Not happy with M1 EP

[oilpan49]

Recently I changed to M1 10w30 EP and a Motorcraft filter. Well, my truck is doing the same thing as it did last year when I was running M1 5w30SS. The engine "rattles" noisewise upon decel. It's the weirdest thing but nonetheless, I don't like it one bit. It's fine at idle and normal acceleration but it only does it on decel. It's loudest directly around the valve cover, so maybe lifters or something?? I currently have about 6oz of LC in there if that helps anything and will continue to use LC.


My truck made this "rattle" even with GC and a MC filter but it was very quiet about it. Is M1 just too thin for my engine?? Because 10w30 should be plently for my truck. It specs 5w30 according to the manual. Should I dump the M1 or what does everyone suggest?? Thank you,,,,,AR

 

[Mamala Bay]

What kind of vehicle & mileage?

 

[oilpan49]

98 Ford Ranger. 2.5L 4cyl engine. 73K miles. 80% highway/20% city

 

[Islandvic]

I would not assume its the oil.

How many miles do you have on the M1 EP?

Maybe the problem is that Ford 4cyl engines are not as smooth as *** 4cyls.

Have you checked one of the vac lines.

 

[04SpecV]

Maybe its just a noisy engine. Have you done any other testing besides "it sounds noisy" ??

 

[427Z06]

quote:

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Originally posted by Airborne Ranger:
Should I dump the M1 or what does everyone suggest?? Thank you,,,,,AR

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IMHO, unless you do at least a UOA, I would discount any subjective sensory input. I.e., did you dislike your science teachers? Maybe they had a bad attitude due to pay inequities?

 

[KW]

I ran the M1 5W30 in my Jeep 4.0 and the thing sounded like a diesel idling. Now I run another brand 10W30 that is thicker and the engine sounds fine. The M1 might be to thin for your truck like it was in my Jeep. If the sound bothers you drain it, but I doubt it will hurt anything to go ahead and finish the OCI.

 

[unDummy]

I bet that the oil is too thin. Next time use Mobil1 0w40 and let us know if the rattle goes away. At your next oil change, skip the LC or add it several hundred miles after one to see if it helps or not.

 

[TooSlick]

Forget the 0w-40 nonsense and try the Mobil 1, 5w-40. It will make the engine MUCH quieter than the Mobil 1 5w-30 or 10w-30 - particularly this four banger.

Ted

 

[NewGuy]

FWIW...M1 10W30 made my V8 engine (5.3L) rattle after I had about 3K miles on the oil. It sounded like valve noise and was noticeable when the engine was under stress and between gears. I replaced it with Havoline 10W30 and things are fine.

I believe that M1 just doesn't perform well in some engines. Maybe yours is one of them. I would suggest going back to MC semi-synthetic and the same MC filter. That combination is hard to beat for Ford engines.

 

[TallPaul]

Add half a bottle of Synpower Oil Treatment (approx. 100 cSt) and it should thicken up pretty good. Or drop a quart (save for top ups) and add M1 15w50. Either way saves you dumping the oil early.

 

[Kelton]

Where is Synpower available? I have checked everywhere except Autozone...do they have it?

 

[buster]

If it made it with the thick GC, then it's your engine. I'd turn the radio up or switch to a 40wt weight if it bothers you that bad.

 

[Pick]

What the heck, dump some 20W50 in there and see what happens.

 

[Curious Kid]

In the back of my mind, I recall someone mentioning how some oils are better at transfering/deadening noises that readily occur in the engine better than others. Might this be an example?

A UOA is the only thing short of disassembly and visual/measured inspection to get a better hold on what's going on, unless others are familiar with what truely may be the culprit with your specific vehicle/engine.

If along the theory of thicker is better, try some of the Valvoline treatment that TallPaul mentioned. I believe I've spotted it at Autozone.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[TallPaul]

quote:

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Originally posted by Kelton:
Where is Synpower available? I have checked everywhere except Autozone...do they have it?

---

Should be able to get it at AutoZone or Pep Boys. A second, and porer choice, is Maxlife Engine Protector, which is about the same thickness, but the Synpower stuff has a much better additive package (VOA's on this site for both).

Figure the mix using the viscosity blending calculator, which will approximate it for you (can put dummy figures in the 40C viscosity to make it work. Actually it is just the weighted average of the logs of each viscosity, then anti-log the result.

 

[windnsea00]

My dad's 2002 F-150 with the V6 had lots of mechanical noise when running Mobil 1 10w30....now that it has 60k miles, I tried something thicker...Mobil 1 15w50 EP w/ the usual Motocraft filter. Runs smooth as that engine can be I would imagine or at least compared to the 10w30.

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

windnsea, Did you put a full crankcase of 15w-50 in your dad's V6? I'd love to see a UOA of that oil in that V6 engine! Please do get a UOA done and post it back here.

 

[oilpan49]

Thanks everyone for the help. One thing I failed to mention in my first post and I don't know how important this would be but it only makes this "rattle" when the engine is cold. After it warms up, it's fine.

I've been thinking to give the M1 a chance because it has about 800 miles on it right now and see if it helps the noise as the oil gets older and obtains a few thousand miles or so. I still have the old GC in my drain pan and it's been there since I changed the oil last week. Is it still good to do a UOA on that?? or should I focus on the M1?? Or I could do both?? Do the GC UOA, wait alittle while till M1 obtains some miles on it, then do a UOA on there? I've heard the 10w30/15w50 combo is a popular mix. While I'm not big on mixing viscosities nor brand needless to say, mixing viscosities is something I'm open too? Thanks again everyone. I'm still open to ideas if anyone has some more they can ponder up. Thanks,,,,AR

 

[Gary Allan]

I don't quite get this decell thing. Although I'm sure someone could come up with something, I can't for the life of my figure how anything would rattle on decelleration and not accelleration ...at least pressure lube related. The only thing that I can figure is that it occurs during both and cannot be heard during accelleration. That still leaves steady state instances unexplained.