Oil for 3.5 Ecoboost ?

Here are my oil tests with the Navigator

Quaker State 5W40 API SP

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Here is Chevron Delo 5W40 XSP and the other columns are Mobil 1 Delvac 5W40 ESP

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Based on my experience, looking at actual oil tests and Ford Techs suggestion I would go with 3000 mile oil interval with Pennzoil 5W30 Ultra Platinum and use Motorcraft filter as listed in the owners manual. Its because that is the best result Ive seen and I will be testing Ultra Platinum myself in the future.

I would not fool with this engine. Use full synthetic and well known brand. API SP. Change at 3000 miles. That will give you the best result possible.


An alternate oil is Quaker State 5W40 European API SP.
 
Here is the oil test for an F150 Ecoboost using Pennzoil Platinum 5W30. Notice how the iron content is higher and the oil sheared down to a 5W20. There is a difference between Platinum and Ultra Platinum.

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Keep in mind, the primary driver of viscosity loss is fuel, and Blackstone doesn't properly measure fuel. That's a pretty decent drop in flashpoint there, I suspect if it was sent to OAI/Polaris or another lab that does GC we'd probably see around 3% fuel.
 
Head gasket problems and loss of coolant into the cylinders seem to be a big and expensive issue, even on low mileage fords with the EcoBoost.
My 2017 Expedition 3.5 Ecoboost needed a head gasket at 116K. I'm at 139K now and it sounds like it needs timing chain. Great engine for towing, when it works. Way too temperamental to run outside of a warranty, unless you're budgeting substantial sums for repair. I got mine used around 70K and have used Castrol Magnatec 5W-30 for all my oil changes. Some people with 5K synthetic changes still had developed cam phaser issues. I think there's poor oiling to the chain or something else going on. The issue is too prevalent for it be a simple case of Ford using too high an OLM setting.
 
Here is Quaker State 5W40 European API SP virgin oil (before) and used oil (after). Virgin oil taken from same container.

Basically the Ecoboost beats up oil. If you want the viscosity to hold and resist shearing you have to go with an HDEO like Mobil Delvac 5W40 ESP. Any other oil you have to change it out at 3000 miles otherwise viscosity simply wont last.

I cannot possibly imagine using Ford semi-synth 5W30 or changing it out at 5000+ miles! After doing all this oil testing...no way!

Go with Delvac 5W40 ESP or at least one of these Euro 5W40s. Notice viscosity went from 12.29 to 10.66! If the oil was in there for another 1000 getting close to 5W20 viscosity!

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Here is the Mobil Delvac 5W40 ESP. It held up very well over 5000 miles resisting fuel dilution and shearing. Compare that to the 5W40 European above. Dual use HDEO is the way to go.
 

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Here is Quaker State 5W40 European API SP virgin oil (before) and used oil (after). Virgin oil taken from same container.

Basically the Ecoboost beats up oil. If you want the viscosity to hold and resist shearing you have to go with an HDEO like Mobil Delvac 5W40 ESP. Any other oil you have to change it out at 3000 miles otherwise viscosity simply wont last.

I cannot possibly imagine using Ford semi-synth 5W30 or changing it out at 5000+ miles! After doing all this oil testing...no way!

Go with Delvac 5W40 ESP or at least one of these Euro 5W40s. Notice viscosity went from 12.29 to 10.66! If the oil was in there for another 1000 getting close to 5W20 viscosity!

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Odd that the PDS for this oil shows it should be 13.3cSt:
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Here is the Mobil Delvac 5W40 ESP. It held up very well over 5000 miles resisting fuel dilution and shearing. Compare that to the 5W40 European above. Dual use HDEO is the way to go.
I would say it would appear to have experienced less shear, based on the fact that the flashpoint is notably lower while relative loss appears to be less. But let's look at that a bit more:

- Virgin for D1 5W-40 is 13.8cSt, down to 11.71cSt, so it has lost 15% of its original viscosity, assuming the visc measurement is accurate (we'll get back to that in a moment).
- Virgin for QS 5W-40 is 13.3cSt, down to 10.66cSt, so it has lost 20% of its original viscosity.
However
- VOA for QS 5W-40 is 12.29cSt, down to 10.66cSt, so it has lost 13% of its original viscosity, assuming the visc measurement is accurate.

What would be helpful here are UOA's with accurate fuel dilution measurements (so, not Blackstone). As trying to judge what's shear and what's dilution using Blackstone reports is problematic.
 
I think different production batches have varying amounts of ingredients and viscosity. So Quaker States published figures may not be accurate. Blackstone labs may not be accurate too.

Quaker State might have changed their formula and did not update the website.
 
Have you tried a solid 10w30 like the old Amsoil ACD or even their current 10w30 ATM?

Specs:
VI - 147
Noack - 4.1%

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I think different production batches have varying amounts of ingredients and viscosity. So Quaker States published figures may not be accurate. Blackstone labs may not be accurate too.

Quaker State might have changed their formula and did not update the website.
Yes, batch variation is definitely a thing, but we are talking a pretty big difference between the VOA (12.3cSt) and the PDS (13.3cSt). This is significant, because the VOA puts the oil in xW-30 territory, which certainly has me doubting its accuracy. Would you mind asking them to re-run it, given this variance?
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Imagine buying a used vehicle with this engine and the owner was a bit lax in their oil change intervals.
 
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