Tones

Yes currently running the 5w-30 Mobil 1 in mine since I had it on hand. Runs fine. I will probably do a 8k mile oci. l have been using the 5w-20 Mobil 1.

Phil48315

Ill be switching to 5-30 from 5-20.
Ford runs the thin oil for mileage. (CAFE).
I'm a mechanic and my engine builder crosses off the 5-w20,
and writes 5-30 on the oil caps of the rebuilds.
I switched on my superduty 5.4 around 70,000
Got rid of that nasty rattle on cold startup
It would make noise in the top end @ higher RPM cold.
helped that too !


And as far as gas mileage the superduty didn't get any ! lol

JLTD

Thanks Phil, and everyone else that has posted!

I firmly believe that with Ford specifying 5w30 for the 6.2L in the 250 and up that the 5w20 doesn't protect well enough under heavy loads. I'm actually going to do a test with 5w30 and 5w20 and have the oil analyzed for wear metals...it will take awhile but I'll post the results....

KTXdm9

Interested to see what the lab test shows.

Nicklaus

Hi,

I have extensive experience in oil analysis and tribology and had to take position on oil viscosity grade to use in our 2016 F150 5.0, where 5W-20 is recommended for all temperature.

The bottom line of what I do is the following:

0W-20 during winter (startup at as low as -30F, NO towing)

0W-30 during summer (frequent towing)

Just to let you know. I can justify more thoroughly if interrested.

Nicklaus

testing

JLTD

No need to justify to me, I'm already in the 30 weight club....


...unless my test shows otherwise.

thebreba

If w30 is better than w20 why would Ford use it over the other? Doesn't make sense to me. I feel like through all their extensive testing, figuring out which oil works best would be one of the first things they do when building an engine. Not saying those who use w30 are in the wrong lol I honestly don't care. I'm just surprised so many use w30 over what is recommended. You'd think if it did so much better than w20 ford would have swapped it to w30 by now in the newer engines now seeing as they have been out for A few years now.

Nicklaus

Well, it's long story. Even if you're reasoning is accurate, There are some key point to consider to answer this question:

1- Ford recommanding a lower viscosity oil is not necessarely in the consumer's best interest. It is due to CAFE regulations, which is a tax automaker has to pay according average fuel consumption of the whole fleet of cars built winthin a year. A very small fuel economy caused by lower viscosity oil , multiply by xxxxx numbers of car built can lower the tax scale for the automaker. For you, not a significant, even noticeable difference.

2- It's true 0W20 and newer engines got intensive tests and prove acceptable. Lubrication is all about separating material surfaces under certain load and temperature. Thicker the oil, greather the surface separation, less likely to get metal-metal contact, which is wear. There are other consideration to pick a lighter oil (cold start up, variable cam actuator, etc..) But I wont get there....

To summarized, F150 owners choosing to use 0W30 instead of 0W-20 is not that they don't thrust Ford engineering, it's just they understand reasons behing Ford's recommandation for lighter oils (ref. CAFE regulations) and prefer to get a more robust oil in terms of protection against wear.

JLTD

Several reasons for me. First, the Mustang's Track Pack recommends 5w50 with the same oiling system, so using a thicker oil will do no harm, and might add protection.

Then, there's the 2017 recommendation for the 6.2L in the F250/350 to use 5w30. If you'll recall this engine was formerly specified for 5w20...why did they make this change? Under a heavy load you're not getting enough protection so a thicker oil is required.

Third, if you read Toyota's manuals(I know I know, Toyota, but keep reading), they specify 0w20 but say that a higher viscosity is required for adequate protection in certain circumstances, and right there in the manual it says sustained high speed, towing, mountain operations etc - so anything requiring the engine to work hard.

Fourth, there are lots of the 5.4 engines out there...also spec'd for 5w20. But a great number of them developed main bearing issues in as little as 100000 miles. Main bearings require, guess what? Yeah, a thicker oil. But why you ask are so many still running fine? Because those are grocery getters, around-town vehicles that don't tow or haul heavy loads. I'd agree that 5w20 is probably adequate for light duty.

Fifth, I am sure 5w20 will protect an engine well enough to make it through the warranty period. I want mine to last longer than that.

I have faith in Ford's engineers. They built the engine. I would love to see their original oil recommendation on the engine, but that will never happen. Because the manual wasn't written by the engineers - it was written under management direction by the department that writes manuals. As stated by Nicklaus, CAFE had a hand in all this and Ford saves a lot of money by slightly increasing mpg for millions of vehicles.

All that said, I am in the process of testing thick versus thin oils in this engine. I'll be posting the results in a couple of years when I'm done. I'd like to see if an actual test backs all this up. I'm pretty sure it will.