSO 0w-30). However, after the first 1500 km on Honda oil, I started to notice that the engine sound, when cold, has sometimes a harsh undertone. It reminded me the sound of this engine when the engine was cold before I started to use Ravenol SSO. The harsher sound is noticeable when going uphill and the engine has to deliver more torque to keep the velocity. At 2000 km on the Honda oil I am quite sure the original tungsten-moly layer created by Ravenol is getting lost and the new layer either is worse or has not formed yet. Anyway, I will go back to Ravenol for the next oil change.

The actual difference in the sound is rather tiny and I assume most people would not hear it at all.

Btw, in another car when I used the Ravenol VST 5W-40 for the first time the sound was almost terrible and I was scared something wrong is going on. The car had 120 000 km at that time. Mobil1 FS 0w-40 was the previous oil. The first 50 km on Ravenol VST did not sound well. I have never heard such weird change in engine sound when the new oil was installed. However, after the first 500 km on Ravenol VST the engine sound started to became really smooth and soon it was better than with any other oil I have tried in that car before. Now the car has 250 000 km and made 120 000 km on Ravenol VST only. The engine is in great shape and the sound is nice and smooth - better than with any other oil I have tried before. Probably even better than the Mobil1 ESP 5w-30 (high boron), which is another oil that surprised me with very good and smooth engine sound.

My advice is: If you like the sound of Ravenol DXG and you have no good reason to try another oil then stick with Ravenol. If you really want to try another oil then try another Ravenol (with tungsten mentioned in the TDS). Of course, nothing really bad will happen if you decide otherwise. However, I believe the tungsten-moly layer is real and is working extremely well (at least for me). I would not want to lose it.
 
People will believe this nonsense no matter how much " Real life " experiences people share . I'm not going to change the way I do things because of somebody else's paranoia .
 
OP: First you say you only want scientific answers, not old wives tales. Then you state your concern about changing oils "because you heard it here on Bob's". I think you have your answer.
 
Consider that Wesson vegetable oil will keep your engine alive... All kidding aside, the oil's film is what prevents wear by providing separation between parts. The anti wear additive package is there just in case the oil film thickness is insufficient. The base oil viscosity is key here.

With that in mind, the choice of a quality oil with adequate viscosity is more important than any other factor.
 
I’ve believed that one could switch between gpIII synthetics without issue, however I’ve had a recent experience here that I’m not sure about. My f150 has about 50k on it, almost entirely on penzoil platinum. same for our crv and more recent GS350. But when Walmart dropped Mobil 1 by $10/gallon, I bought “manies gallons” of M1. The f150, which has never done this before, smelled of hot leaking oil for weeks after the change (I didn’t spill any when filling). Its never done that before and was concerned that the chemistry change could have caused something.

unrelated to chemistry change, all 3 cars have consumed M1, when they didn’t use any with penzoil. The Lexus seems to do better on the M1, when cruising in top gear at 45mph… it grabs 8th and locks the TC, which it couldn’t quite figure out at that speed with penzoil. Weird.
 
Used it since you buy it and the sound might get changed or not I will try 1 oci see ford motor craft oil if not go back to ravenol .
 
I'd hold. So many people say it doesn't make any difference. I have my own experience that makes me lean to staying
with the same brand if you have been using it a "long" time. I saw what happened with my 2001 IS300 when I changed
from one oil to another. It drank oil for about 2 oil changes and then it leveled out to where it was before the switch. My
thoughts are it won't make any noticeable difference if you are someone who constantly switches brands every oil change.
But if you have used a certain brand for 50K and then switch you very well could see and increase in oil consumption.

And only the IS300 used the new oil after the switch. The other ones didn't. This is why there is so much controversy concerning
this subject. You never know which car will be affected.
 
Back
Top