Oil Advice For Specific Situation

[lancerplayer]

I am requesting advice on which oil to run in preparation to my future situation. I will have my 2000 Ford Ranger 2.5L 4 cylinder 5 speed with me at college next year. I will try to give as much information as possible, so the proper oil recommendation can be given.

Currently...

Miles = 101,000
Oil = 5w-30 Dealer oil (Dodge dealer)
Oil Filter = Dealer filter (Dodge brand)
Current weather range = 50's to 80's
Location = Cleveland, OH
Driving style = 50% city and 50% highway. Mostly always allow engine to warm up. Drive easy until appropriate temperature is reached. Drive like a grandpa. Easy on cars. Early shifts. Cruise at 40 MPH in 4th gear in city. Always OD on highway.

Future...

Miles = 102,500 (approx)
Oil = ?
Oil filter = ?
Future weather range (that I will be experiencing) = 0 to 80's
Location = Erie, PA
Driving style = 90% city and 10% highway. Many short trips. Many start ups in various weather. Not allow engine to properly warm up. Driving around campus. Not too often engine will reach correct operating temperature. Highway driving is the same, always OD. Not many miles will be put on car, aside from hundreds of miles of highway driving to/from school/home. Not driven every day. Few days will be sitting outside.
OCI = Thinking about going by months rather than miles. September-May (9 months). Not many miles, however.

Questions...

1) Should I change to dealer oil now? I'm not sure what brand or viscosity is currently in the engine. I'm assuming 5w-30 (manual specs) dino. Manual calls for Motorcraft semi-synthetic. Only approx 1,500 miles will be put on the new oil and filter, however before I leave for school.

2) Anything wrong with keeping the same oil in the engine for 9 months over fall, winter, and spring? Not many miles will be put on.

3) What can I do to ensure I do not harm the engine in any way?

I appreciate your advice and time.

 

[JHZR2]

I'd put motorcraft, PYB, valvoline or havoline into the engine, with a motorcraft filter. Every once in a while, get the truck out and on the highway for 30-40 miles, to drive off fuel and water. Don't worry about the 1500 miles or having the oil in for 9 months. In fact, if you can regularly get it out and well driven (40+ miles non-stop use), you can easily just leave the oil and do once a year... so long as youre not well over 5000 miles in the year.

Consider using LC20 to extend oil life, it is great stuff! Will combat oxidation and other bad processes, help retain viscosity, etc.

For short trips, like are done in my mother's car, I like to run synthetics. Ive shown well via UOA that for this type of severe service, syn oils allow one to extend the OCI out to at least the non-severe manufacturer's suggestion, even with 4-5 BLOCK drives.

Have you considered replacing the diff and trans fluids? Coolant? How is the battery? Give it a few coats of a good wax before going away... A real good wash/clay, then application of collinite 476 for 2-3 coats is a good choice for long-lasting protection.

 

[ChiTDI]

Winter is the toughest season on oil. Short trips on a cold engine don't help.
Go the Motorcraft route- oil and filter, change it before winter and then maybe late spring. 9 months w/o changing oil isn't a problem if you can avoid winter in the mix.
Check the oil regularly and you should be fine.
Good luck in school.

 

[Nickdfresh]

It's a great engine and a nice gearbox and I sort of miss mine...

I'd use Motorcraft 5W-30 in it, but pretty much any SM-rated 5W-30 would do. I would try to change the oil out at spring break though. Or at least take it out on the I-90 once in a while to heat the oil up a bit...

P.S. You might want to get some nice snow tires for the Winter...

 

[adibigs]

If the truck is not leaking or burning any oil- a good 5w40 dino will be sufficient, If you are burning or have leaks 10w40 would be a good choice. Preferably a higher mileage oil. The use of synthetics may suprise you with finding leaks.

As for an oil filter, ACdelco or motorcraft either one you can not go wrong.

I had a 93 ranger 3.0Liter and I used motorcraft filters with 10w40 Qs high mileage. 143,000k on the clock at that time.

 

[NHHEMI]

5W-30 high mileage oil of your choice( I like Valvoline MaxLife )and a Motorcraft filter. 5K OC's and you are good.

 

[lancerplayer]

So the synthetic route is an overkill and unneeded? I will be fine with conventional or semi-synthetic? I do not believe the truck is consuming any oil, but I will defiantly look into that.

Thanks with the responses so far.

 

[bmwtechguy]

You don't HAVE to have leaks or consumption to run a high mileage oil, but HM oils are usually synthetic blends, and IMO use better base oils and additive package than regular old conventional oil. You have a lot of options to choose from. I'll throw my vote for Maxlife as it has performed great in my vehicles for a decent price, esp when on sale.

 

[tropic]

Originally Posted By: lancerplayer
So the synthetic route is an overkill and unneeded? I will be fine with conventional or semi-synthetic? I do not believe the truck is consuming any oil, but I will defiantly look into that.

Do well in school, and your oil choice today will likely have less consequence.

I suspect you'll be fine with any 5w-30 if you change it out on a reasonable schedule. A synthetic 0w-30 or 5w-30 might provide better cold starts and protect better during high load / high temp keg runs.

 

[Mark888]

Originally Posted By: lancerplayer
So the synthetic route is an overkill and unneeded? I will be fine with conventional or semi-synthetic? I do not believe the truck is consuming any oil, but I will defiantly look into that.

Thanks with the responses so far.

Some people think synthetic is overkill, and some think it is a good choice. There will never be any consensus on this forum about that.

I personally would highly recommend synthetic for a low mileage engine, but sometimes if the engine already has a lot of wear, a synthetic "may" not be a good idea, or it may work just fine.

If cost is a concern, Walmart SuperTech Full synthetic is a very good oil, probably better than any brand name synthetic blend. I would try 5W-30. SuperTech also has a synthetic blend oil, or you can mix your own with 1-2 quarts of full synthetic with the rest conventional oil. Synthetic blends usually do not have much synthetic oil in them (way less than 50%).

 

[joel95ex]

For the price of a dealer oil change "special", you could run almost any oil you wanted to and do it once per year. I would stick with a 5w-30, try to combine short trips so you are driving at operating temp for a while, take an occasional highway spin, and change at 3k... that way, you don't have to change often, but are addressing your concern of leaving oil in for a long time.

 

[Nickdfresh]

Originally Posted By: lancerplayer
So the synthetic route is an overkill and unneeded? I will be fine with conventional or semi-synthetic? I do not believe the truck is consuming any oil, but I will defiantly look into that.

Thanks with the responses so far.


If you use MaxLife, or Motorcraft, you'll be getting a synthetic-blend with pour points of -44F that rival many "full syn's." 5W-20 MC would be a good choice since you're not driving a lot with frequent short trips...

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: lancerplayer
So the synthetic route is an overkill and unneeded? I will be fine with conventional or semi-synthetic? I do not believe the truck is consuming any oil, but I will defiantly look into that.

Thanks with the responses so far.


If you look back, way back, probably to 2002 or so, you can see a variety of UOAs on my mothers car, a 97 plymouth breeze that gets 5 blocks of use, 4 times a day, a trip to the supermarket here and there, and a long trip once in a while on the weekend.

Syn oils let us comfortably extend the OCI in this severe service, from the manufacturer's claimed severe condition interval to the normal interval, or get more than double the life.

Would a good, recen SM oil allow the same thing to be done? perhaps... but syns are spectacular for performing in less than optimal conditions while maintaining high levels of protection and peace of mind.

Id say their use is more compelling given the new, proposed use profile you mention vs how you used the vehicle previously... only UOA can give you real proof...

 

[NHHEMI]

Originally Posted By: lancerplayer
So the synthetic route is an overkill and unneeded? I will be fine with conventional or semi-synthetic? I do not believe the truck is consuming any oil, but I will defiantly look into that.

Thanks with the responses so far.


Valvoline Maxlife HM comes in blend and full synthetic.