Mercury Villager - Motorcraft Filter

[Carzzz]

Hi friends,

I have been using motorcraft oil filter (from Ford dealer) for years, and oil turned black after 3k on various dino oil and needed to drain out(GTX, QS, Penzoil, etc). I switched to Castrol Syntec with motorcraft oil filter at 92k miles. The oil was black at 3k and drained out at 5k and dripped out slowly. After that i switch to amsoil ASL + EAO filter, the oil still looks goldish colour after 3k on this combo (100k on the van now). This car is driven in city most of the time. Do anyone recommend motorcraft oil filter? I am not plan to switch back, is there other filter perform like EAO?

Thanks

 

[gradymotorco]

I can't say anything specific to your application (no experience with this engine family), but I can say that imo, Motorcraft filters are a good quality filter for a good price. I've never had any trouble out of them, and have used them in different applications for years.

Dave

 

[Gary Allan]

Nothing wrong with MotorCraft filters. They aren't in the same class as EaO ..but absolutely assured to meet any Ford product's OEM requirements.

 

[dnewton3]

First, a little background for reference on my opinion. My wife drives a 1995 Villager we've had since new. You didn't mention what year yours is, but with 100k miles, it's got to be near the same age as ours (165k miles). I can personally attest to the durability of this engine (made by Nissan). I have run Wix, Purolator and AAP filters on it. I typically run whatever group III I can find on sale. The engine shows no signs of any lube-related issues. I OCI every 5-6k miles.

You should analyze how often you're going to O/FCI. If you're going to O/FCI every 5-6k miles, you might as well run an inexpensive filter and oil. This engine can easily handle that. And I have UOA's as proof. Using the Motorcraft filter here would be more than adequate.

If you're going to extend the drain/filter intervals, then the Amsoil products are a very good choice.

 

[Carzzz]

I have my van new since 1997. So far it does not have any oil consumption. I think this engine, at least on my vehicle, degrade/darken the oil quickly despite of mostly 3k miles O/FCI. Last OCI on Castrol Syntec + a new Motorcraft filter was scary that the oil dripped out very slowly with only 5k miles on the oil+filter. Amsoil ASL with EAO Filter combo is doing good so far (slightly over 3k miles on the van). What suprise me is the oil still looks golden, and no consumption yet. I must have to agree with Gary that EaO is miles ahead of Motorcraft.

 

[Kruse]

Originally Posted By: Carzzz
Hi friends,

I switched to Castrol Syntec with motorcraft oil filter at 92k miles.

Do anyone recommend motorcraft oil filter? I am not plan to switch back, is there other filter perform like EAO?

Thanks



The last time I looked, (probably over a year ago) the Motorcraft oil filter that fits your NISSAN QUEST was made in Japan. Take another look at the Motorcraft filter that fits your Nissan....errrr,... Villager and tell us the country of origin.

 

[beanoil]

The Villager is a fine vehicle, barring the early models that had exhaust stud breakage. My 1995 went 210,000 on Rotella T 10-30 and whatever filter I found on sale, (mainly a large score of Lee branded filters closed out at Target for .75 a piece). That van was great.

 

[Kruse]

Originally Posted By: beanoil
The Villager is a fine vehicle,


That van was great.


I never said it was a bad vehicle.
The point of my post was that the Mercury Villager is mostly a Nissan Quest. With that in mind, instead of Ford engineering an oil filter for it, they just bought their Mercury Villager oil filters from Japan and had them painted in a Motorcraft paint job.
I still suspect that the Motorcraft oil filters for the Villager are made in Japan, and not in a Purolator factory.

 

[dnewton3]

It's been so long since I've bought a Motorcraft filter, that I cannot honestly remember what the actual Motorcraft filter number even is (FL-839???). I respect the Motorcraft filters, but since I can get the Purolator or Wix/NG so much more easily, I just buy what I can find on sale.

My point is that this such a good reliable engine (although a bit underpowered?), it won't make much difference regarding what filter brand you use, as long as it's spec'd for the application.

I have no idea if the actual Motorcraft filter for the Villager/Quest is imported from Japan. I rather doubt it; it's probably just a redesign/upgrade of a Purolator, as are most of the other Motorcraft units.

If you're going for extended drain and filter changes, then Amsoil is a good product line. If not, then just about any dino oil and mid-line filter will still make this engine last well over the 250k mile mark.

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

On my dad's 2000 Quest I use whatever filter is the cheapest. Right now it happens to be the AA7317s I got when they were bogo.

The engine is reliable, although a bit noisy and underpowered for its size. I'm just slightly concerned about the rest of the car. The speedometer will spontaneously stop, one of the power window switches went out, the lights for the switches are gone, and recently the ABS control unit had to be replaced for $1k. That's nearly 1/6 if not more than what the car is worth. Hope that's all that goes wrong. The build quality and materials could have been a bit better too.

 

[artificialist]

You could say that for almost any car.

There are millions of cars on the road where the engine keeps turning and the transmission keeps shifting, too bad nothing else is holding together.

That in mind, having an ABS module fail at 8 years is not right. I have seen many go 10 years or more.

 

[bdcardinal]

i checked out one at work. its made in the USA according to both the box and the filter. ill take some pics if you want proof.