Bulk 10W30 in 2006 Ford Crown Victoria Police

[LoneRanger]

So the maintenance garage uses El Cheapo generic bulk 10W30 in our CVP's. I was wondering if Ford Motor Co by chance has issued a TSB or similar which okays the use of 10W30 in the CVP, instead of the 5W20 semi-syn which is specified? I saw the ID label for the bulk 10W30 and it did say semi-syn, for what its worth. I can also say that on cold starts with these winter temps below 30 deg F the car cranks slow on start-up and feels sluggish for the first couple minutes of driving until the temps come up. Figure its the 10W30 in that 5W20 spec'd engine that's behind those issues. My assigned CVP is a 2006 and out of warranty, so my guess is they only put 5W20 in the cars with active warranty still in force and then pour the cheap stuff in once the warrany is done.

 

[sangyup81]

depends on who makes the el cheapo bulk oil or the specs of it

if it's not of the energy conserving type of 30 weight, id be a little concerned

i think the logic behind the 10w30 is that the car will be on and running a lot

 

[CATERHAM]

Is the Crown Vic' still being used for police service?
If the vehicle spends most of it's time running all day long with very few cold starts as a percentage of it's total running time, then I'd say there is little problem with the 10W-30 bulk dino.
Having said that, bulk 5W-30 or better still bulk 5W-20 would certainly be better during a Midwest winter.

 

[LoneRanger]

Yes, she's still in gov't service. 76,700 miles on the clock so far, and she sits idling a lot. City PD (pop 139,000) so its all stop, go, idle... code 3 runs are stop-to-break-traffic then lean into the throttle -- lather, rinse, repeat at the next intersection. Assigned to me late last month to replace the just-about-worn-out 2001 Impala Police I previously drove. The new cars go on the line (motor pool), supervisors get these ones which are rotated off the line after a few years.

 

[sangyup81]

Originally Posted By: CATERHAM
Is the Crown Vic' still being used for police service?
If the vehicle spends most of it's time running all day long with very few cold starts as a percentage of it's total running time, then I'd say there is little problem with the 10W-30 bulk dino.
Having said that, bulk 5W-30 or better still bulk 5W-20 would certainly be better during a Midwest winter.

This must be one of those cases where 10w30 is cheaper than the other grades in bulk. Less cost of VIIs I guess

 

[hardcore302]

We use both Impalas and CVPIs and use Canada (not sure the exact name) Oil 5-30 for the both of them. The motor never fails, but the rest of the car falls apart pretty quick being in use virtually 24/7. e.g. weather stripping, floor pans, power steering, overheating, suspension.... They get fixed right quick, but one of our cars (out of 30 or so for the precinct) is always at the shop out of service. I would say that's pretty good for the largest police dept. in the country.

 

[CROWNVIC4LIFE]

Originally Posted By: CATERHAM
Is the Crown Vic' still being used for police service?


90% of the patrol cars down here are CVPI'S with new ones still coming online everyday...We only have a sprinkling of Chargers and Impalas.

 

[ChuckBerry]

The CVPI will go away this year, as this is the final year of production on the Crown Vic. It is being replaced by the Taurus in a twin turbo 6 speed automatic configuration.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Crown_Victoria_Police_Interceptor#Future.2Fdiscontinuation

 

[Steve S]

5w-30 works fine in the engine.

 

[Falcon_LS]

When the Modular V8 was first introduced back in 1991, 10W-30 was the default standard. Ford still specs 10W-30 for Panther platform vehicles exported to the Persian Gulf. Nothing to worry about.

But in a cold climate, 5W-30 or 0W-30 would obviously be a better choice.

 

[CROWNVIC4LIFE]

Spoke to a fleet guy awhile back from Miami Dade PD and he says they use 5w30 or 10w30 dino...Whatever oil they can get the cheapest...They change out every 3K miles due to the severe conditions...They have zero issues with the cars doing that...They have some CVPI'S in the fleet that are 10 years old and have 150K miles.

Some agencies down here that do not have fleet service go to Ford and they put in 5w20 Motorcraft and have zero issues as well.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: CROWNVIC4LIFE
Some agencies down here that do not have fleet service go to Ford and they put in 5w20 Motorcraft and have zero issues as well.


Same deal here. The individual RCMP detachments are small and tend to get them serviced at a local garage or dealership, using the manufacturer specified oil.