best oil for Ford SOHC 4.6??

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Jan 10, 2004
Messages
86
Location
Shreveport, Louisiana
my first post. already done a lot of reading. just curious to know what would be the best oil that I could buy locally at Wal-Mart or Pep Boys etc etc.

I read the Lucas oil additive story. I was about to try it...glad I didn't.

I live in louisiana. temps in Winter never below 10F , summer rarely above 100F.

I usually use Mobil 1 5W30. my engine has 125,000 and runs pretty strong.


thanks-
Mike Z
 
Mobil 1 IMO.
smile.gif
 
welcome.gif


Well-if you are having success with the Mobil stay with it. 10W-30 might be better choice in your area. But very little difference. What drain interval are you using?? and what is your consumption?? Have you ever done a used oil analysis?? Its one of the most entertaining things in life
grin.gif
 
I change roughly every 3-4000 miles when I am using Mobil. I have never done an oil test.
10-30 is a better weight for my area temps you think?

I forget what I am using at the moment. possibly 0w30. I dont remember now.

I plan on buying some cheap oil this time and after I drain old oil I am going to re-fill with cheap stuff and run it for a little while then drain again and put in the new synthetic. I think my oil is usually a little dirtier than I think it should be considering I use synthetic. I thought the motor should be cleaner if I use synthetic. I did use blend for a while onand off.


Mike
 
It's my understanding that it's hard to tell how clean the engine is by looking at how 'dirty' the oil is. If the oil is dark it means that the oil is doing it's job of holding contaminates in suspension. If it were my vehicle I'd continue to use the Mobil 1.
 
What is the recomended fill for the Mustang Cobra and the Lightning? I would imagine that the best oil for the job would be what is recomended for these applications!
 
My 1997 DOHC asked for 5-30. I switched to M-1 the day after I bought the car (1-200km). Used M-1 5-30 for the whole 35k mi. I owned the car.

I think it's 5-20 right now....
 
The coloration of the oil is meaningless. Many great oils are black very soon. Some may look golden longer. It means nothing.

If you smell gasoline heavily or feel grit, then that is a different story.

Unless you do an analysis, saying an oil is "dirty" really has no bearing.
 
10W30 Mobil 1 (5,000 mile interval) for a 97 F-150 Lariat 4.6L SOHC (206,000 miles on odometer).

5W30 Red Line (5,000 mile intervals) Mustang Premium GT 2003 4.6L SOHC (Can smoke N/A DOHCs off the line!!!) 8,000 miles and counting. Stay away from 5W20, especially if you race.

I'm sold on both Mobil 1 and Red Line products.

Always use your MCFL820S!
 
MZ-Bird, I have an '03 Mazda B4000, same engine as yours. I'm running M1 5w30 and switched to this at 5000 miles. I now have 9500 miles, 4500 on the oil, and it is very dark. My duratec V6 in my wife's van stays much clearer than my brand new V6. I don't think the color means much. I haven't done any testing but plan on 5000 mile changes with this oil.
 
Down again on the 5w20's, huh mf150?

Really nothing wrong at all with any of the 5w20's we've seen to date. My F150 with the 4.6 is now at 96,000 miles and runs 5w20. My old F150 that I sold has 170,000+ on it now, and it runs 5w20 too. It used to run 5w30. It still doesn't use any oil.

If the color of the oil meant something, nobody would use the current versions of Havoline or Chevron, since it goes in nearly as dark as many oils come out. Yes, it is very dark!

Really, if Mobil 1 has worked fine to now, there isn't much reason to change. However, Mobil 1 is essentially overkill for that short of a drain interval, IMHO. I'm currently running dino 5w20 to over a 6,000 mile interval, in COLD weather.
 
quote:

Originally posted by MNgopher:
Down again on the 5w20's, huh mf150?

Really nothing wrong at all with any of the 5w20's we've seen to date. My F150 with the 4.6 is now at 96,000 miles and runs 5w20. My old F150 that I sold has 170,000+ on it now, and it runs 5w20 too. It used to run 5w30. It still doesn't use any oil.

If the color of the oil meant something, nobody would use the current versions of Havoline or Chevron, since it goes in nearly as dark as many oils come out. Yes, it is very dark!

Really, if Mobil 1 has worked fine to now, there isn't much reason to change. However, Mobil 1 is essentially overkill for that short of a drain interval, IMHO. I'm currently running dino 5w20 to over a 6,000 mile interval, in COLD weather.


Yup, I guess so. I just haven't seen anything that makes me comfortable enough to put it in my own vehicle. I certainly wouldn't recommend it to others if I am not comfortable putting it in my own engines. I'll stick with my Red Line 5W30, in the GT, and Mobil 1 10W30, which has been run in our 97 4.6L Lariat for 206,028 trouble free miles.

I'm not denouncing 5W20, because people are going to put it in their engines regardless. To each their own!
 
quote:

Originally posted by mf150:
Yup, I guess so. I just haven't seen anything that makes me comfortable enough to put it in my own vehicle.
Have you looked at any of the UOA threads on the various 5w-20s? If so, please tell me what you saw that made you feel uncomfortable about using them.

Not trying to be a smart a$$ just wondering if there was something in those reports that I didn't catch or understand.

Mikep
 
Correction, I have a 4.0 SOHC. I saw the thread title and saw a 4 and SOHC and somehow missed the .6. Disregard my post as my engine does call for 5w30.
pat.gif
 
quote:

Originally posted by mikep:

quote:

Originally posted by mf150:
Yup, I guess so. I just haven't seen anything that makes me comfortable enough to put it in my own vehicle.
Have you looked at any of the UOA threads on the various 5w-20s? If so, please tell me what you saw that made you feel uncomfortable about using them.

Not trying to be a smart a$$ just wondering if there was something in those reports that I didn't catch or understand.

Mikep
Hey Mike--

I've run Mobil 1 10W30 in my 97 F150 Lariat. When my F150 hit 200,000 miles I had a compression check done. The compression check came back with suprising results: virtually no wear out to the engine! This is the real world proof that makes me comfortable.

UOAs are done in a lab setting, but there are too many variables for me to say with confidence that the viscocity/brand is "the best for my vehicle."

I figure I'll stick with something that I know works with my driving style. For me it hapens to be 10W30 Mobil 1.

There is probably nothing wrong with 5W20, but the fact that Ford came up with it as a recommended viscocity and didn't give us a reason makes me skeptical. I believe Ford's only reason for 5W20 weight oil is for CAFE reasons.

NOTHING mechanically has changed since 97 when 5W30 was recommended, and nothing has changed mechanically in our modular engines sing the early 90s when 10W30 was recommended.

Call me old fasion, but virtually no-compression loss on a 97 Lariat with 206,000+ miles makes me feel one heck of a lot mor ecomfortable than seeing any UOA.
 
quote:

Originally posted by mf150:
I've run Mobil 1 10W30 in my 97 F150 Lariat. When my F150 hit 200,000 miles I had a compression check done. The compression check came back with suprising results: virtually no wear out to the engine! This is the real world proof that makes me comfortable.

Call me old fasion, but virtually no-compression loss on a 97 Lariat with 206,000+ miles makes me feel one heck of a lot mor ecomfortable than seeing any UOA.
Can't argue with that
cheers.gif
. Thanks for explaining your point.

Mikep
 
Ok guys- what is the advantage to running 10W30 over the recomended 5W30? the cars does seem to use a little oil these days. how much? not sure, no more than 1qt per change.


I need to change it this weekend. It is the first weekend I have had off in months. ready to do some maintenance.

10W30 or 5W30??? I need this motor to last while longer so I need the oil that will provide the most wear protection I guess.

I am leaning towards 10W30.....Mobil 1 synthetic
 
I think the M1 10W-30 would be a great choice. In your climate a 5W isn't necessary. M1 10-30 will do better than most 5W dino's anyway in the cold. I wouldn't hesitate to run it.
 
"If the color of the oil meant something, nobody would use the current versions of Havoline or Chevron, since it goes in nearly as dark as many oils come out. Yes, it is very dark!"

That's odd, A couple years ago the stuff was crystal clear, I think Chevron was the clearest oil I had ever seen.

I'm guessing it's the add pack. Just like Pennzoil High Mileage Vehicle oil which, when it first came out, had a more potent additive package ... and a darker color.

Anyway, that's a good point. Red Line goes in very dark and like it or not, you can't say that it's a cheap or cheaply-made oil. Looks can be deceiving.

Anyway, my Dad had a 1994 Grand Marquis with a 4.6L in it. For oil he used "whatever" (often cheapo Mobil Drive Clean) and changed it and the filter "about" every 5,000 miles. The motor was tight up until 60,000 miles when it began to consume oil.

By 80,000 miles this pig GUZZLED oil ... about 1/4 quart per week (250 miles). I've never seen a car this young drink so much oil. After running mostly 5W30 in it, we switched to 10W30 and in the summer even 20W50 but the consumption continued unabated.
freak2.gif


Talking to other owners, I heard it might be the valve seals and supposedly replacing the crappy Ford seals with Fel Pro would fix the problem. Dad didn't want to bother.

He kept the car until 132,000 miles when it was running very poorly. We had done all the obvious stuff like new ignition parts, fuel filter, etc ... but still we couln't sort it out and he refused to take it to a real mechanic, opting to trade it in instead.

He has 60,000 on his 2000 Grand Marquis and is just beginning to consume oil. This thing has had a diet of Chevron and Pennzoil from day 1.

--- Bror Jace
 
My wife inherited a 94 Town Car in 02, it had 153K on it and ran very well with maybe a quart of oil used in 2k. Her dad had used penzoil 5w30 and changed religiosly at 3k intervals. I changed it over to Mobil 1 5W30 and now at nearly 170K the oil use seems to have gone way down. I wanted the Mobil because he warm garaged the car and we leave it outside. It seems to like the M1 as it runs quite at the start on cold mornings.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top