96 Taurus SHO

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SinisterK9

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Hi all. I am new to the forums, but have been lurking for a few weeks trying to educate myself a little bit. Mainly learning how much of what I was brought up on was simply a myth regarding motor oil.

Anyway, on to my question. I have a 1996 Taurus SHO. These cars have the Ford/Yamaha 3.4L V8 which is an interesting engine. Currently the car has 130K on the clock. I plan on keeping this car for many years to come, to include rebuilding when the time comes. Right now, I am running M1 5w30 with a Motorcraft Filter. The suggested weight is 5w20. The engine still runs very smooth with no problems or noises.

I am looking to change to one of the following oils based on what I've been reading, and just plain personal preference: AMSoil, Royal Purple, Redline, Valvoline Maxlife, And a change in filter to either Wix, K&N, or AMSoil. Based on the choices, I was looking for some recommendations.
I was also looking for recommendations on oil weight. Should I stick with factory spec 5w20, or am I fine with 5w30, or maybe even something else.

I live in Mississippi which is basically sub-tropic. The car is a daily driver, that also doubles as my hobby auto cross car maybe 3-4 times per year. So at least 4 times per year, the car is driven extremely hard. Thanks for the time with my fairly long post.

K9
 
First off,
welcome2.gif
to BITOG

If your not having any oil consumption problems with the Mobil 1 and want to switch to one of the other brands listed, I would recommend the following.

Either the Amsoil 0W-30 or Amsoil 5W-30, and I would recommend the Amsoil EaO oil filter if they make one to fit the SHO engine. I would not worry about using a 5W-20 with those miles on the car and especially since you have been using a 5W-30 already.
 
I use and really like redline.

A good synthetic motor oil will be fine.

Any brand you listed will work great.


I would use a 5w30.
 
I know a little about these engines.

First off, do you have the cams welded? You surely know about the defective cams that the '96-'99 SHO engines have. If you are not familiar with this, do a Google on "SHO Ford cam problems".

If you plan on rebuilding this engine in the future, buy your replacement parts now before they become unavailable.

A replacement block from Ford lists for about $15K, so you don't want a cam failure on these engines.

Occasionally you can pick up a replacement block on ebay pretty cheap.

As for the oil question, the factory recommendation will do fine and a synthetic will be even better.
 
I did not realize the recommended oil was a 5W-20 for that engine. As far as a syn oil how long do plan to push your oil change intervals? How hot does your oil temps get during Autocrossing?
 
I would move the Mobil 1 5w30 to a 10w30 High Mileage Mobil 1 oil and a decent filter like Wix or even a Mobil 1 filter or Fram extended guard filter. Stay with what you have and try 7,500 mile OCI's.


My 2 cents....
 
Thanks for the welcome, and all the helpful info thus far.

Right now, I am changing at 5K. That does bring up a question about intervals. For those that suggested a particular type of oil, what interval do you recommend real world, versus what is suggested on the bottle. From the factory, my car suggest every 5K. I only do 5K now because I am using a synthetic, versus 3K with dino. I have read you can do very long term drains with certain types of AMSoil for example, up to 25K for hard driving, but I just can't see actually leaving oil in my car that long. I feel much more comfortable in the 5K range. Am I changing too often?

SteveS--I don't have an aftermarket oil gauge, but so far the car has stayed reasonably cool during the auto cross. The runs aren't that long. Only about 2 minutes per with plenty of sit time in between. But as mentioned, they are hard runs.

Kruse--Yes, I am aware of the cam welds, but no I haven't gotten it yet, or at least verified if it was done. Then again, I haven't had the car that long at all. But I am soon making the drive to Doug Lewis at Ford Performance Specialist (one of the foremost SHO specialist) to get it welded along with a few other goodies.

EDIT: Sorry CarX, I just saw your suggestion on OCI after I already wrote my reply.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: LargeCarManX2
I would move the Mobil 1 5w30 to a 10w30 High Mileage Mobil 1 oil and a decent filter like Wix or even a Mobil 1 filter or Fram extended guard filter.


Sinister, I want to start by telling you I'm jealous of your SHO! I've wanted one of those since I was a little kid, as there's been two Tauruses in the family. Unfourtunately, both were the low-performance wagon versions. Still like all Tauruses though.

I would disagree with LargeCarManX2's advice on the higher viscosity oil... you're running thicker then the original 5W-20.
I would assume you take care of the vehicle because you autocross your DD... thus the high-mileage isnt necessary either.

In terms of brands? I would go AMS from your choices, then M1, and as Spartuss suggested, check Pennzoil Platinum as well. They are all great lubes as far as I can see. I currently run M1 in all of my vehicles, but AMS seems to produce stellar results in everything I've seen.

Like Kruse says, have the cams been pinned or welded?

Are you sending your oil out for analysis (UOAs)?

and again, Welcome to the board!
-Ian
 
Originally Posted By: SinisterK9
I have read you can do very long term drains with certain types of AMSoil for example, up to 25K for hard driving....


Some Amsoil (single noun) motor oils can go up to 15K on hard driving. Not 25K. Of the two oils I recommended only the SSO is a long drain oil.

5K might be a bit short, but you really should do a UOA before the conversation gets too deep.
 
Just going by the owners manual in my car. Again, I've only owned the car a short time, and don't use 5w20. Maybe it's a typo, or maybe I simply misread it. Either way, I'll go out to the car and check it again tomorrow.
 
Originally Posted By: Pablo
Originally Posted By: SinisterK9
I have read you can do very long term drains with certain types of AMSoil for example, up to 25K for hard driving....


Some Amsoil (single noun) motor oils can go up to 15K on hard driving. Not 25K. Of the two oils I recommended only the SSO is a long drain oil.

5K might be a bit short, but you really should do a UOA before the conversation gets too deep.


Gotcha. I re-read your link to the 0w30, I was reading the filter portion.

"Normal Service(3) – Up to 35,000 miles or one year, whichever comes first.
• Severe Service(4) – Up to 17,500 miles or one year, whichever comes first.
• Replace AMSOIL Ea oil filter at the time of oil change up to 25,000 miles or one year, whichever comes first (other brands at standard OEM* intervals)".
 
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
i really want to know where you are getting the 5w20 thing from. i have the FSM for that exact vehicle, and it clearly states 5w30 or 10w30.


Ok, for some reason, I can't edit my last post about this, so I have to start another one to answer. I didn't feel like waiting till tomorrow to check so I went to the car and retrieved the manual. The Maintenance Schedule book makes no reference whatsoever to any type of oil, only the interval. The owners manual makes two separate references. The one section on viscosity only mentions 5w30. Separately, the section that provides a matrix for all vital fluids makes reference to both 5w30 and 10w30, BUT these are specifically recommended for the Vulcan and Duratec V-6's only. There is NO mention of any kind to the 3.4L V8 with reference to oil. I triple checked it. But the SHO is mentioned several times in the manual for other things from electrical to transmission, but not in the oil section.

So, I had to look through all my research material and saved websites on the car to try and remember where I got the info of 5w20 from (thinking it was from the manual). One, I found some of the documents I got with the car when I bought it, and the guy wrote down Motorcraft 5w20 preferred. Second, I frequent the Taurus Car Club of America site. They specifically say that Motorcraft 5w20 syn blend is recommended for my car.

Now I just checked V8sho.com, and they have a copy a '96 owners manual on PDF document. According to their manual, it has an extra column added onto the matrix for the 3.4L, which does say 5w30. As mentioned, that matrix is not the same as mine.

So after all that, I will assume that I made a mistake with the manufacturer suggested viscosity based on the info I had. But as mentioned, I have not ever used 5w20 in my car. Sorry for the confusion, and thanks for all the suggestions.
 
5/20 was not in use when your car was built. 5/30 was the oil Ford pushed for most everything. Shortly after Ford introduced 5/20 in the year 2000 on the 2001 Escape (most everything else followed shortly) they published a TSB recommending backfitting 5/20 for nearly everything back to 1991. There were a few exclusions, but I don't think any of the SHO engines were among them.

I have a 2003 Escape and it has had a steady diet of 5/20 and probably always will. I have a 98 Contour SVT that started life with 5\30 and can't bring myself to change to 5/20 due to its mileage (245,000). I don't remember how many miles it had when 5/20 was introduced, but the nature of a high performance engine combined with some age has kept me from 5/20 on that engine. This is even though the Escape engine is closely related and other than a slightly larger cylinder bore is nearly identical.
 
I think we're missing a really good oil here - how about GC in that engine?

It's A3 rated, plenty of approvals, shear stable and robust enough to do a 5k OCI with ease! It is 0w rated so the car can go anywhere, anytime.

Easily obtainable and not too terribly priced; heck, I'd have to give it a shot. However, I may be biased.....

Cheers all!
 
Big Jim, thanks for the info. Very informative.

Double Vanos, what is GC? I'm trying to place the abbreviation but I'm drawing a blank. Thanks.
 
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