New 2009 F-150 - new oil dilemma

[tvsjr]

Good day all-

I will, hopefully soon, be receiving my brand-new 2009 F-150 with the 5.4L flex-fuel motor. I'm in a bit of a dilemma on what oil to run.

Driving conditions:
- I'm a volunteer firefighter. The truck will get run hard at times and will idle a fair amount.
- I live in north Texas and work in the metroplex, so I get the fun of stop-and-go driving in 110F weather.

My requirements:
- No extended OCI. I'll change the oil every 5K as the book says.
- Ford-recommended weight only - 5W20.
- One oil year-round.
- This will be a high mileage vehicle. I drive about 35K a year and hope to keep the truck 5 years.
- No Amsoil.
- Oil changes will be performed by a local facility that I trust. I'll provide my own oil and Motorcraft filter.

I've run Mobil 1 in the past and been quite satisfied with it, but as we all know, it's expensive, and I feel it may be "too good" for my application. I've also run a couple vehicles with the Motorcraft 5W20 synthetic blend, which seems to have lots of positive reviews here on the forum and is considerably cheaper.

What say you? Stick with the M1 I've used in the past? Go back to the MC syn blend? Something else entirely? Other comments?

Thanks in advance.

 

[SAJEFFC]

I gotta tell you I think I would stick with the Motorcraft 5W20. I've been a Mobil 1 geek for 20 yrs now and I switched my 08 Mustang back to MC recently with no regrets. The main reason was all I've read on this site about Motorcraft oil. I will be flamed crisp for this but I still do the 3k changes and that is a waste of M1. I think your usage will definitely qualify for Ford's severe service schedule of 5k changes. The UOA's of MC at that interval look great and you sure can't beat the price! Enjoy the new truck...the 09's are awesome!

 

[Bryanccfshr]

Motorcraft 5w20 is all you need.

 

[SuperDave456]

What you are doing will be great. The MC 5w20 should be awsome in that truck.

 

[hate2work]

You think M1 might be "too good" for your application?

BTW, how much are you paying for this truck? And you're worried about spending a little more on the oil you run?

 

[Johnny]

Originally Posted By: tvsjr
Good day all-

I will, hopefully soon, be receiving my brand-new 2009 F-150 with the 5.4L flex-fuel motor. I'm in a bit of a dilemma on what oil to run.

Driving conditions:
- I'm a volunteer firefighter. The truck will get run hard at times and will idle a fair amount.
- I live in north Texas and work in the metroplex, so I get the fun of stop-and-go driving in 110F weather.

My requirements:
- No extended OCI. I'll change the oil every 5K as the book says.
- Ford-recommended weight only - 5W20.
- One oil year-round.
- This will be a high mileage vehicle. I drive about 35K a year and hope to keep the truck 5 years.
- No Amsoil.
- Oil changes will be performed by a local facility that I trust. I'll provide my own oil and Motorcraft filter.

I've run Mobil 1 in the past and been quite satisfied with it, but as we all know, it's expensive, and I feel it may be "too good" for my application. I've also run a couple vehicles with the Motorcraft 5W20 synthetic blend, which seems to have lots of positive reviews here on the forum and is considerably cheaper.

What say you? Stick with the M1 I've used in the past? Go back to the MC syn blend? Something else entirely? Other comments?

Thanks in advance.


The Motorcraft 5W-20 is a good oil, but if it were my truck, I would use Pennzoil Platinum 5W-20 in it.

What part of the Metroplex are you from? I lived in the Dallas/Oak Cliff/Duncanville are for 40 years.

Oh, one more thing,

to BITOG

 

[buster]

Mobil 1 all the way. MC should be just fine though.

 

[tvsjr]

Originally Posted By: hate2work

You think M1 might be "too good" for your application?

BTW, how much are you paying for this truck? And you're worried about spending a little more on the oil you run?

Not really what I meant... I think I'd be wasting perfectly good M1, dumping it long before it really needed to go. However, I don't want any warranty issues, nor do I have the time/patience to do UOAs, so I don't intend to run an extended OCI.

Regarding cost, I can buy MCSB for $12.50/jug ($2.50/qt.), while M1 is $24.99/jug ($4.99/qt.) last I checked. Assuming 175K miles in 5 years, that's 35 oil changes at 7 quarts per change, or 245 quarts of oil. That adds up to about $612 over the life of the vehicle - or one payment. That's fairly significant in my book.

 

[tvsjr]

Originally Posted By: Johnny
The Motorcraft 5W-20 is a good oil, but if it were my truck, I would use Pennzoil Platinum 5W-20 in it.

What part of the Metroplex are you from? I lived in the Dallas/Oak Cliff/Duncanville are for 40 years.

Oh, one more thing,

to BITOG


I've heard good things about Platinum but don't know enough about it to say where it rates compares to MCSB.

I live in Terrell, about 30mi. ESE of Dallas.

 

[Zhukov]

I recently saw some UOAs using MC 5W-20 with some ugly TBN numbers after less than 5,000 miles. For some reason, my searches of the UOA forum always limit out with 4 pages of results, so I couldn't look that far back.

What gives? I've been running this oil in my Tundra, but just bought some PP for my next oil change in light of some long-distance towing and the questionable TBN numbers I saw on those UOAs.

 

[lazaro]

Quote:
My requirements:
- No extended OCI. I'll change the oil every 5K as the book says.
- Ford-recommended weight only - 5W20.
- One oil year-round.
- This will be a high mileage vehicle. I drive about 35K a year and hope to keep the truck 5 years.
- No Amsoil.
- Oil changes will be performed by a local facility that I trust. I'll provide my own oil and Motorcraft filter.


Let me be the first to ask NO AMSOIL
with 3 post on the board please fill us in on your past knowledge why AMSOIL wont fit your needs.

simply put the 5.4 engine you have is a easy engine to maintain and I have many on the road now that all have 25,000 OCI with no issues.
well except for the fact that that engine likes to spit spark plugs out with threads attached!

http://www.goodson.com/store/template/pr...762553aa25b19d4

 

[Johnny]

Originally Posted By: tvsjr
Originally Posted By: Johnny
The Motorcraft 5W-20 is a good oil, but if it were my truck, I would use Pennzoil Platinum 5W-20 in it.

What part of the Metroplex are you from? I lived in the Dallas/Oak Cliff/Duncanville are for 40 years.

Oh, one more thing,

to BITOG


I've heard good things about Platinum but don't know enough about it to say where it rates compares to MCSB.

I live in Terrell, about 30mi. ESE of Dallas.


Know it well. Spent a lot of time in the Terrell/Canton areas.

I believe Platinum would rate right up there with the Mobil 1 product line.

 

[Johnny]

Originally Posted By: lazaro
Quote:
My requirements:
- No extended OCI. I'll change the oil every 5K as the book says.
- Ford-recommended weight only - 5W20.
- One oil year-round.
- This will be a high mileage vehicle. I drive about 35K a year and hope to keep the truck 5 years.
- No Amsoil.
- Oil changes will be performed by a local facility that I trust. I'll provide my own oil and Motorcraft filter.


Let me be the first to ask NO AMSOIL
with 3 post on the board please fill us in on your past knowledge why AMSOIL wont fit your needs.

simply put the 5.4 engine you have is a easy engine to maintain and I have many on the road now that all have 25,000 OCI with no issues.
well except for the fact that that engine likes to spit spark plugs out with threads attached!

Well, if he does not want to spend money on Mobil 1 what makes you think he wants to spend money on Amsoil. He is only going to be doing 5K changes and has stated he is not interested in extended oil changes.

 

[lazaro]

Originally Posted By: Johnny
Originally Posted By: lazaro
Quote:
My requirements:
- No extended OCI. I'll change the oil every 5K as the book says.
- Ford-recommended weight only - 5W20.
- One oil year-round.
- This will be a high mileage vehicle. I drive about 35K a year and hope to keep the truck 5 years.
- No Amsoil.
- Oil changes will be performed by a local facility that I trust. I'll provide my own oil and Motorcraft filter.


Let me be the first to ask NO AMSOIL
with 3 post on the board please fill us in on your past knowledge why AMSOIL wont fit your needs.

simply put the 5.4 engine you have is a easy engine to maintain and I have many on the road now that all have 25,000 OCI with no issues.
well except for the fact that that engine likes to spit spark plugs out with threads attached!

Well, if he does not want to spend money on Mobil 1 what makes you think he wants to spend money on Amsoil. He is only going to be doing 5K changes and has stated he is not interested in extended oil changes.

why would you spend money on Mobil1 to change it out in 5,000 miles? throwing money away!
He did single out AMSOIL and that is why I asked.
Let the OP answer that.

 

[Ben99GT]

Originally Posted By: lazaro
well except for the fact that that engine likes to spit spark plugs out with threads attached!

http://www.goodson.com/store/template/pr...762553aa25b19d4


Not since Nov. '07 they don't.

Ford changed the 3V spark plug design to a 1 piece with a tradition ground strap. Too bad the new plugs won't work in the old 3V cylinder heads though.

The revised plug is on the top.

 

[daman]

That sounds like extream conditions this truck could/will see i'd stick with a full synthetic if it was mine,PP or M1 will do the job better in the extream heat and cold IMO.

 

[tvsjr]

Originally Posted By: lazaro
Let me be the first to ask NO AMSOIL
with 3 post on the board please fill us in on your past knowledge why AMSOIL wont fit your needs.

simply put the 5.4 engine you have is a easy engine to maintain and I have many on the road now that all have 25,000 OCI with no issues.
well except for the fact that that engine likes to spit spark plugs out with threads attached!

http://www.goodson.com/store/template/pr...762553aa25b19d4


Off the bat, I'll say that I have my own reasons and leave it at that.

If you really want to know, keep reading:
- I don't like Amsoil's underhanded tactics with products that "meet API certification" but aren't actually certified.
- I don't like how their marketing feels like they're peddling snake oil.
- I don't like how becoming an Amsoil user seems to do strange things with your mind, where the mere mention of Amsoil in a negative light inspires the need for epic trolling, and where any other oil Just Won't Do - not even in your push mower.

If Amsoil was so terrific, why aren't major manufacturers using it as factory fill? Mobil 1 is becoming factory fill on quite a number of vehicles. Ford strongly recommends the MC syn blend for their cars (except for certain high-performance models that get M1).

So, let's just agree to disagree, and keep the Amsoil trolling out of what has been a very useful thread so far. Thanks.

 

[Johnny]

Well, there you go lazaro. Bet you liked my answer better.

 

[Johnny]

tvsjr, I just noticed this:

Registered: 10/19/06
Posts: 6
Loc: TX

Where you been for the past three years?

 

[Ben99GT]

I don't think Ford has recommended a Mobil 1 motor oil since the 2000 Cobra R. They're recommending Motorcraft Full Sythetic 5W-50 for their high performance cars now.