How bad is my engine? Or need a follow up test to really know.

[Trav]

Lets see the OP want data and seems to want to adhere to the manual. For the Ford 2v 5.4 Triton which is basically the same engine minus 2 cylinders Ford back spec'd it for 5w20 with a tiny asterisk. If towing or GVW exceeds IIRC 8000 pounds 5w30 should be used.
This indicates he is a victim of CAFE specs. Sure there are engines specifically designed to run on xw20, xw16 and xw8 and run perfectly fine on it and live a very long life but this old SOHC lump (not being derogatory it is a good engine) is not one of them from an engineering standpoint.

What it is is an engine that is a multi viscosity engine that can survive on xw20 albeit possibly with extra wear that they don't really care about outside of warranty, in a lighter vehicle like a car the engine may do well on it but not an F350 that sees so towing duty of any sort.
Hey its your engine and you use whatever you want but I didn't pull the Mobil 1 0w40 recommendation out of my backside. This oil have proven many times to perform better through UOA,s and its ability not to only keep engines clean but to clean up an older engine and it does so very well over time, Mobil actually has pictures on their website and substantiates the claim. At around $25 for 5 qts at any Walmart it is a bargain, small oil producers can make a great oil but cant sell it at this price point they just don't/cant produce the sheer volume that Mobil does, in fact many use their base stock from Mobil.

My advice and the end of this thread for me (I cant think of anything else that would be of benefit) is check the PCV system, check for leaks, do a leak down test on the engine, make sure it is reaching operating temp. Make sure all is good then use a higher viscosity oil.
JM2C

 

[Graham Piccinini]

OP, if you want data - start looking at thousands of UOAs on this website. Even with everchanging formulations Mobil1 0w40 has proven to be the flagship oil made by Exxon Mobil. Over the years many people went from manufacturer recommendations of 0w20-5w30 to that oil and saw only benefits across the board as far as oil consumptions, engine cleanliness, and reduced engine wear goes, with no hit to fuel economy. Think about it: thousands of engines with different duty cycles, manufacturers, and climates all saw benefits from just changing to M1 0W40. Not many oils can claim that. And not many oils can pass the demanding tests that M1 0w40 had to go through to wear the certifications that it has. (Research Porsche A40 certification and involved testing procedures.)
This may not be 100% relevant, but a noteworthy point: many race teams across the world pick Mobil1 0w40 for racing, instead of actual Mobil Racing oils. I'll let you look into the reasons behind this. Tons of useful data on this site. Just gotta stop waving the "I got 150 years of experience I know what I'm doing" flag and open your mind to some learning. @Trav is definitely one of those people whos advice is usually backed up by years experience in the field.

Years ago there was a thread (couldn't find it now) where the UOA looked slightly elevated on wear, but not critical. Upon physical inspection with borescope and removal of the oil pan it was quickly found that there was tons of severe cylinder wall scoring, and couple worn out bearings causing extra play in the connecting rod at crank. Surprisingly engine wasn't knocking, but was completely toast despite a good-ish UOA. Numbers and statistics are great, but they don't always tell the full story.

As far as your sudden oil consumption - inspect for leaks. We had an F450 dually with the Triton V10 that lost tons of oil and required a quart top-up weekly. Turned out to be a valve cover leak by the firewall on both heads. Easy fix in our case, but only revealed itself under thorough inspection. PCV is also a good idea. But if you're keeping this truck for the long haul - do yourself a favor and switch to Mobil1 0w-40. UOA data afterwards will show why everyone here recommends that oil to you. And it will be a better option as compared to any 10w30 oils that you considered switching to in your original post.

Happy motoring!

 

[doublebase]

You want hard data? You came to an oil site, you’re going to get oil answers. And you are. What’s the problem?

And you’re an engineer? Your engine has done fine for over 100,000 miles - as an engineer you must know that moving parts wear - and because of that the spaces between the parts become larger (leading to more wear and oil consumption) and because of that people bump the oil viscosity up. Some techs do this even if there are no signs of increased oil consumption, in fact I’ll be doing this soon (as I am now approaching 90,000 miles).

CAFE regulations (corporate average fuel economy) has lead to lighter viscosity weights across most brands, to go along with low tension rings and many other fuel saving attempts.

Oil is the easiest and cheapest attempt at fixing whatever issue you are having. Otherwise take it to a tech, and have them look for leaks and make sure it’s up to date with all maintenance (coolant, PCV, plugs).

 

[tiger862]

I am going against it being the oil and state that your running engine low in oil causing the wear numbers. As far as oil loss look for a leak or possibly the PCV isn't working properly. Check oil more frequently.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Nmr1981]

IMHO This kind of consumption has more to do with a mechanical problem rather than oil. A 20 vs 30 doesn’t justify this difference in consumption and wear. Wear metals means damage is occurring or has already occurred, 40w, 50w etc can maybe slow consumption or mask the problem but I’d be concerned about rings being stuck from the short drives, clogged PCV valve etc…my buddy runs a fleet of v10s loves them, he did have to swap one out but altogether a good engine. Best of luck

 

[JavierH19]

Ford changed back to 5 w 20.. so they changed and reverted back to the origional weight.

Does that matter when you're giving the evidence that its clearly insufficient and now a job for a thicker oil?

 

[PimTac]

Been my second vehicle the last ten years. The first ten it was my only car. Drive to work with occasional boat trailer pulling.. 1/2 highway and 1/2 city short distance.. i live 6 miles to work.

That truck needs to be driven. Six miles is nothing. Get it out on the highway on a regular basis.

Not sure what all these analysis reports are going to tell you. My guess is that with the short trips the engine is carboned up. Valves and rings. Oil won’t fix that.

 

[mahanddeem]

S130 John Deer (my dear mower) gets a steady diet of M1 0w40. Smooth as silk and so quiet.

 

[Quantico]

I am going against it being the oil and state that your running engine low in oil causing the wear numbers. As far as oil loss look for a leak or possibly the PCV isn't working properly. Check oil more frequently.

Just my 2 cents.

Thats very very likely. Terrible news for me. But that makes perfect sense.
Its odd that the two years before had the same miles and same climate and same exact oil and had no oil consumption.
Then again I dont hear about engines using less and less oil suddenly.

 

[Quantico]

That truck needs to be driven. Six miles is nothing. Get it out on the highway on a regular basis.

Not sure what all these analysis reports are going to tell you. My guess is that with the short trips the engine is carboned up. Valves and rings. Oil won’t fix that.

I stopped working three years ago. So it gets 40 to 60 mile highway runs every week now. It also does get post office and store and bank runs. But I do try to combine three or four trips every time I use the truck. So the engine is getting fully warmed up. And freeway miles at least a couple hours a week...
With a manual trans and 5 speed my 6.8 v 10 is only spinning at 1800 rpm on the freeway at about 70 mph.

Question. I might try changing to a bit thicker oil. But would that not be a higher number on the winter and acts as number ??

So would going from 5 w 20 to 0 w 40 not be a thinner oil ? I just dont understand the potential issues of base oils and different protection levels yet.

 

[Quantico]

You want hard data? You came to an oil site, you’re going to get oil answers. And you are. What’s the problem?

And you’re an engineer? Your engine has done fine for over 100,000 miles - as an engineer you must know that moving parts wear - and because of that the spaces between the parts become larger (leading to more wear and oil consumption) and because of that people bump the oil viscosity up. Some techs do this even if there are no signs of increased oil consumption, in fact I’ll be doing this soon (as I am now approaching 90,000 miles).

CAFE regulations (corporate average fuel economy) has lead to lighter viscosity weights across most brands, to go along with low tension rings and many other fuel saving attempts.

Oil is the easiest and cheapest attempt at fixing whatever issue you are having. Otherwise take it to a tech, and have them look for leaks and make sure it’s up to date with all maintenance (coolant, PCV, plugs).

I am going to pull the pcv system off as I see cracks in the outer hose. Changing the air cleaner as well. Just changed oil and filter.
Will pull plugs but they were done at 90k ( 26 k miles ago ) and they looked great.
I can try to do some compression checks but the v 10 is not super easy to access the rear cylinders.
My coolant looks new as it was changed in april..
Have a few hundred miles in the last two weeks since the bad oil change. No oil gone yet. And the oil looks fine. Dont think you can judge oil at all by the looks of it.

 

[Graham Piccinini]

This is in regards to Mobil1 Cleaning abilities.

And this is a very rough idea of how viscosity works. Centistokes VS Temperature (is shown in Celsius though, 212F=100C)

 

[ZeeOSix]

Question. I might try changing to a bit thicker oil. But would that not be a higher number on the winter and acts as number ??

So would going from 5 w 20 to 0 w 40 not be a thinner oil ? I just dont understand the potential issues of base oils and different protection levels yet.

0W-40 is thinner when cold than 5W-20 (but not by much) - the "W" number tells you that. 0W-40 is thicker at operating temperature (100C) than 5W-20.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Will pull plugs but they were done at 90k ( 26 k miles ago ) and they looked great.

Pulling the plugs will tell you if any cylinders are burning excess oil. If it used a qt every 1000 miles, I'd think plug(s) would show something.

 

[doublebase]

I am going to pull the pcv system off as I see cracks in the outer hose. Changing the air cleaner as well. Just changed oil and filter.
Will pull plugs but they were done at 90k ( 26 k miles ago ) and they looked great.
I can try to do some compression checks but the v 10 is not super easy to access the rear cylinders.
My coolant looks new as it was changed in april..
Have a few hundred miles in the last two weeks since the bad oil change. No oil gone yet. And the oil looks fine. Dont think you can judge oil at all by the looks of it.

Maybe just pull one plug and see if there’s oil on them. And that stinks that the compression test is tough on that truck, but I think you’d have an inkling if it was misfiring or whatever...then again I’ve seen bigger V8’s hide a misfire pretty well. But the check engine light would be on.

Get yourself a good flashlight, check along the valve covers, pan, rear main seal, timing cover, oil filter housing, whatever. I bet you’re going to be fine.

 

[Quantico]

I have looked and there are no oil leaks

 

[StevieC]

The metals aren't high enough to think that the engine has developed a severe mechanical problem to cause the oil consumption all of a sudden. It would be well into the 100's or 1000's of PPM if that were the case.

Something else is going on here that is causing the consumption all of a sudden.

I'd check the PCV system. I've seen "looks fine" to the eyes PCV valves and even new ones out of the box cause oil consumption.

I'd try a new Motorcraft/Ford PCV first and I'd also pull all the plugs and see if it's system wide or confined to 1 or more cylinders. This would get you a better idea of where to look. Such as one or more plugs soaked in oil or if the oil consumption is spread among all cylinders.

Best of luck

 

[ZeeOSix]

I'd try a new Motorcraft/Ford PCV first and I'd also pull all the plugs and see if it's system wide or confined to 1 or more cylinders. This would get you a better idea of where to look. Such as one or more plugs soaked in oil or if the oil consumption is spread among all cylinders.

To add ... I've seen cylinders that are right next to where the PCV goes into the intake manifold showing more oil residue on the plugs vs the cylinders that are farther away from the PCV entry point in the manifold. Doesn't mean there's necessarily anything mechanically wrong with the cylinders, just that they suck the majority of oil going through the PCV system that makes it way into the intake manifold.

 

[StevieC]

To add ... I've seen cylinders that are right next to where the PCV goes into the intake manifold showing more oil residue on the plugs vs the cylinders that are farther away from the PCV entry point in the manifold. Doesn't mean there's necessarily anything mechanically wrong with the cylinders, just that they suck the majority of oil going through the PCV system that makes it way into the intake manifold.

Excellent point but I don't think that is an issue with these particular engines. I get what you mean though.

 

[OVERKILL]

The 5.4L of the same era had an updated PCV hose to address oil consumption (I had one).

The only time my 5.4L drank oil was when I ran AMSOIL AZO 0w-30 in it, other than that, it would maybe consume 1L on a 12,000Km OCI. I ran everything from 0w-20 to 5w-40 in it, probably longest series was with M1 0w-40, though at the end I was running Motul 0w-30 in it.