Too thick for the I-6?

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Last month I changed my oil in my old F150 w/ I-6. It was pretty hot out then and I put in Maxlife 10-40 and added a pint of Sheaffers moly EP. I only have a couple hundred miles on it now but will run it this winter. I usually put 5-30 in it for the winter months. Now the temp is down into the 20's and 30's in the mornings and maybe reaching 40-50 during the day. So, my question is will the thick HM 10-40 with the EP in it be too thick when it gets even colder, say 0-30 degrees F? Should I change it out soon or not worry about the hearty, bulletproof I-6? Just let it warm up longer? I won't reach my normal OCI of 5,000m until about January or so. Discuss...
 
I don't think it's going to hurt anything. A 10W is usually rec. down to 0F (-18C); and technically, a 10W is cold-cranking tested down to -25C, so it should be fine.
 
Dad always ran a 5W or 10W30 in his 300 I-6. Not sure what effect the #132 has on viscosity. I know it thickens up the oil, and might be a better option for the summer months. For 1 OCI it probably won't hurt.

Why are you using the #132?
 
Nah, 10-30/40 was the standard fill for years in the I-6.
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I don't think it's possible to hurt one of them anyway. A truly legendary engine.
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Dad always said it was one of the best engines ever made. I was just wondering why the Op added the #132. I heard good things about it, but thought it wouldn't really help much during the winter since it is thick like STP or Lucas OT.
 
Originally Posted By: ADFD1
Dad always ran a 5W or 10W30 in his 300 I-6. Not sure what effect the #132 has on viscosity. I know it thickens up the oil, and might be a better option for the summer months. For 1 OCI it probably won't hurt.

Why are you using the #132?

OK. What is #132 code for?
 
Originally Posted By: Carbon
Originally Posted By: ADFD1
Dad always ran a 5W or 10W30 in his 300 I-6. Not sure what effect the #132 has on viscosity. I know it thickens up the oil, and might be a better option for the summer months. For 1 OCI it probably won't hurt.

Why are you using the #132?

OK. What is #132 code for?


http://www.schaefferoil.com/specialty/132.html
 
I've heard many stories about that engine. Don't know if it's true or not, but several years ago my UPS driver told me the Ford 300 I-6 was the engine in all the brown trucks on the road.

I'd leave it in for the winter, you can't hurt that power plant.

But I'm also wondering why you added the EP treatment. I thought it was gears that needed that stuff and would just be wasted in motor oil.
 
Well I would not run a 10W40 then add a pint of something that I know nothing about and think it would be fine for Winter!A 5W40 or 0W40 sure no problem. I have no clue how cold it get's in PA but if it get's as cold as it does in Michigan in the Winter time I am thinking that conventional 10w40 is going to be marginal like cutting it close to the limit. I am that it does not get a cold in your area even if you get a lot of snow due to warm air coming off the ocean but this is just a guess on my part. I guess run it until you hear sings of oil flow and pump issues and then dump it and put in 5W30. Understand it is not the fact that it is a 40Wt. that is the problem it is that it is a 10W rated oil.

It also does not mattter that it is the I6 engine configurationmeans nothing just clearances matter.
 
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I have the 300 I-6 vintage 1988, I also had a house in PA. I would not want a 10W40 oil in it for the winter, especially with the Schaeffer's #132 added to it. BTW I like Shaeffer's #132, but not for a PA winter with a 10W40 oil.

Those engines will work fine with just about any oil, but 5W30 is a better choice for a PA winter. If I was going to put an additive in it for the winter I would add MMO. JMO

Will your current fill hurt the engine? No, but as others mentioned there are better choices.
 
I just finished with an AutoRX run and I put in the 10-40 and EP due to the weather being hot at the time and was going to run the truck for a month or two until it would need changing. Plus I was going to do some heavy hauling with it during that time. It got cold really quick and it snowed 6-8 inches in early October (melted 2 days later). The clutch went out in it two weeks ago and I just got it back, hence the low miles on the oil. Just wondering about the somewhat heavy oil when it does get colder and stays cold. BTW, I don't live anywhere near the ocean so the temp is comparable to Michigan (North Central PA). I guess I will change it out when it gets REAL cold.
 
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If you do it yoruself and don't have the luxury of a heated garage, change it now. If you don't mind grabbing some coffe and running and back and forth outside (that's my style in Canada ;)) then you should change it once it gets closer to 0F.
 
I do have a nice 28X40 garage heated by a wood stove so changing it in the cold is no problem. I guess I will wait until it's time or until I hear a woooump... wump,wump,wump when I try to start it on a cold morning. Thanks guys!
 
Originally Posted By: ridgerunner
I do have a nice 28X40 garage heated by a wood stove so changing it in the cold is no problem. I guess I will wait until it's time or until I hear a woooump... wump,wump,wump when I try to start it on a cold morning. Thanks guys!


Those oil filters are real easy to get off. Why not remove the filter drain the oil out of it, maybe 2 times and add a qt of MMO. That will take care of any cold start issues and clean the engine. JMO
 
Pointless to worry about. I run Mobil 1 10w30 in mine all year around with 275,000 miles on it. I can pull a boat with the gas pedal literally floored for 5 hours straight up to KY Lake and back, total of 10 hours, and not use a drop. It is a bullet proof engine and there will never be another like it. Once I broke down on an interstate 2 hours from my home town. The vinyl timing gears shattered, and although I made the idiotic redneck mechanic promise to drop the oil pan and clean the gears out he didn't. I drove about 1 hour and lost oil pressure due to the oil pump being clogged. I had so many miles and was so sick of that particular debacle that I kept driving. I drove for one hour with no oil to the head, it sounded like it was seriously going to blow up. Long story short, with the oil pump cleared, she fired up, made no weird noises, and has run 100,000 miles since then and still can be driven floored for 10 hours and use no oil. There is no better engine out there. It was originally designed as a diesel. Just get a good 10w30 and forget about it man.
 
IMO one of the best engines ever made! I've owned a total of 4 vehicles with that engine. Shame the engine is now no longer made. I pulls like a small a freight train, and will out tow any V6 I've ever driven. Lacks a little in the speed department, mpgs aren't the greatest but if Ford ever brought it back I'd be looking at that truck for my fleet.
 
I have a 1995 F 150 with that engine.When I got it back in march it had 246,000!I decided on YB 10w30 .It does fine with that.I don't know if there has ever been ny work done to the engine .Guy I bought it fron had it for 5 years I think and said he never did anything enternally to it.It is hard to believe an engine that runs that good,uses mabe a QT in 2500 miles ,and has 250.000 thou on it now.
 
Originally Posted By: ADFD1
Originally Posted By: ridgerunner
I do have a nice 28X40 garage heated by a wood stove so changing it in the cold is no problem. I guess I will wait until it's time or until I hear a woooump... wump,wump,wump when I try to start it on a cold morning. Thanks guys!


Those oil filters are real easy to get off. Why not remove the filter drain the oil out of it, maybe 2 times and add a qt of MMO. That will take care of any cold start issues and clean the engine. JMO



The engine has had a AutoRX run under it's belt already this summer. I cut open the filters and they were clean as a whistle. I seriously doubt that MMO would do any better since the engine is already spotless even before the RX.
 
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