f150 oil grade 10w30 good or bad? HELP!!!

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i have a ford f150 4.6 i know that ford recomends 5w20 oil, but i have been using 5w30 castrol high mileage i like it but since i have no oil leaks i wanted something different and better .so yesterday i went and bought castrol syntec blend 10w30!!!its a little more expensive but not as bad as a full syntetic.well my question is im i going to messup my engine by putting 10w30 in the 4.6?some how the engine feels smother and stronger with 10w30.also i think the part synthetic in the oil its better than plain dino.i wonder how many f150(1997 and up)people here are using 10w30?or im i the only one? by the way i live in n.c. where the winter its not that bad.
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P.S. i wish i could do a poll on f150 owners on what grade oil they are using and brand hopefully some one can help set that up since im kind of new here on this site tks
 
I have an '01 with the 5.4 in it. Up to 28k miles I was running dino 5w20 like they (Ford) recommend. At that point I switched to Amsoil 5w30. I did a UOI at the 6 month mark and all was good. Will change it out this December...
 
Have an '01 f-150 4.6 module. 89,000 miles have run nothing but Valvoline 10w30 since the day I
drove it home. OC every 2500 mi. Use Motor Craft filters. We can discuss this and that all night long , but the 4.6 has a piston slap problem and demands good lubrication.I honestly believe the 5w20 is a great oil in certain applications but not in the 4.6 Dino is the way to go in this motor and that is just my opinion,no one elses. My truck has no leaks does not burn, is just as tight as the day I took it home.5w20 in my opinion is all about CAFE...
David.
 
quote:

Originally posted by finis:
Have an '01 f-150 4.6 module. 89,000 miles have run nothing but Valvoline 10w30 since the day I
drove it home. OC every 2500 mi. Use Motor Craft filters. We can discuss this and that all night long , but the 4.6 has a piston slap problem and demands good lubrication.I honestly believe the 5w20 is a great oil in certain applications but not in the 4.6 Dino is the way to go in this motor and that is just my opinion,no one elses. My truck has no leaks does not burn, is just as tight as the day I took it home.5w20 in my opinion is all about CAFE...
David.


im with you in that i too think 5w20 its just to thin!!!i think that our trucks been so heavy, need a thicker oil .anyway im using castol syntec blend 10w30 with motorcraft oil filters i think its a god combo.im going to wait and do an uoa at around 3k
 
10W-30 will work fine. I think the only negative effect would be a very small decrease in fuel economy.
Is it still on warranty? If that was the case I'd stick with the manufacturer's recommendations just to avoid any hassle if future problems occur.
 
I think 10w30 is thin enough, I use it in my F150. I just put Quaker State in because it was on sale. The motor is a little noisier with the QS so I'll go back to Motorcraft or TropArctic next oil change.
Joe
 
Check the UOAs and you'll quickly discover that the dino 30 weights shear down to a 20 weight. So for those who believe that 20 weight is too thin, you're fooling youselves by using 30 weight. If you really want a 30 weight dino, better use 10w40 since it shears down to a 30 weight.

Use the Motorcraft 5w20. It is almost a 30 weight to begin with, and maintains that high 20 weight viscosity throughout the Ford recommended OCI.
 
I run 10w-30 or 5w-30 synthetics in my 2001 F150. Different motor though, I have the 4.2L V6. 5w-20 weight was hard to find when I bought the truck to I switched to 30 weights and never went back (except for a run of 5w-20 Royal Purple).

10w-30 will be fine in your engine.
 
5.4l 01 'Screw 4x4 running M1 5W-30 in the winter and 10W-30/15W-50 summer. Switched it out when I got it at 24K miles from Dad. Dad used what ever was on sell at Wallyworld. Did a UOA on it, nothing but great. No leaks, no drips, no runs and no errors.
 
The Ford 4.6 & 5.4 modular engines are usually gentle on oil. They run well on Motorcraft 5W-20 as well as 5W-30 and to a degree 10W-30. If you don't want to use a true synthetic oil then I still believe that the Motorcraft or even Havoline and Penzoil 5W-20's would give great service in all but maybe very extreme conditions. And in those conditions you should definitely not be using a dino 5W-30 or 10W-30. They are going to break down rapidly to a 20 weight oil and leave you with deposits and less protection than a Ford spec'd 5W-20 that has to meet much tougher standards so as NOT to break down as easily. In cooler and cold climates the Motorcraft 5W-20 has excellant cold pumpability and will get to the engine wear components much quicker than dino 5W-30 and WAY faster than dino 10W-30. Mobil 1 5W-30 has a slighty better cold pumpabilty rate than the 5W-20's but it costs around $4.50/qt versus $1.42. The Mobil 1 10W-30 cold pumpability rates is not as "fast" but except in all but extreme cold it should ok, you might get some extra engine noise at start up and extra wear because of the slower oil flow though. If your driving is anywhere near "normal" as described in your owner's manual and you do your oil changes in the 3,000-5,000 range the Ford spec'd 5W-20's will suite your needs fine. The rest of the truck will fall apart around the engine first
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. If you beat the crap out of the vehicle(mf150's buddies come to mind
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) then by all means use a high quality true synthetic oil. Or if you want to go with extended OCI's over 5,000 miles.

Whimsey
 
2003 F150 SCrew 4.6L...fabulous truck...I've ran 10w30 Mobil 1 in it for two OCI's when I first got it and it ran fine. I avoided the 5w20 due to the alarmist hand-wringing I saw on various bulletin boards.

After viewing the UOA's on this site and listening to the astute commentary that followed them, I am now using Motorcraft 5w20 with 5,000 mile OCI's and not losing one minute of sleep over it. I also have six Havoline 5w20 bottles on the shelf waiting their turn thanks to MNgopher's posts. Based on what I've seen so far, the Motorcraft 5w20 might just be the best oil made for the 4.6 bar none.
 
10w30 will work fine. Lots of people have run these motors a long ways with no issues on 10w30.

Is it any better? If its not a synthetic, as others have posted it will likely shear to one degree or another towards a 20 weight anyways. In that sense, I'll take the oil that maintains itself better over the long run.

If it makes anyone feel any better, I'm about 3500 miles into a run of Rotella T Syn 5w40. No, I haven't turned my back on thin oils!
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. Truck runs fine, clatters a bit more on startup, and the butt meter says its more sluggish. MPG's are down too. The UOA's will tell the tale.

Its likely Havoline 5w20 will be put back in a few changes. Tough to beat a 1.29 a quart for a 5w20 thats good for over 6000 miles, even in the winter!
 
I have run the 10w30 in both my fords and it works ok (havoline synthetic and pennzoil dino). My rule of thumb is run the thinnest oil that gets the job done. I switched all my vehicles to mc 5w20 and they seem to like it. I think this oil is a keeper. I use motorcraft or wix filters.
98 expedition 5.4 101,000 miles
98 f150 4.2 six 112,000 miles
02 civic 1.7 ex 43,000
 
Have 10W-30 Mobil 1 in our 97 Lariat 4.6L. Have had 215,000 trouble-free miles, and just got back from a trip in the Sierra-Nevada Mountains.

I run Red Line 5W-30 in my 2003 Mustang GT (4.6L), but as whimsey pointed out...I hang with a group that is unusually hard on GT Stangs
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. One of my pals is running 8 PSI of boost on his 2002 Bullit GT and running 5W-30 Dino with no problems.

either way, you should be fine.
 
I have been using M1 5W30 in my 97 5.4L. I use this year round and it seems to do fine. My next change is going to be my free MaxLife 5W30.
 
quote:

Originally posted by tmorris1:
I have been using M1 5W30 in my 97 5.4L. I use this year round and it seems to do fine. My next change is going to be my free MaxLife 5W30.

As much as I like Maxlife, I think for the 5w30 you might do better with Durablend. According to Valvoline, it has about as much detergent as Maxlife and the MSDS sheets appear to indicate the Maxlife is Group I with about 15% PAO, whereas the Durablend 5w30 is about 60% Group II-III with around 20% Group I. The Durablend 5w30 also has a killer flash point(if that matters) and better cold properties, esp compared to the Max 5w30.


Um ah
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I see now that you got the Maxlife free. Give it a try, but if you continue with Valvoline, also try the Durablend.

[ August 16, 2004, 12:08 PM: Message edited by: TallPaul ]
 
5w30 was recommended in the 4.6 before Ford released the 5w20 spec. so I don't see how a 10w30 could hurt the motor in mild climates. One thought, the current 5w30 Motorcraft now claims to be part synthetic on the back label (the 10w30 does not) and at $1.42/qt. at Walmart, this may be the best deal out there on a 30 weight.
 
I've been running 3,000 miles OCI's with Amsoil 5W-20 and Mobil 1 0W-20 since my 01 5.4L's first oil change. I now have about 20K miles and no issues so far. Just switched to Royal Purple 5W-20 for fun. Seems to be a little quieter than the Mobil 1 under hard acceleration.
 
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