redbird2289

First off, great forum. First post. I just purchased my first Ford pickup and with the Kodiak (alaska) winter coming i'm looking for a recommended oil weight. It's an 04 with the 3 valve 5.4 with a 150k on the odo. Winters ain't too terrible on the island. the lowest it'll stay is 17 but mostly hovers in the 20's

Aggie*86

Any full synthetic 0w-20. It is a significant improvement over 5w-20 in my experience. The zero weight on the low end makes much more difference than one would think in cold weather. Way less wear on the starter and battery.

North Dakota native
"-40 Keeps the Riff Raff Out"

maxpat82

stick with the oem spec.

lower weight might be good on cold engine...but once up to temp it can make oil pressure lower then supposed to.
which could lead to catastrophic failure in the engine(cam journal, crank bearing, etc)

ophidia

Lower weight on the low end (the 0) has nothing to do with what the viscosity is on the high end (20) which is what's important when the engine is up to operating temp.

I'll be switching to 0w20 before it gets frigid here as well (also in NoDak).

joe mcmillan

I just switched from 5-30 dino to Mobil synthetic 0-20. Initial results indicate some improvement in MPG. Going on a long drive that I do frequently this weekend so I should be able to comfirm MPG increase if any.
No adverse effects and engine noise still quiet.
Will report back next week.

GrimaceTimus

The factory spec'd 5w-20 is tested and approved down to like -63F (but good luck starting an engine with any oil that is below approximately -10F). The same is true for ANY "5w" or 5-winter rated oil. It matters not, whether you put 5w-20, 5w-30, or 5w-40 in it...from a cold-start perspective. That being said, you are likely to have problems at full-op temp trying to go beyond a 5w-20 or 5w-30.

If it is going to get really cold, I'd think the 0W-20 (as recommended earlier) would be the way to go ... definitely stay away from the 10W-30 or 10W-40. Again...keeping in mind that "W" stands for WINTER ... not weight. If these freaking manufacturers would label these oils in a way that makes sense...

(C=cold; H=hot)
0W-20 = 65C/20H
5W-20 = 90C/20H
5W-30 = 90C/30H
10W-30 = 110C/30H
etc.

Based on what you are saying about the climate you'll be in, the 5W-20 should be just fine ... you can always consider a block-heater or pan-heater to account for those really, really cold winter nights/days ... because even with a 0W-20, at some point, it'll just be too damn cold to start.

Willy07

I live in the middle of Canada and are temp.s get down to -40C/-40F if not colder and I've left my truck unplugged many times and it started pretty good, with reg. oil 5w20. probably not good but does start. I'm using Mobil full synthetic 5w20 now.

08screwCA

Saskatchewan?

Willy07

Manitoba

redbird2289

great feedback y'all. i appreciate the input. i'll probably go with a 0w synthetic because they're expecting a gnarly winter this year. McMillan i'll be interested to see your results. take care