Low Mileage 302 5.0-Need Input

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GAT72991

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SC, USA
I am a die hard Ford fan and have had several Mustangs/Super Duties/F-150's...etc. I recently purchased a 1994 F-150 with 51,000 original miles. The truck is a cherry, clean and spotless everywhere.

The truck has the 5.0L 302 Engine. It is a Mass Air Truck (Not Speed Density), has the HO Firing Order, and, (I'm assuming without wanting to get too invasive on a low mileage engine) the HO roller cam setup.

I intend to use this truck to drive to work and back during the week and go around town. I won't be towing anything, the truck doesn't even have a hitch on it. I live in SC and the winters are usually pretty mild...we definitely never see anything below 0°F. I can have a heavy foot at times but never before the engine has had ample time to get to operating temperature and there's some heat in the oil. Availability is not crucial, i can buy oil off the shelf at Wal-Mart or order it online, doesn't matter.

I have a 3.6L 2015 Grand Cherokee i bought new, it gets all Amsoil Signature Series at an OCI of every 6 months (I never hit the 25k mark in that timeframe) with WIX filters now that break-in is over. I've always ran 5W-30 in all of my Modular Fords, whether they be 4.6 or 5.4, 2V, 3V, or 4V (I've had all 6 of the above variations, even the 5.4L 4V) and changed on a 5K OCI. I always run Motorcraft filters on all my Ford products. I see that Ford has back-dated their TSB to include this truck in their suggested list of vehicles to run 5W-20...That's a little to thin in an old Pushrod engine in my opinion.

What oil should i run, and why? Should i keep running Mobil 1 5W-30? Switch to Mobil 1 10W-30? (Full Synthetic, of course) or should i swap to an off the shelf conventional like Castrol and change every 3K? What about Rotella 10W-30 for Diesel engines? I know it's a good oil with a good additive pack but this truck still has factory cats. Hopefully plenty of experts will chime in, i'm especially looking for the opinion of guys like Overkill, Ben99GT, and anyone else who can help me decide.
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Nice truck, got some pics? I owned a couple of the HO 302s from the 80s and agree completely that 5w20 is not the right oil to put into it.

I see no reason not to stick with Amsoil in the truck as well as the Jeep. Since you're only going 5k for your OCI, you could utilize either the OE or XL lines and save some scratch. At that distance in your climate they're just as good as the SS. Simplifies your oil stockpile also.
 
I wouldn't fret too much any 5/10w30 in SC will be sufficient in a major brand M1 would be fantastic. The 5.0/5.8 engines in those trucks weren't ever real power houses but I really like them none the less. Just good reliable engines.
 
% 0r 10w- 30 would be a good starting point. Be bold and run a 0W-40 of your choice and smile.
 
since your already using amsoil I would guess you get member price...then I'd suggest their 10w30 SS. flow rates are similar to the 5w30 you are using and the noack rating is 5.3
 
I have an 2000 Explorer Limited with the 5.0L. Ive always used Pennzoil Conventional in it. 181K on it and it runs smooth , no varnish etc. Use Motorcraft filters and switch between 5w-30 and 10w-30 depending on the season. Doing 3k intervals I feel its not really necessary to use full synthetic in this venerable engine.
 
I have the exact same...1994, 5.0, F150 in a 4x4.
221,000 miles. It pulls a mower trailer all summer.
Always FL1A.
In the last 30k, I've used M1HM 10w30 & 5w30, Rotella T6, and in right now is Valvoline FS w/ MaxLife in 5w30.
All have done fine, very, very little use. The 10w MIGHT have decreased pep just slightly.
 
51,000 miles - it's barely broken in
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You got a lot of choices. Any good 10W-30 will work fine. Conventional like Chevron Supreme,Havoline, or syn-blend, or full syn. But, do a change and listen to it of a cool morning with hood open after it has set around for a few day. That old 302 will tell you quick if it does not like your oil choice. If it's stone quiet on cold start, you have a good oil. If it rattles some, try another brand...

The motor is not hard on oil. But the timing chain is likely to be starving, and oil brand will not help. It's about getting more oil to the timing chain than the factory allows. And that means going into the motor. Something to do at 100,000 for good measure. Timing chain & housing and water pump. While in there, drill a tiny hole in each gallery plug in the end of the lifter galleries. It'll dribble oil on the chain and your new one will last for ever
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I've got a 96 Bronco with the 5.0 and about 5x your miles. I agree with BroncoLuno on the timing chain issue. I'd say you'd be fine with any of the oil you suggested. If it's going well with Mobil 1 and 5w30, I don't see a reason to change unless you just want something cheaper or to standardize to standardize on Amsoil. The new Rotella you mentioned is for mixed fleet use so your converters would probably be fine, at Shell's website it doesn't give the diesel only restriction that they do on their T6 xw40. I guess my question to you would be why do you want to change? You can always do UOAs on the next few changes to see if there are any red flags. Enjoy the new ride!
 
The only timing chain issues I've seen on the 302 are the single roller setups with or without the nylon gears. The 302HO had a double-roller setup and any of the ones I've pulled apart, even with very high miles, have been in very good shape. YMMV, but I've never heard that as an issue when I was big into the scene a number of years ago. Now of course we are talking about a truck, so if it has the lopo single roller setup, it is something to be aware of. They develop a pretty good deal of slop when they get some miles on them. It seems to be a [censored] shoot with these engines, the lopo 302 in my '89 Town Car had the HO style double roller in it.

I'd run a 0w-40 in it, I've had very good performance with it in a number of built 302's.
 
I put 80,000 trouble free miles on my 2000 explorer 5.0 with trop artic changed every 5,000 miles.

This was on top of the 96,000 miles the previous owners put on it.

Pick an oil and change it every 5,000. You will be fine. This motor is not pickey with oil.
 
My '87 trk has this engine and I have used many brands and can't tell any difference. I run 5-30 Smittys right now cause I got it free and it sounds the same as when I used Ultra.
Good engines but no power and bad mileage.
 
Lots of good opinions so far. I'm not sure if the truck has a 5 or 6 quart capacity, i haven't changed the oil myself yet. I plan to change it this weekend. Would there be any difference in protection for my usage if i ran an off the shelf synthetic like Mobil-1 at 5K OCI's vs. an off the shelf Conventional like Castrol at 3K OCI's? I haven't ran conventional oil in anything in a while-are there any recent issues any of you can think off with off the shelf conventional oils? Anyone skimping on quality?

What about running a Mobil-1 10W-30, would it shear down to a 5W-30? I know a lot of people claim that in the newer modular engines that have hydraulically actuated Variable Cam Timing (especially 3V Solenoid/Phaser Design)...

I'm just trying to educate myself as much as possible, not incite a brand war.

The engine is fairly quiet on cold start up-i don't hear any mechanical noise whatsoever really, just the old Ford power steering pump low volume, high pitched whine.

I'll post some pics of the truck so everyone can see it-it's very clean for a '94. I'm surprised i was able to find one with such low mileage.
 
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