what oil to use on a high mileage t-bird?

[Casper_Chua]

i have a thunderbird year 94 lx 4.6 v8 and the engine already near it's 150k mileage. the engine doesn't "eat" much oil and i have always change the oil at about 2.5 to 3k intervals. i have use M1 when i got the car about half a year ago at 130k mileage and then produce an oil leak at the oil sending unit which cost me about $250 to fix. ever since then i have using the valvoline max life and just recently doing a Auto-RX treatment. halfway through the treatment the oil pressure maintains fairly high and the engine runs smooth. anyone have a suggetion on what oil should i used or just stick with maxlife? $$$ is not much of a concerned to me because i drive a little hard on this bird and wanted the engine to last me another few more years. i have always use k&n oil filter though. thanks for any comment or suggestion.

 

[Intelman34]

My 1993 Thunderbird with the 5.0L V8 (92k miles) runs perfect on 10w30 Castrol GTX High Mileage. Once I started using it... it doesn't burn or leak a drop of oil and I drive it like I stole it

 

[UncleS2]

I think the high-mileage oil is probably a good idea. I'd choose Pennzoil or Castrol high-mileage over the Vlv-HM for the next oil change- they have moly, which Valvoline dropped.

 

[Casper_Chua]

why moly? good stuff to protect engine? gtx 5w30 ok?

 

[Casper_Chua]

how about transmission cleaning with auto rx? no idea how to do it on the 4r70w transmission. the oil have very strong burn smell in it and i will dropping an oil cooler and doing a J-Mod soon. and also no luck on finding an oversize k&n oil filter and also filter relocation kit for this engine.....

 

[Schmoe]

Sort of the same boat, but car has 170K. Like you, changing every 3 to 4K religiously but have used Pennz. 10W-30 or 5W-30, depending on type of year (yes, it does get cold in Oklahoma sometimes). About a year ago I switched to Vavoline Max Life and noticed some changes, lifter noise and oil pressure differences. Also noticed the engine had more outside oil on it. At that time, don't know about now, the Max Life didn't have the API doughnut on it. I think they do now. Went to Pennz. HM 10W-30 and problems disappeared and engine just "feels" better. Not burning any oil either. I'd try that and see if you notice a difference than what your using now. I use Puroilator filters.

 

[Casper_Chua]

today just change oil after the first auto-rx treatment and i'm using castrol gtx 5w30 and k&n oil filter oil pressure still remain high but performance wise didn't not the change. gonna to another auto-rx treatment within few weeks time and see how it goes using max life is about 50++ peroil change but gtx is about 30 per oil change, probably change it every 2k miles with gtxinstead of 3k miles on max life. good idea??? what is a dino oil anyway? any brand? purpose of dino oil versus regular oil???

 

[mebanditws6]

Get the 2nd rx treatment done, then either switch to GTX HM or Penzoil HM but in 10w40 viscosity since you have alot of miles. If you're worried about cold cranking, the Penzoil pumps better than the Castrol on those cold mornings. The other alternative is switch back to M1, in the 0w40 at least for winter and maybe 15w50 for the summer. But at the least I would run one of the 2 better HM oils and in the 10w40 viscosity. Jason

 

[Flimflam]

quote:

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Originally posted by Casper_Chua: i have a thunderbird year 94 lx 4.6 v8 and the engine already near it's 150k mileage. the engine doesn't "eat" much oil and i have always change the oil at about 2.5 to 3k intervals. i have use M1.......

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thunderbird is not worth the $4.50 or so you spend for one quart of M1, let alone 4, 5, or 6 quarts you need for 1 oilchange. Sorry, I forget how many pints I had to throw down the oil filler hole on my old t-bird. 99-cent oil is good enough for t-bird. Remember, once that freakin' thing decides it is time to leave this world, it will not make any difference if you used 49-cent per quart "Engine Death" oil, or Redline or Amsoil throughout the life of the car. I paid more for triple-A tow trucks when I drove a t-bird than I will ever pay for oil and filters over the next 30 years. Electrical problems and cooling system failure were very common with this car.