Motorcraft 5W-20 Syn Blend good enough Honda J35?

[f2racer]

Hey everyone, my wife and I just picked up a CPO 2008 Honda Pilot which has J35 3.5L SOHC V6 engine with 30k miles on the clock. The Pilot replaces a well used (93k miles) 2002 Ford Explorer with the 4.0L SOHC V6 . During the lifetime of the Explorer we used just about every brand of dino 5W-30 including whatever "cheapest" oil they use at Jiffy Lube. I would get the oil changed between 4-6k miles. Never had any issues with the Explorer's engine and would likely still own it if the transmission hadn't decided to give up.

Unlike the Explorer, I'm a little bit more picky in regards to the oil with my other vehicles. My 2006 Saab 9-3 (2.0T) only gets either Mobil 1 0W-40 or GC 0W-30 in order to comply with the GM-LL-A-025 required for its 10k mile OCI. My 1993 Mazda RX-7 gets Castrol GTX (10W-40 or 20W-50 depending on season) due to the lower (< 3k) OCI (it's engine is very hard on the oil and has significant fuel dilution) and the fact that the rotary engine is designed to burn some oil during normal operation.

Back to the Pilot, I'd like to get at least 7 years (given how much my wife drive, it should be right around 110k miles) of service out of it. I believe that Honda's 5W-20 is a dino oil, right? I don't plan on trying to extend the OCI beyond what the OLM (Maintenance Minder) says, which I believe is around 5-7.5k miles so a pure synthetic is probably overkill. It looks like the Motorcraft 5W-20 Synthetic Blend is pretty well regarded on this forum. Noticed that it's about the same price as brand named dino oils. Is the consensus that the oil is "good enough" for 7k mile OCIs in the Honda engine?

Thanks!

 

[Bill in Utah]

Your 3.5l V6 will run on ANYTHING.

My Dad has a Honda powered Vue which has seen any 5w-20 with Supertech or Fram filters changed when the OLM goes off (his is just a light) and he just passed 100,000 miles and its clean as NEW in the oil fill port. No tint nothing.

Excellent motor. Motorcraft is an EXCELLENT oil and there is nothing better that you can waste put in the motor that would be ANY better for an OLM run.

Take care, Bill

 

[f2racer]

Figured as much. In the owners manual Honda states:

Always use a premium-grade 5W-20 detergent oil displaying the API Certification Seal.

Very different for most of the other fluid, which all require the Honda variety (except windshield washer fluid).

Thanks!

 

[bepperb]

110,000 isn't much on those engines, Motorcraft will certainly be fine for 5000~7500 miles. Keep the timing belt in mind when you're deciding when to sell, the recommendation is 110,000 miles.

 

[IntegraVT]

Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
Your 3.5l V6 will run on ANYTHING.

Excellent motor. Motorcraft is an EXCELLENT oil and there is nothing better that you can waste put in the motor that would be ANY better for an OLM run.


Well said, sir. Even with recent price increases, this stuff is a great everyday value.

 

[K20FA5]

They will run on any dino or syn 20 weight! I've used PYB, GTX, VWB, Motorcraft, and now PP in ours. Runs nice and smooth on them all!

 

[barlowc]

Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
My Dad has a Honda powered Vue which has seen any 5w-20 with Supertech or Fram filters changed when the OLM goes off (his is just a light) and he just passed 100,000 miles and its clean as NEW in the oil fill port. No tint nothing.

Similarly, we have a 2007 VUE that has the Honda engine. GM called it the L66; Honda called it the J35A3. I've been giving it a steady diet of either Pennzoil Platinum 5W-20 or Valvoline SynPower 5W-20 at 6,000 mile intervals, which is always before the OLM light comes on. It runs great on those oils and I'd recommend them. But as folks have said before, that engine will do fine on anything that is spec compliant.