I did something I never thought I would do...

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I put a 40 weight oil in my 96 Crown Vic. I've been a proponent of using thin oils like 0W-20 and 5W-20 in these engines for a while now, and have actually been against putting anything thicker than a 30 into them, but I decided to try it anyway. The oil I picked is the John Deere Plus 50 Supreme 0W-40 synthetic, which is a PAO based oil. http://www.deere.com/en_US/parts/partsinfo/oils_and_lubricants/oil_0w40.html It's pretty much the full synthetic version of this oil http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1062417

My car has been consuming a quart of oil every 1100-1500 miles since I bought it 7 years ago, and nothing I have tried has stopped the consumption. That includes MMO, Auto RX, Mobil 1 High Mileage, Valvoline Maxlife and even Bar's Leak stop leak additive. I bought two 16oz bottles of the No Leak engine oil treatment that claims 2-3x as much seal swell additives as the cheap brands, and used both of them along with four quarts of the JD 0W-40 in my car. It claims to repair rear main seals, which is where I believe most of my oil is going. I wanted a really stout oil to start with so that I wouldn't dilute the additives below SM levels. We'll see how that works....

So far I've put over 100 miles on the car since that oil was put in, and to be honest, I can't feel any difference between the 0W-40 and the 5W-20 Quaker State Horse Power/Valvoline Maxlife mix that was in before. It was 34F this morning when I started my car, and the engine spun over like it was summer time. Fuel economy doesn't appear to have suffered at all based on instant fuel economy readings on my ScanGauge. The engine doesn't feel the least bit sluggish. The engine is also very quiet.

I think I may have to revise my opinion on 40 weight oils in the Ford 2v modular V8 engines....
 
Those 2V Mods like 40wt. It's the heaviest I would go, but they sure like it. I'm stuck to 5-30 in mine. No consumption at all in 5k.
 
Well, congradulations to you. So many people on here are rule followers of thier owners manuals and convinced that thin oil is the new wave of thier generation, few ever have actually made a comparison beforer preaching what they believe was a decision made in thier interest by a car company and not on behalf of a economical green movement apeasement. I think I would have tried the oil without all the additives though. I had a few beaters in my time and if I had a oil burner, more times than not, a thicker oil ussually stops or slows oil consumption. I know alot of people that use 15w40 in everything and have no problems with cold starts. The comparison of thin oil and thick oil is much smaller in real life than it looks on a lab chart.
 
Hmmmmn... I may try some 15W-40 in my '97 Mustang GT during the summer. It goes out very little (3k a year) and gets driven like it was stolen.
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Got a ton of Delvac for $6 a gallon at wally world...
 
Originally Posted By: DieselTech
Those 2V Mods like 40wt. It's the heaviest I would go, but they sure like it. I'm stuck to 5-30 in mine. No consumption at all in 5k.
when it comes to Ford Mod engines, Whats is the best as far as weight? Is the 5w part that is most important? All this talk about the xx W 20 oil in these engines makes me wonder about the durability of these thin oils in a truck engine.
 
It was only $5.04 per quart. They had 388 in stock, but most of it was the older synthetic blend. I had thought about using Rotella T6, but the JD oil was only 66 cents more for 4 quarts, has higher additive levels and is PAO based.
 
It doesn't surprise me you don't have issues. I've never really noticed much difference between oil weights.

Heck, my mechanic uses 20w50 in Towncars that call for 5w20. Most of them have between 2-300,000 trouble free miles. I wouldn't recommend it but they're fine. Granted, in Phx the climate is never real cold. But as long as you're not in a frigid cold area, 40 weights should be no issue, especially a syn.

How many miles do you have on that Vic anyways? Love those cars.
 
Originally Posted By: chevrofreak
Just turned 144,000 yesterday. It was a police car, and has been driven hard for most of those miles.


Ah yes, I had a 97' that was beat pretty hard. At 100,000 miles it needed a new trans, front end parts and motor mounts. Never broke down though :)
 
chevro - Police cars idle a lot- not so good. But they are generally kept hot and running - very good.

Thicker oils are the oldest trick in the book for leaks and burning. So it's great that it helps your engine.

A full synth 0-40 is a very good oil, and really is not super thick.

To be fair, it is quite a bit warmer now than in the dead of winter. We would expect no problems now.
 
Why skip past the 30wt? No need to use a grade more viscous than needed. 40wt would be almost a "cannonball racing" oil. I Would say the rotella T5 should be all thats needed. The winter rating doesnt come into play until you're well below 10F, a 10w is fine to 20 below freezing F. The SAE grade is more telltale how thick the oil will be through warmup.
 
10W-30 is all my engine used to see, and it still had high oil consumption. I wanted to try a 40, and I have no use for 10W oils anymore. I had Mobil 1 10W-30 High Mileage in my car when it started getting cold last year, and when it got to around 30F my fuel economy tanked. Switching to the Quaker State Horse Power 5W-20 brought it back up. M1 10W-30 HM is not a good cold weather oil, no matter what anyone says to the contrary.
 
Had a good friend with a similar vintage Grand Marquis--1 qt in lessthan 2K miles no metter the weight of the oil. Car hadf over 300K on it but always used a considerable amount of oil since new. This was one of my failures, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't budge him from 3K oc intervals-so at 3K he was esentially dumping fresh oil--for 100 oil changes!!!!
 
Originally Posted By: chevrofreak
That's my personal oil rack :p

I have as much oil as many parts stores do.

Ohhh ok,yea same here,i buy it by the 5 gal pails,
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so you got it from your local JD dealer???

i didn't think it was available any where else,that was a good price should have backed the truck up!!
 
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