Why did Ford go from 5W20 to 5W30?

[E365]

My 2015 Focus 1.0 is still spec'd for 5w-20, but I see for 2017 they switched spec to WSS-M2C948-B, the same spec that was in the European owners manuals all along. WSS-M2C945-A was the old spec.

Also for 2017 they appear to have added some cold weather guidance and approved WSS-M2C947-A (0w-20). That wasn't in the 2015 or 2016 manuals.

Looks like the Focus 2.0 also got the same 0w-20 added, plus WSS-M2C953-A1 0w-30 added, along with the new 948-B spec 5w-20 and the addition of 5w-30 (WSS-M2C913-C).

 

[FCD]

Ford realised that for the Ecoboost engines which are prone to fuel dilution it was too risky to spec 5W-20, as by the time the OLM went down to 10% or so the 20 grade would have been diluted and simply too thin...

 

[NGRhodes]

Problem with back-speccing is how you get all literature updated and inform everyone; not just dealers, but owners and also all the third party businesses, garages, quick oil change shops and shops that have any kind of oil recommendation documentation. There is potential confusion that would occur where there is a lack of consistency to deal with too.

 

[SonofJoe]

Philosophically, engine oil is different things to different people.

For me, oil is just a slippery, industrial fluid. It should be capable of meeting a predefined, realistic duty most of the time and be as cheap as possible. At any single point in time, your engine does not 'know' what viscosity grade you're running. It will however experience a minimum and a maximum oil temperature and these should fix the type of viscocity grade you use.

To oil marketers, oil is akin to toothpaste. All efforts should be focused on segmenting the market, stressing features and benefits (however marginal) and maximising price. Fitting the oil to extreme conditions, however unrealistic, is good for business.

Then there's the view, prevalent with the OEMs where oil is really an insurance product. Like most insurance products, the 'thing' that you're insuring against is relatively rare (like your house burning down or your engine wearing out) but nonetheless, there's still a sense that 'over-insurance' is a good thing (especially if you're not the one paying the premiums). I suspect that the risks of continuing with 5W20 are rather small but the perception within Ford is that the risks with 5W30 are smaller still. Hence the switch in recommendations.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: AnarchyX
I recall in the early aughts they were one of the first, or few, car companies that required 5W20 for their cars. Now they seem to have gone to where most everyone has always been, namely 5W30.

Anyone know why the change?


Changes in engine design necessitated a change in the oil requirements from a 20 grade to a 30 grade. Ford addressed it by changing the oil spec to something that can handle the requirements of those engines better than a 20 grade oil could. Don't be surprised as the engines evolve, and oil evolves the oil spec might change again.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: itguy08
The $1,000,000 question is why did Ford not Back-spec the 2010 Ecoboosts to 5w30 if they were/are seeing issues?

CAFE credits outweighing warranty claims maybe? Or is it simply more trouble than it's worth to them? Your guess is as good as mine.

 

[HemiHawk]

I've always used 5w20 in the 4.6 3v in my Mustang. Always read that it was important because of the oil operated VVT. Whether true or not I don't know. Like some others have said I don't see how Ford now recommending 5w30 for completely different engines somehow means that 5w20 in the older engines was wrong. Plenty of high mileage 4.6 V8s that have been fed nothing but 5w20 and run pretty hard their whole life.

 

[BobThe]

Originally Posted By: FordCapriDriver
Ford realised that for the Ecoboost engines which are prone to fuel dilution it was too risky to spec 5W-20, as by the time the OLM went down to 10% or so the 20 grade would have been diluted and simply too thin...


I agree. I have a 2016 Mustang with the 5.0 Coyote that calls for 5W-20 and a 2015 Focus-ST that calls for 5W-30. The Coyote is port injected and isn't going to break down the oil...at least not as quickly as the 2.0 GTDI EB in the ST. The ST's oil will be broken down to a XW-20 which is where Ford probably wants it anyway.

 

[Greggy_D]

My 1.5l Ecoboost specs 5w-20.

 

[JustN89]

Originally Posted By: bradtech
Anyone know if the Hyundai Gamma GDI/Direct Injection turbos (mine is the 1.6L) could benefit from a thicker 30 weight or is this a Ford Ecoboost thing in general? I keep my vehicles for a while. Now that I think about it. I think Hyundai says in the manual you can use 30 weight but recommends 5w20. I plan on doing 5k OCI while under warranty. It's 90% highway miles with some stop & go traffic jams. So not really sure if I fall under severe or normal maintenance intervals so meeting in the middle at 5k (flip a coin).

I have the MPI variant of the 2.0L, but from what I've read on hyundai-forums, a lot of people with the GDI recommend running 5W-30.

 

[Whimsey]

Originally Posted By: Greggy_D
My 1.5l Ecoboost specs 5w-20.


What vehicle and year is it. I don't know whether Ford upped the viscosity recommendation for all their later Ecoboost engines or only the ones in heavier vehicles, such as their trucks and SUVs.


Whimsey

 

[Greggy_D]

Originally Posted By: Whimsey
Originally Posted By: Greggy_D
My 1.5l Ecoboost specs 5w-20.


What vehicle and year is it. I don't know whether Ford upped the viscosity recommendation for all their later Ecoboost engines or only the ones in heavier vehicles, such as their trucks and SUVs.


Whimsey


2017 Ford Fusion

 

[Whimsey]

Originally Posted By: Greggy_D
Originally Posted By: Whimsey
Originally Posted By: Greggy_D
My 1.5l Ecoboost specs 5w-20.


What vehicle and year is it. I don't know whether Ford upped the viscosity recommendation for all their later Ecoboost engines or only the ones in heavier vehicles, such as their trucks and SUVs.


Whimsey


2017 Ford Fusion


Thanks, so it looks like later Ecoboost engines in only heavier vehicles got the recommendation for 5W-30, like our 2017 2.3 Explorer. I think the Explorer weighs in around 4,500 lbs. I'm assuming this is due to engines usually having to work harder to move the greater weight. This is just speculation on my part, could be other reasons

.

Whimsey

 

[DavidJones]

Originally Posted By: AnarchyX
I recall in the early aughts they were one of the first, or few, car companies that required 5W20 for their cars. Now they seem to have gone to where most everyone has always been, namely 5W30.

Anyone know why the change?


After analyzing all the previous replies carefully, this.....

Because.

 

[BobThe]

Originally Posted By: Whimsey
Originally Posted By: Greggy_D
Originally Posted By: Whimsey
Originally Posted By: Greggy_D
My 1.5l Ecoboost specs 5w-20.


What vehicle and year is it. I don't know whether Ford upped the viscosity recommendation for all their later Ecoboost engines or only the ones in heavier vehicles, such as their trucks and SUVs.


Whimsey


2017 Ford Fusion


Thanks, so it looks like later Ecoboost engines in only heavier vehicles got the recommendation for 5W-30, like our 2017 2.3 Explorer. I think the Explorer weighs in around 4,500 lbs. I'm assuming this is due to engines usually having to work harder to move the greater weight. This is just speculation on my part, could be other reasons

.

Whimsey


My Focus-ST isn't heavy and it gets 5W-30... I just checked the owners manual for a 2017 Fiesta-ST with a 1.6 EB and it says you can use 5-20 or 30.

 

[Panzerman]

I really think the answer to this debate is that it doesn't make any difference if you use 5w20/ 5w30 or 10w30 in the same engine. It's about the same as Whole milk, 2% milk and Skim milk. Anybody that thinks the viscosity difference is those grades never really experimented to find out it doesn't..

 

[wtd]

I say, who really cares? Most people are never going to keep a vehicle long enough to wear out an engine and most people are never going to have an oil related failure unless you just don't change the oil at the correct intervals.

Recommending a viscosity outside of what the manufacturer recommends is usually just a feel good measure with no proven results.

My 98 chevy K1500 with the 5.7L vortec recommends 5W-30. I bought this truck new with 23 miles on it and have changed the oil religiously every 3,000 miles since it was new and now change it every year since I don't usually put 3,000 miles on it in a year these days. Truck now has 136,000 miles on it.

The great 5W-30 didn't prevent this engine from developing piston slap or from using oil. The first four years of ownership, nothing but Mobil 1 was used. I've used all of the name brand oils since that time.

These days, I just don't worry about what viscosity I run. I just follow the manufacturer's recommendation and go on.

 

[Danh]

Originally Posted By: Whimsey
Originally Posted By: Greggy_D
Originally Posted By: Whimsey
Originally Posted By: Greggy_D
My 1.5l Ecoboost specs 5w-20.


What vehicle and year is it. I don't know whether Ford upped the viscosity recommendation for all their later Ecoboost engines or only the ones in heavier vehicles, such as their trucks and SUVs.


Whimsey


2017 Ford Fusion


Thanks, so it looks like later Ecoboost engines in only heavier vehicles got the recommendation for 5W-30, like our 2017 2.3 Explorer. I think the Explorer weighs in around 4,500 lbs. I'm assuming this is due to engines usually having to work harder to move the greater weight. This is just speculation on my part, could be other reasons

.

Whimsey


It's really engine-specific. EcoBoost engines of 2 liters and more use 5w-30, less than 2.0 EcoBoosts and na engines (other than a few Mustang applications) use 5w-20.

 

[BironDanmum]

My couple of cents:

The early Zetecs in the Escorts, Contours and Zx2s were spec'd at 5w30 for six or seven years before Ford went CAFE happy and back-spec'd them for 5w20. I tried 5w20 once in a standard Contour and burned about a quart per 500 miles, which prompted me to go back to 5w30 October-March and 10w30 April-September.

The caveat to this is the Zx2 S/R model, which was the same exact motor in the standard models but paired with an aggressive Ford Racing PCM putting out an additional 20hp or so. This was never back-spec'd for 5w20, which lead me to conclude that 5w20 does not offer enough protection for hard use. In fact, when it was still under warranty the dealership wouldn't fill it with anything lower that 10w30 even during winter.

My second caveat was my then-local police department who exclusively ran Crown Victorias from 1986-2010. They had a fleet of 500 operational vehicles that would be rotated out by age every year (for example, if in 2001 they purchased 15 new CVPIs, they would retire the oldest 15 models in the fleet.) There was a major turnaround in service life a couple of years after Ford spec'd 5w20 for these high performance motors. Whereas the service life expectancy was 7 years for a vehicle, that number started being cut in half and the fleet mechanics blamed a couple of issues (plastic in high-stress areas of the motor being one) but the main culprit being thinner oils. They went back to 10w30 and everyone was happy. Until Ford killed off that model, but I digress.

Empirical evidence then leads me to believe that 5w20 is not up to the task on HP/HO/PI/VVT Ford motors and I refuse to run it.

 

[gfh77665]

Originally Posted By: Panzerman
I really think the answer to this debate is that it doesn't make any difference if you use 5w20/ 5w30 or 10w30 in the same engine. It's about the same as Whole milk, 2% milk and Skim milk. Anybody that thinks the viscosity difference is those grades never really experimented to find out it doesn't..


Ford just did. I can guarantee you they would not have moved away from 5w-20 with out some necessity for doing so.