Oil for a Ford 4.6 V8???

[Chris B.]

My buddy just bought a 2002 Ford F150 with the 4.6 engine and 15,000 miles on it. The owners book says to use Motorcraft 5w20 synthetic blend. Is there a better oil for his truck then this? He has a Fram oil filter on it now and told him to not use those anymore but I'm not sure what the best oil would be for him. He won't change it himself and takes it to the local Firestone garage to have his cars serviced. Many thanks!

 

[Spector]

Unless the Firestone shop is willing to put in an oil that he brings with him there is no point to discussing the merits of oil and filters with him. Sounds like he is pretty much set in his ways and if he has the oil changeds every 3000 miles it won't make any difference anyway. Wonder what Firestone is using for a 5W20 or even if they are putting in a 5W20???

 

[msparks]

What change interval is he interested in?? Amsoil makes a 5w20 synthetic(group III) rated for 7500 miles or 6 months service. If he is interested in extended drains, I'm running Amsoil Series 2000 0w30 in my 1997 F150. Oil drains of 1 year are no problem. Also Mobil is coming out with a synthetic 0w20 I think, that would also be another choice. Then again 5w30 will not hurt the engine, so his choice then can be any particular brand he is comfortable with.

 

[TooSlick]

Chris, These are relatively slow revving engines that are often used for towing ...I'd run Mobil 1, 5w-30 if you want something off the shelf. It's very close to being a 5w-20 anyway - about 10 Centistokes @ 100C. TooSlick

 

[MNgopher]

The motorcraft 5w20 has posted pretty good numbers in other analysis, though not many of them have been hot weather or extended drains. Mobil 1 0w20 (if you can find it) or Amsoils 5w20 would be good synthetic choices. The Castrol 5w20 has also looked pretty decent.

 

[Spector]

quote:

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Originally posted by msparks: Amsoil makes a 5w20 synthetic(group III) rated for 7500 miles or 6 months service.

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I wish that Amsoil would not use the word "synthetic" with the XL series of Amsoil. It just ain't right and places Amsoil in the same league as the other misleading oils out there like Syntec etc. They should not play that game!

 

[Chris B.]

Thanks for the help guys! I'll print this out and let him read it! msparks, how many miles are driving in one year?

 

[skinnyd]

Is the Amsoil XL7500 not a true/fully synthetic oil?

 

[Patman]

quote:

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Originally posted by skinnyd: Is the Amsoil XL7500 not a true/fully synthetic oil?

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Not anymore, it's now using a group 3 petroleum base.

 

[metroplex]

I'm thinking about switching to 5W-20 (Motorcraft) for my 4.6L SOHC V8 seeing how its a Group III at $1.77/qt I drive very aggressively so I might get a UOA done just to see how it stands against aggressive city driving.

 

[Patman]

quote:

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Originally posted by metroplex: I'm thinking about switching to 5W-20 (Motorcraft) for my 4.6L SOHC V8 seeing how its a Group III at $1.77/qt I drive very aggressively so I might get a UOA done just to see how it stands against aggressive city driving.

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OMG, HE-double hockey sticks just froze over! Metroplex is going to run 5w20?

 

[metroplex]

I'm not sure if the Conoco/Motorcraft 5W-20 is a pure Group III or a Group II/III blend as its price indicates its too inexpensive to be a II/PAO blend or a Group III - but it seemed to run fine in the 5.4 Now that being said, I don't believe there are any UOAs involving city driving or aggressive driving - so I'm not sure if its OK to use in my application (2000 Ford Crown Vic w/ 4.6L SOHC V8) but I'm seriously thinking about switching just for a few intervals. For $1.77/qt, its really inexpensive "synthetic" oil.

 

[mebanditws6]

Almost any 10w30 oil would be better than a 5w20 oil. I'm sorry but the only reason Ford recommends the sewing machine weight oil is for gas mileage which isn't much to be gained with an oil. Use a good 10w30 oil such as M1 at least. I'd probably use their 0w40 year round if it were my truck. Jason

 

[boxcartommie22]

iam using delvac 1 5w 40 in my 4.6 vicall year long also i use 1 qt. of redlines 15w40