5w-30 oil in the 5.4 3v a good idea?
07-02-2014, 01:41 AM
#342
Just joined
I'm sure the question about oil has been beaten to death and this post may be redundant somewhere on this site, but searching has left me frustrated and with little information other than religious loyalty to 5w-20.
From what I have gathered, the recommended oil that is 5w-20 is geared more toward appeasing CAFE standards set by the government. These standards have almost no bearing on the engineering side of vehicle production and are only in place thanks to ideological opinions that want to leave their mark on society and of course, collect their paycheck. In order for a manufacturer to sell a vehicle in this society/economy, they HAVE to adhere to these standards created mostly out of "popular" consensus ideas. These ideas deriving from a biased education that "means well" but has only 1 side of a 3 sided story. Where they got there education or "conditioning" is a whole different story. These adults have one goal before the work gets done, that goal is to keep themselves RELEVANT even if society no longer has a use for them. It is just how our society and economy tends to work. Under these conditions I find that the 3rd side of the story almost always gets "lost"....the 3rd side of which is the TRUTH.
Corporate Average Fuel Economy or CAFE is the reason why 5w-20 is the new north american choice. Other economies and country's are using 5w-30 in the same engines that reside over here, demanding 5w-20. Of course temperature and location reflect some of those differences but certainly not on the broad scale you see over here in the USA.
My argument and question is this
I like the slightly better wear characteristics of 5w-30 vs 5w-20, the two are the same at cold and one is slightly more viscous at operating temp. I personally want my engine to last as long as possible and will sacrifice the undetectable mpg loss for better wear characteristics.
Who is using 5w-30 oil in their 5.4 3v?
Why are you using 5w-30?
What results or differences have you noticed while running 5w-30? Like less VCT ticking or dieseling sounds?
Who is actually running 10w-40 as recommended by Oasis special service bulletin #21217??? http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums...Number=1897871
Why so thick? 10w-40 is a way thicker then 5w-20, shouldn't that cause more problems due to the wait time on the initial cold flow? and then the viscosity after warm up?
I'm very curious and also trying to come to a final conclusion here.
THANKS!
From what I have gathered, the recommended oil that is 5w-20 is geared more toward appeasing CAFE standards set by the government. These standards have almost no bearing on the engineering side of vehicle production and are only in place thanks to ideological opinions that want to leave their mark on society and of course, collect their paycheck. In order for a manufacturer to sell a vehicle in this society/economy, they HAVE to adhere to these standards created mostly out of "popular" consensus ideas. These ideas deriving from a biased education that "means well" but has only 1 side of a 3 sided story. Where they got there education or "conditioning" is a whole different story. These adults have one goal before the work gets done, that goal is to keep themselves RELEVANT even if society no longer has a use for them. It is just how our society and economy tends to work. Under these conditions I find that the 3rd side of the story almost always gets "lost"....the 3rd side of which is the TRUTH.
Corporate Average Fuel Economy or CAFE is the reason why 5w-20 is the new north american choice. Other economies and country's are using 5w-30 in the same engines that reside over here, demanding 5w-20. Of course temperature and location reflect some of those differences but certainly not on the broad scale you see over here in the USA.
My argument and question is this
I like the slightly better wear characteristics of 5w-30 vs 5w-20, the two are the same at cold and one is slightly more viscous at operating temp. I personally want my engine to last as long as possible and will sacrifice the undetectable mpg loss for better wear characteristics.
Who is using 5w-30 oil in their 5.4 3v?
Why are you using 5w-30?
What results or differences have you noticed while running 5w-30? Like less VCT ticking or dieseling sounds?
Who is actually running 10w-40 as recommended by Oasis special service bulletin #21217??? http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums...Number=1897871
Why so thick? 10w-40 is a way thicker then 5w-20, shouldn't that cause more problems due to the wait time on the initial cold flow? and then the viscosity after warm up?
I'm very curious and also trying to come to a final conclusion here.
THANKS!
07-02-2014, 02:44 AM
#343
Senior Member
Hey guys I'm late to the party just joined the forum, I work at a fleet shop where we mainly work on semi's but we do service potato chip trucks which have the 3v and guess what oil the trucks get.. Same as the semis 15w-40 some of trucks have over 100k on them and never any problems no lights ticking or anything. We just don't carry 5-30 regularly. Trucks actually run great, so it seems to me these 3vs like a heavier weight?
Hopefully my 5.4 likes the heavier oil cause i just got some oil in w5-30 to do the change.
07-02-2014, 10:23 AM
#344
My .02 worth....
I picked up an 04 SCAB FX4 about 4 months ago. Truck had 210,000 miles on it. It had the classic signs of having bad cam phasers. There was a check engine light indicating timing/phaser issues (cam bank retarded or something like that).
First order of business was to change the oil to Motorcraft 5W20 synthetic blend and Motorcraft filter. No change.
I then replaced the cam phasers and VCT solenoids about 2500 miles later. Vast improvement on the noise. I also did an oil change at that time using Pennzoil Platinum 5W-20 and Motorcraft filter.
After I did the oil change and phaser/solenoid change, I would still get an occasional rough idle and dieseling noise with an occasional check engine light indicating over retarded cam bank and other issues. Frustrating as hell....so,
after 500 miles of it running that way I figured since the engine has some miles on it I'll up the oil. At 213K I drained the 5W-20 out of it and put in 5W-40 Shell Rotella full synthetic. I reset the codes. I cannot believe the difference. I no longer have any check engine lights and do not have the rough idle anymore. Only noise is from my injectors now.
I have since went another 4000 miles with another oil change. I changed the oil at 216K and went with Pennzoil 5W-30 Platinum synthetic. Was a little apprehensive to go down to the 5W-30 but the results have been good so far.
So for my situation at least, 5W-30 or 5W-40 FTW!
I picked up an 04 SCAB FX4 about 4 months ago. Truck had 210,000 miles on it. It had the classic signs of having bad cam phasers. There was a check engine light indicating timing/phaser issues (cam bank retarded or something like that).
First order of business was to change the oil to Motorcraft 5W20 synthetic blend and Motorcraft filter. No change.
I then replaced the cam phasers and VCT solenoids about 2500 miles later. Vast improvement on the noise. I also did an oil change at that time using Pennzoil Platinum 5W-20 and Motorcraft filter.
After I did the oil change and phaser/solenoid change, I would still get an occasional rough idle and dieseling noise with an occasional check engine light indicating over retarded cam bank and other issues. Frustrating as hell....so,
after 500 miles of it running that way I figured since the engine has some miles on it I'll up the oil. At 213K I drained the 5W-20 out of it and put in 5W-40 Shell Rotella full synthetic. I reset the codes. I cannot believe the difference. I no longer have any check engine lights and do not have the rough idle anymore. Only noise is from my injectors now.
I have since went another 4000 miles with another oil change. I changed the oil at 216K and went with Pennzoil 5W-30 Platinum synthetic. Was a little apprehensive to go down to the 5W-30 but the results have been good so far.
So for my situation at least, 5W-30 or 5W-40 FTW!
10-06-2014, 01:49 PM
#345
the 5-30 with the New solenoids has made a profound diff in noise. It seems to be running smoother also but that could be me. 185,000 and still does not burn oil. The PO always changed oil every 3-5000 with The Motorcraft semi syn and I have for the last 4 changes used Mobil one. I was using 10-30 but the 5-30 does seem to perform much better. Like that supercharger.
Like that supercharger.
10-07-2014, 07:30 AM
#347
10-07-2014, 08:37 AM
#348
Senior Member
If it's a soft tick, then it's the injectors. They're noisy, so that's normal. The phasers and lifters(when faulty) are far more noisy and disconcerting with a heavier knock.
10-07-2014, 12:03 PM
#350
But unfortunately the slack in the chain is like a whip smacking the chain guides, and it eventually will cause them to break, then fall in the oil pan. This can cause low oil flow by restricting the pickup tube with chain guide debris, and slowly wear down your valve lash adjusters.... These problems can have a domino effect if left for too long..