5W-30 Synthetic in a 2011 F-250 w/ 6.2L gas engine?

[67Cougar]

I have a 2011 Ford F-250 with the 6.2L gas engine, it has 172K on it and does not leak, burn or loose oil between 4-5K OCI's. Owner's manual says 5W-20, I've only used Pennzoil Ultra HM in it for the last 50K, towing my toy hauler to snow plowing. Recently I was given several new 5q jugs of 5W-30 Castrol Edge HM synthetic. I was wondering if I will have any negative issues by switching over to the 5W-30?
Thanks everyone.
Brian

 

[Danno]

Use it, no worries.

 

[ripcord]

Zero issues with 5w-30 in the 6.2.

 

[userfriendly]

In 2016 Ford recommended 5W30 instead of 5w20 in the 6.2s.
Three days ago I put Delo 400 5W40 in my son’s 2012 6.2 F350. Less than a thousand miles later it caused the alternator to go.

 

[ripcord]

In 2016 Ford recommended 5W30 instead of 5w20 in the 6.2s.
Three days ago I put Delo 400 5W40 in my son’s 2012 6.2 F350.
A thousand miles later it caused the alternator to go.

5w40 didn't cause the alternator to go out. There is nothing remotely plausible that could link the two

 

[hemitom]

5w40 didn't cause the alternator to go out. There is nothing remotely plausible that could link the two

Guess you didn't detect the sarcasm !

 

[67Cougar]

Hematoma, I caught the sarcasm, lmao

 

[67Cougar]

Thanks everyone, appreciate the input.
One more question.
In the jugs given me, there is also a jug of Castrol full synthetic 5w30, silver bottle. Is that oil compatible with the same API spec Edge HM 5w30?
Can I mix it in vehicles or should I just save it for my tractor?

 

[MVAR]

Hematoma, I caught the sarcasm, lmao

Think his screen name is Hemi(Tom) not hematoma

 

[MVAR]

Thanks everyone, appreciate the input.
One more question.
In the jugs given me, there is also a jug of Castrol full synthetic 5w30, silver bottle. Is that oil compatible with the same API spec Edge HM 5w30?
Can I mix it in vehicles or should I just save it for my tractor?

What's the API designation of the silver bottle? I wouldn't think a 5k OCI would do much to it though.

FWIW, I also run a 5W/40 in my 6.2 F150 without issue.

 

[ripcord]

Guess you didn't detect the sarcasm !

Major fail, lol. I bit it on that one.

 

[Shel_B]

In 2016 Ford recommended 5W30 instead of 5w20 in the 6.2s.
Three days ago I put Delo 400 5W40 in my son’s 2012 6.2 F350. Less than a thousand miles later it caused the alternator to go.

It's been mentioned in numerous places that using a Diesel oil is not a good idea in a gasoline engine.

D

Thread 'Lake Speed Jr. ... Diesel vs Gas oils'

Apr 5, 2025

Summary:

Diesel engines generate a lot of soot. If that soot were uncontrolled, it'd be like sand circulating in the engine causing abrasive wear everywhere. Not good. So, Diesel engine oils are loaded with detergent/dispersant additives to cope with that soot.

The trade-off is that those additives compete with the anti-wear additives. This makes the AW additives less effective.

For Diesel engines, that's a small price to pay for keeping soot in check. The overall effect is less wear.

But in a gasoline engine, which won't produce that much soot, there's no...

• d00df00d

• 

 

[67Cougar]

Think his screen name is Hemi(Tom) not hematoma

Darn auto correct.....apologies

 

[67Cougar]

What's the API designation of the silver bottle? I wouldn't think a 5k OCI would do much to it though.

FWIW, I also run a 5W/40 in my 6.2 F150 without issue.

Both the edge hm and Castrol full synthetic are api sp and sn plus

 

[MVAR]

It's been mentioned in numerous places that using a Diesel oil is not a good idea in a gasoline engine.

D

Thread 'Lake Speed Jr. ... Diesel vs Gas oils'

Apr 5, 2025

Summary:

Diesel engines generate a lot of soot. If that soot were uncontrolled, it'd be like sand circulating in the engine causing abrasive wear everywhere. Not good. So, Diesel engine oils are loaded with detergent/dispersant additives to cope with that soot.

The trade-off is that those additives compete with the anti-wear additives. This makes the AW additives less effective.

For Diesel engines, that's a small price to pay for keeping soot in check. The overall effect is less wear.

But in a gasoline engine, which won't produce that much soot, there's no...

• d00df00d

• 

The Delo 400 XSP 5W/40 that @userfriendly used is an SN+ rated oil so perfectly fine in a gasoline engine. Also, the 6.2 Ford is a port injected engine so not nearly as susceptible to the LSPI events, as referenced in the video, as a TGDI (like the Audi that the piston in the picture/video came with).

 

[barkingspider]

Castrol is good to go in your truck.

 

[MVAR]

Both the edge hm and Castrol full synthetic are api sp and sn plus

SN+ and SP are closer to each other than older SN and prior. Plenty of people here have come up with some frankenblends that are far more dissimilar than this. I personally wouldn't have an issue with mixing those two for a 5k run in my 6.2. Of course others will have differing opinions but these port injected 6.2's just seem to like having fresh oil in them more than anything.

 

[userfriendly]

The Delo 400 XSP 5W/40 that @userfriendly used is an SN+ rated oil so perfectly fine in a gasoline engine. Also, the 6.2 Ford is a port injected engine so not nearly as susceptible to the LSPI events, as referenced in the video, as a TGDI (like the Audi that the piston in the picture/video came with).

A UOA after a couple of dyno pulls on an engine that was designed 70 years ago doesn’t quite do it for me.
My son bought a 2012 F350 a month ago with 227,000 kms on it for $9,500 Canadian.
He drove it from Terrace, BC to Kamloops, 1,200 kms and it used 1.5L of 5w20. We topped it up before he drove to Vancouver and back and it was down another litre in 1,200 kms.
I drained the 5w20 and ran some SAE 40 in it for 100 kms, drained it and put in the Delo with a new filter.
The truck made it back to Terrace with a two hour stop over in Prince George to change the alternator on the side of the road, without using any oil. So far so good.
This is the first Ford truck in the family after decades of GMs, and there’s a learning curve.
The ignition system is a “wasted spark” with four coils on top of each valve cover that fires two spark plugs per cylinder. One on the compression stroke and the wasted one on the exhaust stroke.
The coils were arcing to the engine causing a misfire. The previous owner had replaced the top row with platinum spark plugs that had three times the gap from new, and the bottom row that are hard to change were the originals.

 

[MVAR]

A UOA after a couple of dyno pulls on an engine that was designed 70 years ago doesn’t quite do it for me.
My son bought a 2012 F350 a month ago with 227,000 kms on it for $9,500 Canadian.
He drove it from Terrace, BC to Kamloops, 1,200 kms and it used 1.5L of 5w20. We topped it up before he drove to Vancouver and back and it was down another litre in 1,200 kms.
I drained the 5w20 and ran some SAE 40 in it for 100 kms, drained it and put in the Delo with a new filter.
The truck made it back to Terrace with a two hour stop over in Prince George to change the alternator on the side of the road, without using any oil. So far so good.
This is the first Ford truck in the family after decades of GMs, and there’s a learning curve.
The ignition system is a “wasted spark” with four coils on top of each valve cover that fires two spark plugs per cylinder. One on the compression stroke and the wasted one on the exhaust stroke.
The coils were arcing to the engine causing a misfire. The previous owner had replaced the top row with platinum spark plugs that had three times the gap from new, and the bottom row that are hard to change were the originals.

These engines are nearly 10:1 compression with thin rings & not the best combustion chamber (from a performance standpoint as its designed for emissions).

The lower plugs are a real PITA but it's not too bad if you're just having to deal with them once every 100k miles. Just use quality plugs so you don't have to get back in there early.

I haven't personally seen coils arc but have seen a wire arc near the mounting clip. I just plan on wires at the same time as the plugs.

Mine won't see any more 5w/20. Currently running 5w/40 as well but also wouldn't have issue running a good 5w/30. I'm currently running HPL but have the same Delo as you in my little GMC Canyon & wouldn't hesitate to run it in the F150. I've always had good results with Chevron products, even if some of them are a bit overpriced at times (this current Delo blowout and rebates most certainly are not in the overpriced category lol).

Sure hope your son enjoys his new truck once everything is sorted from the PO's neglect.

 

[userfriendly]

These engines are nearly 10:1 compression with thin rings & not the best combustion chamber (from a performance standpoint as its designed for emissions).

The lower plugs are a real PITA but it's not too bad if you're just having to deal with them once every 100k miles. Just use quality plugs so you don't have to get back in there early.

I haven't personally seen coils arc but have seen a wire arc near the mounting clip. I just plan on wires at the same time as the plugs.

Mine won't see any more 5w/20. Currently running 5w/40 as well but also wouldn't have issue running a good 5w/30. I'm currently running HPL but have the same Delo as you in my little GMC Canyon & wouldn't hesitate to run it in the F150. I've always had good results with Chevron products, even if some of them are a bit overpriced at times (this current Delo blowout and rebates most certainly are not in the overpriced category lol).

Sure hope your son enjoys his new truck once everything is sorted from the PO's neglect.

I bought him a set of NGK Ruthenium plugs that have pointed electrodes on both the positive and negative side. Some say those are better because the wasted spark is reverse polarity and fires backwards.
New coils are going on next week. The truck sure looks better with the 295/65R20 Toyo CTs that were on 180x8 wheels hiding in the crawl space. We found some 20x10 170s on sale for half price.