Originally Posted By: jimbrewer
Aren't we being a bit paranoid? I know Volk has some reason to think he was given 5-20W by accident, but given the amount of shearing that took place on his subsequent changes, it seems to me the jury is still out on that one.
Sure, Ford would probably never accept you putting 5-20 into the engine by mistake, but that's my point. If it happens on their watch, they have to either pretend it never happened and pay, or admit it happened--and pay. If Volk is correct in his belief that 5-20W was put in his car by accident, then I stand by my statement that no harm was done, based on the similarity of his numbers from one change to the next.
I would think that your local Ford dealer would be less inclined to substitute brand X for Motorcraft than any other high-volume lube place. Ford seems to go to great lengths to make sure their house brand is good oil. I assume its to hold down warranty claims, rather than good fellowship. They also have exploited their quality to build a considerable business to non-Ford retail buyers As I mentioned, Ford has a very extensive extended factory warranty business and therefore another positive incentive beyond that of most dealers. If Ford allowed the selling of Brand X oil at all, I am absolutely positively sure they would come down on the dealer like a ton of bricks if there were any misrepresentation involved.
Sure, you can provide your own oil and filter to the dealer, (I assume you insist on the return of the empty bottles, right?) but that only mitigates the problem. There's still plenty and perhaps even increased opportunity for the dealer to screw up, e.g. drop a plastic cap or a piece of tin-foil into the crankcase.
I'm glad and I don't doubt you guys would "man up" and admit your own mistake in changing oil, but that is not the point. The point is the grease monkeys maybe have a 1/2 of 1 percent chance of screwing up. You have maybe a 1/4 of 1 percent chance of screwing up. The difference is Ford has to take a considerable amount of the risk of the screw up if they do the work.
I THINK? They CONFIRMED to me they did! I did not do a UOA on that change due to the fact they used 5w20. Did it do any damage? Probably not. If a mechanical failure happened and Ford said it was 5w20 instead of the spec 5w30 so they voided my claim, do you really think the dealer will admit to FORD they used the wrong spec'd oil? Your crazy if you think they will. The mess up factor is higher than .5%, theres no way they get everything correct on every 1 out of 100 vehicles. Most fords only stock 5w20 in bulk and 15w40. If I mitigate them by using my own oil MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. Who opens a bottle of oil directly over a fill hole for a cap to fall into? Bottled oils do not use foil caps, only jugs. Do you work for a dealership? You have to way much faith in stealerships.