Originally Posted By: Jim Allen
A lot of needless hand-wringing going on here IMO.
1) The likelihood of any engine failure is not great. The odds are with you.
2) If you use a quality oil, like the XL, and in the recommended viscosity (something I do think is important), changed at a reasonable (or at least justifiable) interval, the likelihood of a failure that can be attributed to the oil is almost non-existant.
3) Most engine failures have easily discernible causes. If it isn't anything directly connected to the lubricant, as it is much of the time, dealers don't often feel the need to dig deeper. Many failures are weak links that dealers see over and over. They don't fight that stuff.
4) Most warranty problems start as dealer problems. Incompetence. CYA. Stupidity. Childish control issues. Whatever. A good dealer will work with you. Work to find a good dealer.
5) In the end, they have to prove it was the lubricant that caused the problem. That's pretty hard to do most often and probably not worth FOMOCO's time, unless it's clear you've been using some of that garbage PQIA has been exposing lately or forgetting to change it.
6) If, despite all the odds being in your favor, fate decrees the most unfortunate combination of circumstances, a stiff fight from a justified owner is often enough to turn the tables. If you aren't up to that, then by all means follow the RECOMMENDATIONS in the manual to the letter and in abject terror. Strangely, in my time at dealers, the people who fought the hardest were usually the people who were the least justified (neglect or abuse) in receiving any goodwill. They often got their way... unfortunately.
Originally Posted By: Jim Allen
I worked at more than five dealers and didn't see much "ball-busting" that wasn't justified (like a guy that went 30K on the factory fill yet demanded a new engine). Ultimately, if "they" want to bust your balls, "they" can tell you you are 10 miles over the OCI and say "tough luck." You'll have to fight that just as hard as if they find you are running some non recommended (but we will assume an otherwise quality) oil. That's why I was talking about lousy dealership people, because it often starts there. Or with power-mad district reps with delusions of grandeur.
Some "recommendations" are purely about profit (who pays the vig to get on the list, or we want to sell OUR branded product) and some (a minority) are about legitimate unique requirements that should be heeded. It's up to YOU, the owner, to know the differences and the details if you decide to vary from the factory.
Beyond legitimate requirements, are you married to some brand? Or to an API Starburst? How can we be? More oils don't have them than do and often it's merely an issue of paying for the certification or not rather than the oil not being "good enough."
It's all moderation. If you are trying write some new book about oil and maintenance and stretching the factory recommendations way out of shape, and a failure occurs as a result, YOU should bear the burden of that. That's fair and right. If a person thinks an OE should bail them out of their own bad choices or mistakes, I see that as a character issue.
So, sure, it could happen that if a failure occurs and you have Amsoil XL in your crankcase (and they figure that out) they might look for an excuse to deny a claim. The engine might also fall off a jetliner and land on your house. The odds of it happening are tiny in either case. People and companies are usually reasonable. Unreasonableness pops up in all aspects of life and we need to be ready for it but not in terror of it.
Me, I'm going to learn, use common sense, make my (hopefully correct) choices and live with them, not writhing in needless terror over some remotely possible warranty issue.
If it comes down to "use the factory oil or else" then Helen may as well shut down BITOG and we all should go home and shut up... except when the OE Mfrs (or the Govt.) tell us to bark.
Jim Allen,
I applaud you sir! Thanks for your time to post your thoughts, as they reflect my thoughts exactly.
Jazzcat,
You and I have been round and round about this in the Mustang Forums, and Jim has summed it up nicely in my opinion. In fact, I look at it more than an opinion. No way Ford can deny your warranty after reviewing a used oil analysis that returns numbers that are well within specifications for that engine.
In conclusion, I still feel you are too worried about this. There are other "worries" for your car other than oil. Many of the mods common mustang owners install, like a PCM reflash "tune", has the ability to do MORE damage than a quality engine oil could ever do in the sump.
