Fort 5.4 Triton - higher viscosity oil v/s redesigned parts?

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Ok so those familiar with this engine know Ford narrowed the oil passages on the VCT's and roller rockers to supposedly increase flow to other parts of the engine. At the same time, the consensus is to go to 5W30 on this engine, particularly if you've needed timing and/or valvetrain parts.

My curiosity is, is 5W30 the best choice given the smaller passages, particularly in the rockers? The holes in the rockers are I'd say half the size of the original design. If 5w20 was spec'd for the original parts, albeit the engine had oil flow problems BUT that was blamed on weak oil pump and tensioners, then shouldn't one stick with 5w20 especially with the new smaller passage VCT's and rockers?

Now I know there are plenty of guys out there with 300k on engines they claim to have run 40 and 50 oils in, and also those with high miles claimed to have run on a 20 so I know of the cases for either way. I just wonder what ya'll think.
 
5w-20 will never protect as a 5W-30 will. Why has Ford move away from 5W-30 in many of their heavier duty applications?
 
The Schaeffer million mile van with the 5.4 was run on 15w-40 at 8000 mile intervals for its entire life.


Pretty sure that 5.4 was a 2V, not a VCT engine. Cold flow would be the only thing stopping me from running 15W40 in a 2V (although I'm sure MPGs would take a hit ).
 
@Silver, I've wondered this exact thing. I watched the vid where FTM discusses the smaller holes in the redesigned roller followers, and of courses he has also previously advocated for 5W-30 in the 3V's. However I'm not aware of him addressing how the two (updated smaller holes and his older recommendations) interact in his opinion.

I personally am not going to worry about it. I have almost all the parts to do a timing set on our '08 and once I've got the Melling HV pump and newer followers in there I plan to run 5W-20 primarily because I am swimming in 5W-20 from VME and RGT clearances plus more....
 
Oh and FWIW I'm presently running 10W-40 and maybe a hint of 20W-50 in our '08 to stop chain slap.

Pick your poison: potentially insufficient flow (esp on our Colo mornings-- I try not to think about it!!) or chain slap just off hot idle. I personally hate to think about what that chain's chewing on when it whips around in there.

Of course it's a false choice because the answer should be behind Door #3: stop driving the vehicle and fix it!! Problem is, life gets in the way (shrug)
 
If those oil holes are too small for a 5W30 at operating temperature, then they are too small for any oil for the first 15 minutes (or so) of operation, and too small for any oil in cold weather.
I guess that depends on how you define "too small". I mean I get no startup noise with 5W30 but is wear compromised over say the next 100k miles.
 
5w-20 will never protect as a 5W-30 will. Why has Ford move away from 5W-30 in many of their heavier duty applications?
I think they went the other way on the 6.2. Starting with its introduction in '11 they were saying 5W20 but at some point changed their tune and said 5W30. I don't know if they ever officially issued a TSB about previous years....I think it was just all of sudden the 6.2 was calling out 5W-30 on new stuff rolling off the line
 
Not sure if it adds any value to this thread, but I run Euro 5w-40 in my 5.4 3v engine. Starts up and runs just fine. Even in the freezing cold. Also, I noticed that the engine is overall much quieter and smoother with the Euro 5w-40 as opposed to when I used 5w-20. It's especially noticeable on the highway. After I do the "bulletproof" update to the engine, I will continue to run my Euro 5w-40 oil in it.
 
Chain and cam phaser life will be improved with sufficient viscosity and sufficiently frequent OCI’s.

the improved parts do nothing with regard to chain life. Only viscosity and clean oil can fix that issue. FWIW, chains last longest in a bath of 30 viscosity oil.

it is no surprise there have been a rash of worn chains across many brands.
 
Chain and cam phaser life will be improved with sufficient viscosity and sufficiently frequent OCI’s.

the improved parts do nothing with regard to chain life. Only viscosity and clean oil can fix that issue. FWIW, chains last longest in a bath of 30 viscosity oil.

it is no surprise there have been a rash of worn chains across many brands.
Well, the improved parts the OP specifically asked about do nothing to improve chain life. But the hydraulic tensioners have been re-worked (or at least their seals) at least once if not more.

Me, I'm in the Neanderthal camp of all-metal-ratcheting-tensioners-GUD and I've already got the the Ford Racing units sitting on my bench.
 
At 4:00 here FTM shows the tensioners and talks about how the new seals are just fine. At 5:00 he says he's still a believer in the plastic tensioners.

This is perhaps the only area where I'm not following his advice. I'd practically follow him off a cliff when it comes to 3V Fords but here I just can't get myself to reinstall the plastic strictly-hydraulic tensioners. I've handled both and the all-metal ratcheting with "grenade pins" just make more sense to my lizard brain.

 
At 4:00 here FTM shows the tensioners and talks about how the new seals are just fine. At 5:00 he says he's still a believer in the plastic tensioners.

This is perhaps the only area where I'm not following his advice. I'd practically follow him off a cliff when it comes to 3V Fords but here I just can't get myself to reinstall the plastic strictly-hydraulic tensioners. I've handled both and the all-metal ratcheting with "grenade pins" just make more sense to my lizard brain.


I get where you're at with that.. I'm opposite it though. I had read from one remanufacturer that the iron ones can lead premature guide failure due to too much pressure being exerted on the guides?? So I gambled on the new design plastic tensioners being okay with the hv/hp oil pump and 5w30 in mine.
 
Ok so those familiar with this engine know Ford narrowed the oil passages on the VCT's and roller rockers to supposedly increase flow to other parts of the engine. At the same time, the consensus is to go to 5W30 on this engine, particularly if you've needed timing and/or valvetrain parts.

My curiosity is, is 5W30 the best choice given the smaller passages, particularly in the rockers? The holes in the rockers are I'd say half the size of the original design. If 5w20 was spec'd for the original parts, albeit the engine had oil flow problems BUT that was blamed on weak oil pump and tensioners, then shouldn't one stick with 5w20 especially with the new smaller passage VCT's and rockers?

Now I know there are plenty of guys out there with 300k on engines they claim to have run 40 and 50 oils in, and also those with high miles claimed to have run on a 20 so I know of the cases for either way. I just wonder what ya'll think.
I wonder how Carbon Steel here did so well using plain ole’ MS5K 5w20. Blasphemy! Or truth? It’s truth
 
I get where you're at with that.. I'm opposite it though. I had read from one remanufacturer that the iron ones can lead premature guide failure due to too much pressure being exerted on the guides?? So I gambled on the new design plastic tensioners being okay with the hv/hp oil pump and 5w30 in mine.
That's the theory -- during high RPMs they can "click" out too far and then hold the chains too tight.

In playing with the design I find this entirely possible but unlikely. They have a good bit of float between clicks and still use oil pressure to pump up, eventually extending far enough to hit the next tooth but can then still relax a little when pressure drops due to the floating pawl.

I dunno, the guys who designed the new tensioners made 3x my annual salary (then again so did the guys who built delaminating TFI modules) so they're probably the better choice. OTOH how often do you hear of 2V dying because of tensioners??

Also on the NA 3.5 in the Edge/CX-9 Ford was still using the all metal ratcheting tensioners during this era.....but that may not prove much as it's an entirely different engine AND much shorter chains.
 
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