Piston Slap Solution and 5w-20 Confusion...

[SailSkiDrive]

This fine nearly Spring morning (65F) I fired up my Chevy Silverado and watched neighborhood children and small animals flee in horror from the racket that resonated from beneath my hood. My pseudo-wife quickly announced that the time has come to make a commitment, so off to the Ford dealership we went.

Arriving home a few hours later w/ a stunningly handsome F150 I popped the hood and was completely in shock to see a 5w-20 label on the oil fill cap. The new truck has Ford's 5.4L Triton motor and I know for a fact that the Ford Super Duty F250s w/ the 5.4 that I looked at clearly had 5w-30 on the oil fill cap. What gives here?

~Sail

*PS* Incidently I was drooling over the Super Duty F250s but was clearly told by the pseudo-spousal-unit "No trucks with lights on the top!"
I chuckled. "They're called clearance lights."

 

[G-MAN]

I'd be willing to bet you looked at that oil cap wrong. I don't think Ford specs 5w30 in any of the Triton engines no matter what they come in. Heck, even the V10 comes with 5w20 in it.

 

[jamesn]

they do it for C A F E standards.

 

[The Critic]

quote:

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I'd be willing to bet you looked at that oil cap wrong. I don't think Ford specs 5w30 in any of the Triton engines no matter what they come in.

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Agreed. The only Ford engine in the 2006 line-up that still specs 5W30 is the 4.0L SOHC V6, if I remember correctly.

Oh yes...for oil on the truck...just run the cheapest 5W20 and the OEM Motorcraft filter at 5K drains...it should be hardly a stress for the oil as the engine has a 7 qt sump!

Congrats on the new truck.

 

[G-MAN]

The Jaguar built 4.0 V8 used in the Lincoln LS is spec'd for 5w30. That and the 4.0 V6 you mentioned are the only two that don't come with 5w20 in 'em.

 

[The Critic]

I only see a 3.9L V8 listed for the 2006 Lincoln LS, and it specs 5w20.

 

[G-MAN]

quote:

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Originally posted by Michael Wan:
I only see a 3.9L V8 listed for the 2006 Lincoln LS, and it specs 5w20.

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Really? The 3.9 used to be on the 5w30 list, so I guess that's changed.

(I typed 4.0 by mistake in my orig post.)

 

[55Test]

The company I work for has a 2003 E350 XLT van with the 5.4 Triton, and on the oil cap it says 5w20. It's got close to 145000 miles on it now (LOTS of driving), and the van isn't babied either. Runs good, plenty of power even with 14 people. Oil is changed by a tire shop (Coast Tire) in town, don't know the OCI. Sometimes, the OCI is 'extended' because there's just no time to get it in to the shop, or it's forgotten. It sounds like it might be getting a little bit of a rattle on startup now.

 

[SailSkiDrive]

I must have read the cap wrong - the pure excitement of the brawny Super Duty and the shiny grill must have made me dellusional. Amazingly I ended up paying within $500 of the same amount for this new F150 as I did for my Chevy 1500 four years ago. The F150 is definitely a generation ahead, I assume GM will be releasing a redesigned truck soon, but I'll never buy from them again.

After the warranty period is up I'll probably switch to GC and run longer drain intervals. But for now Ford is calling for 5k / 6 month max drain intervals. I guess the short OICs and 7 qt oil pan is how they snuck 5w-20 in there...

The Chevy was sort of a 3rd vehicle, however I really kind of like driving the new F150, it's AMAZINGLY quiet. I might use it as a daily driver for a while, at least until the novelty wears off.

~Sail

 

[tamu_man]

I currently work for a Ford dealer. A quality 20wt will deliver nearly the same film strength as a basic 30wt. My personal preference is redline 5w20. You'd only have to do 7 changes before the warranty is up. Definitely worth it in my opinion until you can use a nice 30wt outside of warranty. PM me if you have any questions about the truck. Congrats!

P.S. Everyone should take note, this is the only truely proven way to cure GM piston slap

 

[ImaginThat]

Just run with the Motorcraft 5w20 or one of it's cousin's with the MC filter, your truck will love ya

I run it in my 99 5.4 and she's happy, Congrats on the new ride