Ford engine failures in HOT ambient with 5W20

[EyesofThunder]

My sister in law is a fleet manager and they are seeing 5-6 engine failures a year, only in Ford 4.6 and 5.4L engines (Expeditions mainly). GM and Toyota vehicles are not seeing failures.

We believe they are running the 5W20 petroleum oil and where these are at, they idle 24/7 and see ambient temps in the summer of 130-150F.

I am very concerned that they are seeing too high oil temps for a 5W20.

Does anyone know what Ford recommends for oil weights for 100F up ambient?

 

[Nate1979]

Yikes. Don't those engines have nannies to cut back power when the oil temp gets too hot for the oil to handle? If not why not just run thicker oil? Problem solved.

 

[Drew99GT]

ambient temps of 130 to 150f??? The highest temp ever recorded on Earth is 134f; what are these, police cars in Death Valley?

 

[Swift101]

Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
ambient temps of 130 to 150f??? The highest temp ever recorded on Earth is 134f; what are these, police cars in Death Valley?


That ambient temp could be accurate. My OBD2 port iPhone dongle always shows higher temps than my car thermometer does when I idle.

 

[John_K]

Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
ambient temps of 130 to 150f??? The highest temp ever recorded on Earth is 134f; what are these, police cars in Death Valley?


Temperatures measured directly on the ground may exceed air temperatures by 30 to 50 °C.[2] A ground temperature of 84 °C (183.2 °F) has been recorded in Port Sudan, Sudan.[3] A ground temperature of 93.9 °C (201 °F) was recorded in Furnace Creek, Death Valley, California, USA on 15 July 1972; this may be the highest natural ground surface temperature ever recorded.[4]

 

[Kool1]

I had an 03 Mustang Cobra with the 4.6 that called for 5w20. The engine was always on the hot side as the supercharger was quite a strain. I installed a smaller pulley on the supercharger so the extra boost worked the engine quite hard. After speaking with SVT, Ford's special vehicle team, they told me that I should consider 5w30 oil as the high rpms and extra heat generated could possibly benefit from the thicker viscosity oil. I ran the 5w20 and switched to the thicker oil a few thousand miles later. The 5w30 quieted down the engine a little at idle. Other than that I had no problems. I sold the car with about 10,000 miles on it and the next owner now has over 150,000 miles on it. He runs 5w30 and never had a major engine problem.

 

[PandaBear]

I'd run 10w40 at that temp.

 

[Ramblejam]

5-6 failures a year?

This is an issue for corporate, not a bunch of people on a forum that are going on nothing more than guesswork and theory.

Call Ford. Period. 1-800-34-Fleet

 

[UNC151]

I have towed in temperatures up to 117F using 5w20 and 0w20 with a 5.4L with no issues whatsoever. What types of engine failures are these? Are they absolutely oil related failures?

 

[QuietPortage]

Is this a large police department in an extremely hot place? What failures are taking place?

Need more info!

 

[Merkava_4]

No surprise to me.

 

[Kawiguy454]

I don't think its ambient air temp but ambient temp a foot over the hot pavement. My 4.6 loves 15-50 in phoenix 115 degree heat. 5W-anything is not the nectar of the gods some would like to believe it is here.

 

[UNC151]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
No surprise to me.

Oh, please!

 

[demarpaint]

This should be good.

 

[NHGUY]

Chevy Vegas survived the desert in a 1975 "test" run,and those engines were fragile as all get out.Must have used 20w50 oil....

 

[Deltona_Dave]

Sounds like the vehicles are not SSV package (Special Service Vehicle). They are outfitted with oil coolers, etc for Police and severe duty applications. Our fleet of patrol cars run 5W-20 or 5w30 with no problems. In Central Florida with 95 degree temps almost year round. K-9 vehicle that idle more than they drive, no failures yet. These are in interceptor SUV (Ford Explorers). You could try a 10w-XX.

Dave

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: Ramblejam
5-6 failures a year?

This is an issue for corporate, not a bunch of people on a forum that are going on nothing more than guesswork and theory.

Call Ford. Period. 1-800-34-Fleet

Completely agree.

 

[Wolf359]

Does the ambient temperature really matter when the oil at operating temperature is way hotter than that?

 

[stchman]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
No surprise to me.

They should be running 10w30. Problem is that all the varnish 10w30 causes.

 

[Leo99]

Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Originally Posted By: Ramblejam
5-6 failures a year?

This is an issue for corporate, not a bunch of people on a forum that are going on nothing more than guesswork and theory.

Call Ford. Period. 1-800-34-Fleet

Completely agree.


You mean the "experts" on here shouldn't pontificate about viscosity issues without even knowing what types of engine failures were experienced or if the engines even had the same type of failure? Considering the ambient temperatures aren't even accurate and we have no other information to rely on.