Does the 3.5 Ecoboost need a Motorcraft

[B1974]

Ford specifies Motorcraft filters because those are the filters it has control of over the manufacturing quality.

If Ford said Brand X oil filter is approved for use in your vehicle and then Brand X is sold or is losing money and changes their filter to a subpar spec now Ford has a problem.

I think Purolator makes most Motorcraft filters? Correct me if I'm wrong on this.

 

[MacManus99]

You will be fine with about any filter you find in stores. I will say however, you can purchase, with shipping costs factored in a 12 pack of Motorcraft FL500S filters from RockAuto for about $4.80 per filter. That will fit a 3.5 EcoBoost and they are the same metric thread as all Gen IV and above GM LS filters if the '13 Silverado in your signature is still a vehicle in your fleet. They fit all LS. Only difference is FL500S is a tad longer.

I have been running the FL500S on the 3.0L V6 in the Escape and the 6.0L LS engine in my Silverado. They're more than enough filter for my 5k ish OCI.

 

[ZeeOSix]

This is the only thing Ford says in the owner's manual about oil filters. SAE USCAR-36 is not hard to meet.

 

[ryster]

Ford doesn't say in any documentation that it's required to use Motorcraft filters for warranty purposes or anything else. If they did, Ford would have to give them out for free per the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.

Under the Act, they would only have to give them out for free while the vehicle is still under warranty. The OP said their vehicle has 125K miles on it, so the warranty is long gone. In that case, even if Ford required Motorcraft filters, they wouldn't have to provide them for free since there is no longer a warranty tied to it.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Under the Act, they would only have to give them out for free while the vehicle is still under warranty. The OP said their vehicle has 125K miles on it, so the warranty is long gone. In that case, even if Ford required Motorcraft filters, they wouldn't have to provide them for free since there is no longer a warranty tied to it.

Correct about that only applies if the vehicle was still under warranty.

 

[dlundblad]

Dad has this engine in his Taurus. I haven’t heard a difference at startup with either MC, Fram Ultra, or WIX. Currently a fan of the Ultra for either 2 or 3x OCI’s and shorter 5k-ish intervals. Fast and easier.

The 6.2 on the other had seems a bit pickier and can be pretty vocal on just about anything.