5w-20 and 5.4L

[wander2039]

I recently switched from Mobil 1 5w30 to MC 5w30 and well was shocked by the difference. I've finally had enough of the lesser mpg and responsivness and I switched to Havoline 5w-20 today.

It now runs as well as it did with Mobil 1. The only difference in the MC and Havoline was GF4 and GF3. The only thing is possible comsumption like it did with M1, it didn't use any MC in 2k though. So my recommendation is praise the 5w-20 gods and I wouldn't fret to use it in any ford modular. Eric

 

[Whimsey]

GF3 vs GF4 was not the only difference between the MC 5w30 and the Havoline 5W-20. There is a difference in the viscosity, approximately 8.0 cST for the 5W-20 Havoline vs 11 cST for the 5w30 MC at 100*C. I've used MC 5W-20 since my 2002 F-150 4.6L V-8 was new and have had good success with it. According to the UOA it wasn't destroying the engine

and I'm most likely saving fuel and cold start wear and tear. I'm in a temperate climate. We can have "hot" summers and "cold" winters, but usually not real extremes. So the MC 5W-20 is suitable for my use.
I thought about going to a 5w30 oil but with the price of gasoline I'll stick with the MC 5W-20.

Whimsey

 

[ruking77]

Mobil 1 also has the new 5w20. It is GF4 if I am not mistaken. I bought 80,000 miles of Mobil 1 0w20 GF3. I will use up all of the 0W20 before moving onto the new 5w20. The 5w20 meets both Honda and Ford specifications.

 

[NewGuy]

Eric - This is interesting. I have a 1998 5.4L and when I switched to M1 it consumed oil for the first time. I now how Havoline 5W30 in it, but it seems a little more sluggish.

What year and mileage is your 5.4L. What exactly did you notice with the improvement of 5W20 vs. 5W30? Thanks for the post!

 

[High Plains Drifter]

I ran 5w20 conventional for the first 4500 miles of my trucks life. (2004 F150 5.4l) I am currently on my first run with Pennzoil 10w30 and am getting ready to change it in about 5 days and will have a used oil analysis done. Will only have about 2250 miles on oil as I am doing 3 month OCI's due to a lot of short trips. I could not tell any difference in 5w-20 vs 10w30. Will be interesting to see what the used oil analysis shows even though truck is not fully broken in. This will be my 4th oil change.
0-500 miles Valvoline 5w-20
500-1500 miles Pennzoil 5w-20
1500-4500 miles Pennzoil 5w-20
4500-6800 miles Pennzoil 10w30

 

[wander2039]

It's a 2000 and has 85k on the clock. It consumed M1 at 1 qt per 1500 miles, Syntec 1 qt per 2k miles. Didn't consume any MC any 2k miles. So far no consumption with 5w-20, to early to tell though. It doesn't have to struggle to rev is the major difference, it runs about 100-200 rpm lower at 70-75mph. The only negative so far is it seems to lost some torque, only noticable going up hills. I'm mostly interested in the gas mileage and i'll have to wait a couple of weeks for that. Eric

 

[tmorris1]

I don't see how an oil can make a difference in RPMs at highway speeds. Its is still the same gear ratios which is what determines RPM.

 

[wander2039]

Less friction would be my guess. Runs about 70mph at 2k. Ran at 2100 before. I did change the rear diff. with Red Line at the same and it seemed to be lighter weight also. My festiva runs the same rpms with synthetic and conventional. Could be ecm adjusting the torque converter for maximum effiency. Eric

 

[aztec12]

try mobil 7500 5w30 it really works good on this mod engines,i have the 4.6 and i really like this oil

 

[mracer]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Eric Smith:
It doesn't have to struggle to rev is the major difference, it runs about 100-200 rpm lower at 70-75mph.

---

I'm having a really hard time getting my head around this one. Unless I died and ended up in an alternate universe, I don't know anyway an oil change can make the rpm necessary for 70 mph drop by 200 or even 100 rpm. Someone, anyone, feel free to correct me, but isn't the rpm at a given speed directly related to the gearing in the transmission and the rearend? I'm going out on a gigantic unbreakable limb here fellas, if anyone can show me proof that an oil can lower the rpm required to go 70 mph, I'll grill a nice ribeye steak for you at my house.

 

[Rand]

Not a nice way to put it.. but I'd drive my 5000#
truck out on that limb too.

Methinks the "seat o pants" dyno isnt calibrated

Rand

 

[dustyjoe1]

Ok, start grilling! Don't put any oil in it and I guearantee when you hit 70 the rpm's will most likely drop considerably

Seriously, though, I think Its possible, If there is a gain in efficiency then the engine wouldn't need to work as hard, but I don't know if a 100 rpm drop is possible. Not disbelieving, but...that is a lot of efficiency. More then likely he may have had a tailwind that day or some other factor that went unnoticed.

 

[wander2039]

When going up hills, accelerating etc. I have basically 3 stages. Normal, torque converter lockup and downshift. I don't know the actual rpm difference between the 3 they vary but it does happen. So basically its still in od in the torque converter lockup stage and the rpm goes up. In a manual transmission yes the transmission and gearing relates more directly to rpm, the automatic transmission these are more computer controlled. What I find strange is the torque converter only seems to lockup ( at least that what I believe it is ) with thinner oils. I'll be taking a 100 mile trip in a few days so I'll have a more accurate reading then. Eric

 

[mechtech]

Eric - Sure, goofy thing do happen with computer controlled transmissions, but I never heard of one locking up anywhere near 70 MPH. That usually occurs at 35-40 MPH [unless you are accelerating].