Thanks for posting. Yes in the past, many of us were skeptical. The EPA required I think a 150K minimum durability test for 5W-20 but that was shortened. Many felt that it was not possible to reach the higher durability limit.
I just hit 200000 miles on 5w20.
- Thread starter Buzzsaw
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Choose one of the following:
A, Yours doesn't count
B, I knew it all along
When Ford first came out with 5w20 the Motorcraft oil was in a black bottle and mentioned nothing about being a semi-syn. Only later did the bottles change to a reddish orange color with a semi-syn label. For approx a year and a half this vehicle was run on the black bottle 5w20 and it may very have had group III base stocks but it did not say that it was a semi-syn.
BTW this vehicle does not burn any oil during the OCI.
B) I have been a thin is in and GRP III is good enough for PCMO avocate for some time now. But that's not the point.
The fact that so many now are accepting of these ideas is a shift.
The fact that so many now are accepting of these ideas is a shift.
quick noobie question: what does PCMO stand for?
PCMO is Passenger Car Motor oil. Along the same lines, HDEO is Heavy Duty Engine Oil.
Triple_Se7en
$50 Site Donor 2024
That's incredible! Most Crown Vics I see with high mileage smoke like crazy upon acceleration & let-down from high speeds.
I was one of the skeptical posters a couple of years ago. Was skeptical about Motorcraft in general too. Not-no-more!!!!!!!!
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Also impressive here is the car is a police vehicle, so it probably does a lot of idling that does not even show on the odometer.
Congrats on the 200k 4.6L. Very great engines indeed, only the 95' and older vics will smoke as they had major valve seal issues.
I only saw one 120" Lincoln stretch limo on ebay that had 743,000k miles on the original 4.6L engine. They claim the engine was only opened up for a timing chain and gear service. It burned about 2 qts in a 5k OCI. Very impressive, too bad they would not share what kind of oil it ran for its life.
I only saw one 120" Lincoln stretch limo on ebay that had 743,000k miles on the original 4.6L engine. They claim the engine was only opened up for a timing chain and gear service. It burned about 2 qts in a 5k OCI. Very impressive, too bad they would not share what kind of oil it ran for its life.
The point is that you can go 200,000 mi on a engine with 40% idle time and lots of full throttle pursuit/response work. According to Ford studies every hour of idle time is equal to 41 mi of driving. This car has wear equal to 336,667 mi + every weekend spent at the track for John Q Public. This should lay to rest the 5W-20 is okay for normal use but isnt capable of handling extremes.
Gene
PS almost every smoking Crown Vic I see is 5.0 or 5.8 powered. The 5.0 in particular tended to have head gasket problems.
My 1994 Lumina Apv (Minivan) 3.1 has now accrued 216,000 miles, using only Mobil 1 0W20 since the end of the warranty period - 5W30 used at first> I change oil annually (16-18,000 miles) and have never had enough concern to do an oil analysis. This vehicle sees fairly severe service - it is scheduled as a tow vehicle 4 times a week, towing a 4,000 lb boat (Hydrodyne Twin Rig) on short hauls and occasional 600 mile round trips on weekends. Yes I know the vehicle is only rated to tow 3500 lbs (Actually 2000 lbs with the 3.1, 3500 with the 3.8 that I dont have)
but is certainly shows the 0W20 is plenty for hot summer towing. Currently the motor burns a qt every 3500 miles and runs like new - no internal maintenance done ever.
Best thing: Instant winter starts, even at - 30F on our annual winter mountain ski trip, while most cars in the parking lots grind slowly, then smoke their starters!
but is certainly shows the 0W20 is plenty for hot summer towing. Currently the motor burns a qt every 3500 miles and runs like new - no internal maintenance done ever.
Best thing: Instant winter starts, even at - 30F on our annual winter mountain ski trip, while most cars in the parking lots grind slowly, then smoke their starters!
200K - Good to hear! It makes me feel better about the 5W20 in my '06 Ford.
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No
I figure that 20 weight oils ..and the fear of them has always been unfounded in most cases. Sure there are some engines where they're not suitable for use ..but very few.
Don't waste the visc if there's no gain.
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Sorry..not that I doubt you..but you just piled on a whole lot of "risk factors" for any noob I've ever seen here. Sorta like the kid that walked 12 miles to school in knee deep snow ..uphill ...both ways ..every day ..in bare feet ..after shovelling the north 40 ...
...about the only thing you could have added was using drain oil from another car ..or changing the filter every other time
but ..
Well I am up to 203236 miles now. Friday I was out on patrol and the car started to skip really bad and the check engine light started to blink. I limped on back to the county shop and the mechanics hooked it up to a code scanner. It was a misfire on the #2 cylinder. Ten minutes later after a new coil and sparkplug boot she was back running like a top.
I am in no way afraid of 20 viscosity oils. If you remember back in the 50's we used 5 and 10 viscosity straight mineral oils in our cars during the winters, without problems.
However, I tried a 0-20 in my turbocharged miata, resulting one very poor UOA. The engine came apart soon thereafter due to unrelated problems and surprise, there was no sign of wear or other oil related problems.
Chris
However, I tried a 0-20 in my turbocharged miata, resulting one very poor UOA. The engine came apart soon thereafter due to unrelated problems and surprise, there was no sign of wear or other oil related problems.
Chris
Rated at 2000# with your engine and you're towing a 4,000# boat.
It's not just what your engine's capable of when it comes to towing, it's whether or not your vehicle can handle the weight overall; wheelbase, brakes, transmission, tires - can you stop that boat on a 6-8% down-grade?
Trailer brakes? Are you down-shifting the transmission to make that engine HELP stop the load?
Mountains or no mountains, this is VERY risky, even on flat land.
I'm sorry, I've been traveling all my life, towing horse trailers, boat trailers, etc and I have seen sooooo many accidents from people having overweight, definitely overtaxed loads for the tow vehicle - and it's devistating what happens, especially when one ends up killing a family that had nothing to do with it.
The viscosity of oil in that tow vehicle is the least of your concerns, IMHO, do you have the insurance to cover the liability you'd face IF an accident were to happen. A cop would take one look at that set-up and you'd be in for it big-time, and your insurance would likely drop you.
I am not aiming to be rude, but this is VERY scary what you're doing and you ARE playing with others lives, not just your family.
Get yourself a Tahoe, 1/2 truck of somesort, or even another minivan with higher capacity.
I too am close to the limit on one vehicle towing a 4,000# boat as well, but it's not WAY OVER the limit, and I have heavy duty brakes, trailer brakes, LT tires, and I use my transmission to make the engine help brake the load.
FWIW - Oil takes the lessor abuse with towing, it's your coolant and transmission fluid that take more abuse, and needs more servicing.
It's not just what your engine's capable of when it comes to towing, it's whether or not your vehicle can handle the weight overall; wheelbase, brakes, transmission, tires - can you stop that boat on a 6-8% down-grade?
Trailer brakes? Are you down-shifting the transmission to make that engine HELP stop the load?
Mountains or no mountains, this is VERY risky, even on flat land.
I'm sorry, I've been traveling all my life, towing horse trailers, boat trailers, etc and I have seen sooooo many accidents from people having overweight, definitely overtaxed loads for the tow vehicle - and it's devistating what happens, especially when one ends up killing a family that had nothing to do with it.
The viscosity of oil in that tow vehicle is the least of your concerns, IMHO, do you have the insurance to cover the liability you'd face IF an accident were to happen. A cop would take one look at that set-up and you'd be in for it big-time, and your insurance would likely drop you.
I am not aiming to be rude, but this is VERY scary what you're doing and you ARE playing with others lives, not just your family.
Get yourself a Tahoe, 1/2 truck of somesort, or even another minivan with higher capacity.
I too am close to the limit on one vehicle towing a 4,000# boat as well, but it's not WAY OVER the limit, and I have heavy duty brakes, trailer brakes, LT tires, and I use my transmission to make the engine help brake the load.
FWIW - Oil takes the lessor abuse with towing, it's your coolant and transmission fluid that take more abuse, and needs more servicing.
The Crown Vic didn't use the 5.8 or the 5.0 after 1991. The very few that I've seen smoking have all been newer than that.
I'm not aware of any head gasket problems with the 5.0 as used in the Mustang. Mine has 175K and doesn't smoke.
Patman
Staff member
Actually the 5.0 does have weaker head gaskets than most, but this problem really only surfaces when you put a turbo or supercharger on it. A lot of guys I knew in my 5.0 days lifted a head gasket or two, but all of them had forced induction. So the problem was there for modified cars, but I don't believe I heard of any normally aspirated ones with the problem. I was one of the extremely lucky ones who never had that problem on my supercharged 5.0. I was especially lucky since I experienced a lot of detonation when I first got the supercharger installed and I was still playing around with the ignition timing. At first it was too far advanced, causing the detonation. Usually when you're running a supercharger on a 5.0, if you get any detonation at all the head gasket usually lifts right away.
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