Koolponycar

Originally Posted by WXman View Post
The viscosity you choose is more critical for engine life than worrying over 1,000 miles of distance. Unfortunately, you're stuck with the 5W20 water until you're out of warranty.

http://www.paladinmicro.com/pmicro.php#

^^ Go to this link, then navigate to "Tech info/opinion > miscellaneous > 5W20 nyet for me"

I have heard and read this, and there have been many 5.0 owners on here claiming using heavy between changes. I change mine every 6 months or 5,000 miles. I am looking at going to a full synthetic and wonder if a 5w30 would be OK as my warranty is out in April and i have a new short block from ford with about 9,000 miles on it. Also looking for the best synthetic to use that is easy to get and it seems like Pennzoil ultra platinum and quaker stated ultra durability is the top 2 under Amsoil 5w20 signature series. Amsoil is pretty darn expensive. Has anyone else really researched the oils on which synthetic is best for the 5.0 and which grade? I posted this in another thread and just wondered if under this section I could get some feed back from 5.0 owners who have some real experience doing this or sticking with the 5w20. I know a 30w oil is going to have better numbers than a lower weight under heat and stress, or at least i think so.
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Koolponycar

One thing to note. My other household vehicles a 2009 crv and a 2001 ranger both use the 5w20 also. I know ford around 2001 switched them from 5w30 to 5w20, the ranger is a 3.0 and i have put 30w in it before once and it seemed a little quieter to me. I was just going to use the same oil in all as far as 20w goes. I put castor edge extended gold just in the honda last time, but the Pennzoil may be the better oil. Thanks in advance for any replies.

Koolponycar

Any suggestions on synthetic oil for the 5.0?

brihvac

Whatever is on sale. I am sticking with 5w20 Motorcraft. There are MANY high mileage 5.0's that have had nothing but 5w20 in them and are just fine. Get my oil, filter, and tire rotation done at Quicklane (dealer) for less than $40. which is about as much as material

Tothemax

https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forum...s.php?ubb=cfrm

Penzoil Platinium seems to rank pretty high over there. Mobil 1 is also good.

Me I run the motocraft syn blend. Its what the manual calls for and what I can get at the dealership.

Koolponycar

Thats what I currently run, but my warranty will be up in a couple months and I will be doing my own oil changes since i have newer tires now that I get rotated at walley world to keep the road hazards and tire warranty. I use to get the works at the dealer which included all that, so now i can do a quality full synthetic oil change myself for a little less. i am just trying to decide if running 30W would have any negative effects on the engine and its cam phaser lubrication system as i keep hearing yes its ok and no that system need the thinner oil for proper psi ? I am going to ask the techs that installed my new SB as they had it all apart and see what they can tell me from their experience too.

ThrottleOut

There's a lot of old wives tales when it comes to oil and because of that, everyone has their own opinion on what's best.

Here's my $.02... Without gathering any data it's hard to say whether one oil or another would be better or worse for the engine. I just had a UOA done on my truck's oil after ~7500 miles on MC 5w-20 and I'd say the results looked pretty good (posted here if you want to see the results). Would a 5w-30 have been better? How about a 0w-20 or 0w-30? Maybe? Is it noticeable? Probably not. The truck will be long rotted away before it suffers an oil type or viscosity related failure. Plus, even though an oil is 5w-20 or 5w-30, it's actual viscosity can vary within that specification. There are some 5w-20's that are closer in viscosity to a 5w-30 and other 5w-30's that are closer to a 5w-20.

I usually stick to the OEM's recommendation unless their recommendation seems way off. Ford's 5.0 Ti-VCT engine is pretty easy on oil so I don't think you can go wrong with a good 5w-20 and filter. Even a conventional would be fine as long as you didn't try to do any extended oil change intervals.

Pick an oil that's readily available and that you are comfortable with and run with it. If you really want, get a UOA or two and see what wear metals look like. At least that way you'll have some data one way or another.

Koolponycar

Nice report for those miles as I usually don't go over 5,000 so You are more than likely right about selecting and using, then do one of those reports, Thanks!

JLTD

I'm thinking heavier because:

1) Ford has put the 6.2L back on 5w30 in the HD pickups, after back spec-ing it to 5w20 for a few years. Why? IMO the 20's film strength is not quite enough under heavy use.

2) The Mustang's 5.0 has the same oiling system as our trucks (I have found nothing stating the opposite) so a heavier oil won't hurt.

As mentioned in other threads, I'm doing a thick vs thin test right now. I'm getting used oil analysis for 0w40, 5w20 and 5w30 in my truck. The test will be complete June 2019 and I'll post results as soon as I have them all...and I'll include this thread now, too.

My thoughts are that the 5w20 spec is started in part because of CAFE. The gov't regulations say that the oil used to achieve a mpg rating is the ONLY oil that can be recommended/specified in the owner's manual. 5w20 gives a (very) slight increase in mpg, and over millions of vehicles I see why Ford have changed the spec...but would just LOVE to talk to a company engineer about what oil weight/grade they would use.

There's a guy on here somewhere who is an engine builder and has seen hundreds of Coyotes in his time. He says he would not use anything thinner than 5w30 after seeing the wear on disassembled engines that have used 5w20. I've also seen some posts elsewhere about Fords run on 5w20 starting to consume oil after 60-70k vs those that have not been on 5w20 not consuming. Time will tell and my engine, coming up on 75k, has been on 5w30 or 40 since I got it with 30k.

But all that said, that's just my opinion...until there's some real data that is.

engineermike

"DO NOT go back to using 5w-20"Scott Whitehead - Engine Development Systems Engineer, Ford Motor Company:
Quote:
"I've seen the dyno testing. I've probably looked at several hundred engines disassembled and spread out on inspection tables. And I've been involved in testing to resolve issues where varying the oil viscosity was part of the test. Please do not put 5w-20 or less into a mod motor. Please. This is especially true in 4v motors. 5W-30 is a good oil for the street with mixed temperatures."

FWIW, I've been using pennzoil ultra platinum 5w30 since my truck was new. I'm at 40,000 miles now, making 750 hp for about 35,000 of that. I'm on the stock long-block and it doesn't even use any oil between changes.