Motorcraft oil or another brand for my 2010 Milan?

[tamedcowboy]

Hey everybody, just got a used 2010 Mercury Milan Premier front-wheel drive 3.0 V6 with 36,000 miles. I've been driving it a couple weeks now and I absolutely love it and want to keep it forever. It's perfect for my needs. My question though is, should I stay with Motorcraft for my upcoming 37,500 mile service, or go another brand? Currently it has Motorcraft semi-syn 5w20. I was thinking about going full-syn Motorcraft or another brand, or maybe just stay semi-syn Motorcraft for the price savings. I drive probably 65% highway and try and baby it as much as possible. I thought Maybe Pennzoil Platinum or Mobile 1 0w20 might be good, especially for the possible fuel economy advantage of 0w, but I wasn't sure if the lighter oil might hurt long-term engine durability. I ordered an oil analysis kit a couple days ago from Blackstone labs as well. Any thoughtful feedback would be much appreciated.

 

[rcbc96]

Any newer car that specs a 20wt I would use 0w20. You probably won't notice any differences but a 0wt will usually flow easier. Engine oil is the life of your engine. "Paper towels can be used as a diaper but they won't offer the best protection"

That's my saying lol

 

[rcbc96]

In case that is a little hard to understand what I was saying:
Don't always skimp out by just using whatever's cheaper. Use what offers the best protection.....especially if you plan on keeping it.

 

[OtisBlkR1]

I also have a Milan 3.0 with 26,000 on it.. ours likes PP and mobil 1 and ive got a Napa Gold filter on it thats working just fine. Use what you like, but thinking that you have to stick with Motorcraft products is silly.. there fine products but if you can get full syn on sale or at a better price at Wally world.. well, thats what i do.

 

[tig1]

I use 0-20 in both 4 cyl Duratechs and these engines are very clean and are smooth runnin. No oil use at all in 10K OCIs.

 

[tamedcowboy]

That's good advice. I don't have the facilities to change my own oil but maybe I could take it to a friend's house.

 

[tamedcowboy]

Thanks for the input. I know 0w20 would have better flow and cold pouring properties, and probably would help a bit with mileage. Why would Ford spend all that money though developing 5w20? It seems a no-brainer to use 0w20.

 

[jimbrewer]

I assume the car is out of warranty. (If not, you might want to check into the price of an extended factory warranty on the floodford or Troy ford web sites). Really, most name brand oils are overqualified. Get a decent filter (Like Motorcraft, for example) and you are good to go.



I tested my Motorcraft semi-syn at 5K and it was well within specs even though my driving is about 90 percent city with most trips less than 4 miles. So MC works just fine for 5K to 6K oil changes. Probably more. They have el cheapo coupons all the time for an oil change and tire rotation at the Fast Lane for 39 bucks and its hard to beat that if you are disinclined to do it yourself.

If you are doing it yourself buy whatever name brand synthetic Wal-Mart happens to have on sale in the correct grade. I'm not opposed to conventional, but if its about the same price, why not? It was Valvoline last week. Get a good filter. (Ford makes a point in its manual about good filters--much more so than oil brands). You live in Texas, so why experiment with extra thin 0W-20 oil? the 5W-20 is thin enough. It probably doesn't make any difference, but let someone else be the guinea pig.

* * * *

Honestly, the best thing you can do for your car long term is to not obsess over oil brands and change intervals and do everything you can to keep up the appearance. It may be more fun to get greasy, but its more cost-effective to keep the car clean and waxed. Almost any kind of repair you make down the road can be economically justified if the car still has an appearance that justifies it.

This part of my opinion is more controversial: Use decent gas in it. At least, avoid no-name gas. My Ford manual is positively paranoid about the subject. I was brought up to believe that gas was gas we should buy the cheapest thing possible and we all needed to concentrate on being careful to change the oil every 3K. But that was then and this is now. If Ford says its important, its important.

 

[cancov]

Motorcraft semi-synthetic oil is regarded pretty high here. I wouldn't have a problem running this oil with a Motorcraft filter for 5,000 miles at all.

 

[Hallmark]

I've switched from MC syn blend to Kendall GT-1 5W20 syn blend in all of my vehicles (2012 Veloster, 2010 3.0 Fusion, 2004 5.4 F-150). The Kendall with titanium is a flagship clone of the MC by ConocoPhillips...I prefer the Kendall formulation, available at my CP distributor at $3.70/qt...5K DIY OCIs with OEM filters resulting in bright, clean engine interiors.

 

[volk06]

Originally Posted By: Hallmark
I've switched from MC syn blend to Kendall GT-1 5W20 syn blend in all of my vehicles (2012 Veloster, 2010 3.0 Fusion, 2004 5.4 F-150). The Kendall with titanium is a flagship clone of the MC by ConocoPhillips...I prefer the Kendall formulation, available at my CP distributor at $3.70/qt...5K DIY OCIs with OEM filters resulting in bright, clean engine interiors.


Love my kendall as well. Thats all my ecoboost gets.

 

[tamedcowboy]

That was a great reply jimbrewer. Thank you so much. I agree about the appearance and that's something I can and enjoy doing myself. For gas I only buy Shell or Chevron. Depending on how the oil analysis comes back I may just take it Ford for another Motorcraft semi-syn 5w20 change. That way I'll get the good Motorcraft filter as well.

 

[tamedcowboy]

I never thought about Kendall. I just looked it up and found it has a higher flashpoint than Motorcraft, but the Motorcraft has better cold pouring and lower cold-start viscosity. Maybe in Texas the Kendall might be better.

 

[Rolla07]

I dont get why everyone seems to think a 0w20 being far superior in terms of mileage. You said you baby it, and are easy on the car. You wont find any noticeable gas savings to going to 0w20. I think it will run just fine on the semi syn. In all honesty you cant go wrong either way.

 

[Zako2]

I would use a good synthetic 5W20 oil, motorcraft oil filter, and change the oil once a year. There is no need for a 0W20 in Texas IMO.

 

[RF Overlord]

Originally Posted By: tamedcowboy
Why would Ford spend all that money though developing 5w20? It seems a no-brainer to use 0w20.
At the time Ford (and Honda) were developing 5W20, there was no such thing as a 0W-anything. Ford was trying to eek out a tiny fraction better CAFE and they accomplished that, along with being on the forefront of thinner oil technology. 0W- oils are biased more toward start-up wear than improved MPG.

As others said, in Texas that's probably of little benefit and any 5W-20 will serve you well.

 

[tig1]

Originally Posted By: Zako2
I would use a good synthetic 5W20 oil, motorcraft oil filter, and change the oil once a year. There is no need for a 0W20 in Texas IMO.


What's wrong with a 0-20? You have the cold engine start vis advantage of a 0wt, with the operateing vis of a 5-20. It's win win for 0-20.

 

[Best F100]

I'm late chiming in. Count me in the Motorcraft column as well. However I've been using the harder to find, Motorcraft 5W20 FULL Synthetic. I snapped up about 50 qts of it, when Advance Auto Parts clearance priced it, to the tune of $1.95/qt.

I have a 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid with over 85,000 miles with the 4 cylinder hybrid engine. I have seen:

a) Almost no fuel mileage improvement that I could see, with the high VI
Toyota 0W20.

b) My personal UOA with the Motorcraft Full Synthetic had an iron reading
of only 4 for 5,500 miles. So I would expect that engine to last a
loooooooooog time. As others have recommended, I would expect
Kendall 5W20 Full Synthetic with Titanium (essentially the same product)
to have a comparable result, with your Ford engine. In my case, I do not
burn a drop of oil in a 5000 mile interval.

c) If you expect to extend your oil change intervals of over 10,000 miles,
Mobil 1 0W20 would be the oil of choice. I've seen an impressive UOA
on another Fusion for 11,000 miles using it.

Hope that helps your decision.

 

[dave1251]

Originally Posted By: tamedcowboy
I never thought about Kendall. I just looked it up and found it has a higher flashpoint than Motorcraft, but the Motorcraft has better cold pouring and lower cold-start viscosity. Maybe in Texas the Kendall might be better.


I disagree most of what you have said in this post.

The worst part is someone is actually following your non-sense you have stated is really sad.

 

[hardcore302]

Motorcraft is an excellent oil.

Change it if you want, but no need.