Originally Posted By: UltrafanUK
Originally Posted By: Avelectro
The oil level was down almost a quart. Except for a front main seal leaking at 90,000 miles this has been a great engine.
I have read that many of these V6 Duratecs die prematurely due to a fragile cooling system component (a plastic multiple-tee junction point for many cooling hoses). I hope to keep both of my Duratecs as long as possible so I've replaced that part on both vehicles.
Maybe I can go an additional ten years before having to buy another new car!
Fit a real good overheat alarm bell across the overheat warning light, as those lights are far too easy to miss!
As regards the UOA, it looks OK apart from the rather thin viscosity. Try moving up one SAE grade, or using a better base stock, like a GTL (Penn, Shell or the new M1) or even an expensive Synthoil.
Have you ever bought a car that the previous owner wired in a bunch of unnecessary garbage that caused you unnecessary problems later down the road? Rather than cheapening the car, he proactively replaced the part and should get much more use out of the vehicle. Additionally, he is already aware of the problem and is much less likely to monitor coolant temp and knows what burning antifreeze smells like and would stop operation.
That being said , 10k looks like a good fit for this engine. I had a 2.5 Jaguar Xtype with a 5 speed and I recall they had issues with coolant expansion tanks cracking and failing. Really brittle plastic Ford used.
Good report and keep motoring on.