bzoli

I just bought a 1997 F150 and downloaded the owners manual.
According to that 5w-30 is the recommended oil for all engines 4.2L V6, 4.6L and 5.4L V8.

blupupher

iTrader: (2)

Yes it does, and Ford TSB 02-1-9 released in 2002 states that 5w-20 is now the recommended oil for these engines.

bzoli

Thanks for the reference.


It seems Ford recommends 5w-20 due to fuel economy solely.
I believe it is advantageous running on 5w30 (particularly on higher mile vehicle), this is TSB just in line with "improved" mileage requirement started to use from early 2000. Nothing to do with durability.

blupupher

iTrader: (2)

It is not due to "fuel economy solely". There were hundreds if not thousands of posts of why they did it, and while fuel economy is a very small part of it, reduced deposits, viscosity breakdown/ thickening, and valve train wear are all important reasons for the change.

Will running 5w-30 hurt your engine, I highly doubt it. Will running 5w-20 make a difference, maybe, but since I'm not a tribologist, I will do as the manufacturer states, not what uncle billy bob says is better (no offense to any Billy Bob's here).

Jbrew

Yea, this has already been explained. Regarless, if you down load an old manual, you'll get old spec...

What you need to do is go through the TSB's about that truck. There's even a PCM update for that one.

Mr. blupupher was kind enough to get one for yuh.

Jbrew

So your not tribol? - you have an uncle billy bob too?

bzoli

Thanks for the advice. I will search for TSB's for my truck, and also the oil viscosity related problems.

Jbrew

No problem

Nothing really more on viscosity, just the retro active spec change from Ford that was posted. There's various TSB's, I think they can be had free if you can locate them. Sometimes the best way to go is to acquire A Ford DVD from Amazon or ebay. Look for Ford Service DVD's including your model year. One that includes TSB's.

Or, ALLData has them, get a year subscription with them or something, it use to be cheap. The good thing with ALLData, they give you labor times from Ford, - down to the quarter hour. All you have to know is what they charge per hour and you could do you own estimating without bringing it in. If you do work on the side, this comes in handy.

jims59vette

A friend of mine had a son who worked in Mobil Oil research and development. I ran into his son about 10 years ago in Las Vegas . He told me he was traveling the country going to Auto shows with a BMW engine which had one million ( laboratory ) miles on it and they would break down and micrometer the internal engine parts to show that there was no appreciable ware. Since then I have used synthetic oil ( not specifically Mobil ) in all my vehicles. I feel for the relatively small additional investment that I would go along with actual Lab results , for what it's worth

FL_F150

LOL, dreaded "what oil do I use" question.... oil expert vrs old man's experience...


Well.... mine has 209k on it...


I use dollar store oil... 10w-40w in the summer and 5w-30w in the winter...
Will it blow my truck up... NO.... will it shorten the life of my engine?
IT HAS 209K on it!.....


Ok... old man out....