Lincoln 4.6, 0W-20 to thin?

[lincolnjohnny]

I have a 1991 Lincoln Town Car with the 4.6 engine. I bought the car 2 years ago with 118K and immediately switched from “dino” 10W-30 to Mobil 1 5W-20. Car has 146.5K for mileage now. I just switched again to Amsoil 0W-20. I check first on the Amsoil website, and they recommended this for my car. My question is, is this grade to thin for my engine with this many miles?

johnny

 

[Merkava_4]

Quote:

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My question is, is this grade to thin for my engine with this many miles?

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That depends on who you ask. If it were my car I would probably run 10W-30 with the assumption that it would keep the engine quieter than the ultra-thin 5W-20.

 

[teaelle]

i would run at least 5W-30 on the car, 0W-20 may burn oil, check the fluid level often

 

[surfstar]

No, it is not too thin. At operating temp it will be close to the M1 5w20, so don't worry.

 

[erogers]

I have a 1994 T-Bird with a 4.6. I've always used 5W30 with absolutely no problems. I will be switching to 10W30 soon (Kendall GT-1 Synthetic Blend). It has better cold pumping properties than many 5W30s. I live in a cold winter climate, so this matters a lot to me. I don't think an xW20 oil should be used in the older 4.6's. I'm not saying it will hurt anything, but I'm not buying the Ford "retro" oil specs on these engines. In my humble opinion, I would use the oil that was originally specified.

 

[98LSC32V]

I'm using the ASM 0w-20 in my 98 LSC 4.6 DOHC 300+ horsepower motor but it has never burned oil with 5w-30.

 

[JustinH]

Those early 4.6L motors are subject to bad valve stem seals. They usually burn some oil.

If you have any consumption issues then go to 5w30 or 10w30.

If its not burning a drop then 5w20 motorcraft would be a great cheap oil, or 0w20 if you like spending money.

 

[Big Jim]

Although Ford says that 5/20 is OK for that engine, I personally would be reluctant to move to a thiner oil on an engine with high miles. I would stick with 5/30. If the engine is sound, 5/20 or even 0/20 should be no problem, but why take a chance.

 

[Panzerman]

My opinion is its not to thin unless it uses oil. If you want to try it, do so, if it uses oil though, Id go with a thicker oil until it stopped. Even though I usually endorse thicker oils, I have always liked a 10w30, and have never used anything thicker in my own cars, I have first hand used 15w40 in other cars under directions, without incident, even good results.

 

[Steelhead]

most of the 5w30s of early '90s vintage were 20w after 1000 miles pushing that heavy car anyway.

stick with the xw20.
the Amsoil 0w20 will run 15k OCIs in that engine if fuel dilution is low and no coolant>oil leaks
I would run a UOA, more important for long engine life than oil weight or brand