Break in...kind of

[stuka]

He put 15w40 in it because he said he thought that's what I asked for. The guy I bought the vehicle from ran 15w40 in it, I mentioned it to the builder and he put it in when he finished the build. He preferred 5w20. The manual and fill cap say 5w30, that's why I went with that.

It has no cats. No PCV, no EGR.

 

[GSL]

Don't know how many miles you have on it now, but the break-in procedure should have been with a light weight multigrade mineral base oil for the first 5 to 10k miles. It is true that with full synthetic oils, that there is not enuff "friction" to properly seat the parts & that is why normal mineral base oils are more desirable for the break-in period.
If you now have too many miles racked up, do not try to use thicker oils as they would cause much more problems then trying to stem your excess oil usage.

 

[stuka]

I have less than 500 mies on it. there is a lot of idling though. due to tuning, I have to data log at idle, at times for extended periods. 30 min+ at times.

That sounds like what the builder told me. Several thousand miles on non-synthetic. It may not help, I guess we shall see. My original question stands though. Which oil and which weight?

 

[DuckRyder]

If it calls for 5/30 then I would run that. I personally would probably use Mobil 5000 or Special, only because I’m partial to Mobil, it doesn’t much matter what brand it is as long as it is reputable.

With that many miles plus idle time, I’d run it hard (as hard as I was comfortable with on the current tune)...

Do you know what kind of rings were used?

 

[stuka]

I don't know the material of the rings. He said he used sealed power brand.

 

[Nick1994]

How do you have less than 500 miles on it and it's out of warranty?

 

[stuka]

Because the build was two years ago. It took me that long to obtain accessory parts to finish getting it together. His warranty is 12 Mos, 12K miles, whichever comes first.

 

[PimTac]

That warranty should start when you take delivery. Just my opinion.

 

[DuckRyder]

It appears sealed power only offers moly rings for the 5.4 modular...

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted By: stuka
He put 15w40 in it because he said he thought that's what I asked for. The guy I bought the vehicle from ran 15w40 in it, I mentioned it to the builder and he put it in when he finished the build. He preferred 5w20.


HUGE red flag right there. If he knows what's best for his own builds,why didn't he use it?

 

[stuka]

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Originally Posted By: stuka
He put 15w40 in it because he said he thought that's what I asked for. The guy I bought the vehicle from ran 15w40 in it, I mentioned it to the builder and he put it in when he finished the build. He preferred 5w20.


HUGE red flag right there. If he knows what's best for his own builds,why didn't he use it?

Fair question. The person that built it was previously the engine tech at a Ford shop. The person I bought the vehicle from was the service manager at the same shop. I didn't know any of this going into the build, wouldn't have made much difference really if I had. The shop has the reputation as one of the better ones in my area. The guy only does Ford. He bills himself as a dealership alternative. Trained by Ford, 15 years Ford experience, only works of Ford's etc.

At any rate, when I bought the vehicle from the service manager and he told me he ran 15w40 in it all the time, I asked why. His response was "It's a machinists secret and all Ford techs do in their own modular motors." I wasn't convinced, so I didn't. I told the builder what I was told, he said "yeah, that's pretty much true." Therefore, I assume, he assumed that's what I wanted. Even though I told him I drained it and filled it with 5w30 as soon as I got it home. Being that the build ended up taking so long, he may have not remembered everything and just done it. After the leaks and his repair, he had no qualms putting 5w20 back into it.

 

[stuka]

Originally Posted By: PimTac
That warranty should start when you take delivery. Just my opinion.


It did. I drove it home, like I said about 25 miles. That was two years ago. I was doing other things to it. New super charger, pulled the clutch fan and added E fans, headers, off road pipes, new inter cooler set up... just different modifications. It took me a while to get all that together and installed. Then had to start tuning it. That took time and is still going on. Two years has passed doing all that since I drove it out of his shop after the build.

 

[Tman220]

If the hone is good, plasma coated rings should seal up pretty quick. I have plasma coated rings in my build and the rings sealed up pretty quick, but I also used a lot of the go pedal during break in.

This isn't an oil issue, 15W40 wont magically get you down to even 1000 Miles per quart. This issue seems like its mechanical just from the vast amount of oil its burning. Although, it has done a ton of idling in the last year which isn't really a good thing when breaking in new engine built for boost.

You really don't have many options, I would get the tune dialed in asap and go out and beat the [censored] out of it. Full boost, full vacuum on decel.

At this point your engine will only do one of two things... it will either seal the rings up a little better and reduce consumption, or it won't because something mechanically is wrong with it, and needs to come a part again. (bad news, but true)

Let me repeat though for emphasis This is NOT a oil viscosity issue.

 

[stuka]

Update: Switched oil to 10w30 VR1, have put 441 miles on it, hasn't used a drop. That is quite a change. Either the VR1 is very, very good, or the rings had not seated yet and the higher vis oil made that happen..? Not sure the viscosity is the best for the Ford modular. I was going to try some 5w40 but decided to try the conventional route first.

Any comments or concerns with 10w30 in a 5.4 supercharged Ford motor?

 

[CT8]

Originally Posted By: stuka
Update: Switched oil to 10w30 VR1, have put 441 miles on it, hasn't used a drop. That is quite a change. Either the VR1 is very, very good, or the rings had not seated yet and the higher vis oil made that happen..? Not sure the viscosity is the best for the Ford modular. I was going to try some 5w40 but decided to try the conventional route first.

Any comments or concerns with 10w30 in a 5.4 supercharged Ford motor?
There is no best oil. But if the vr1 is lowering the oil consumption etc. That must be the best.

 

[stuka]

Agreed, for the time being. I'm just wanting to know now if the 10w will be harmful over the called for 5w. I read a lot of stories about how the timing chains/tensioners will all the sudden fly apart if you don't use 5w20. Not going that route, so my choices will be 10w30, or 5w40.

I'm sure it gets hot enough here where it won't hurt. Routinely in the high 90s to low 100s from June to September. More worried about the cold. Can have days in the 20s-30s in winter, or even highs below 0. Just never know.

 

[dblshock]

10/40 synthetic will handle all that.