I tried 5W20 last winter. In April on a 700 mile trip towing a 1500 trailer I burned up 2 qts of oil. I quickly went back to 5W30 and have not notices any significant oil loss since.

I only use 5W20 in the months of December, January, February. The rest of the year 5W30 in Wisconsin, with 54K miles on my 99.

 

I was worrried about that, so at my first oil change I bought it over to a quickie lube owned by the dealer. It actually is just to the right of the dealer. I asked for Mobil 1, asked about 5w 30,
no problem, kept the receipt just in case.

 

Take it back.
http://www.amsoil.com/performancetes..._vs_mobil1.htm

 

HI!... 3 days after I bought my truck I changed the **** water factory oil to VALVOLINE 10-W-40. Have been running it for 4 years now with no problems.

 

I have a 2003 King Ranch Super Crew and when the salesman at the dealership was checking me out in the truck he told me one of the first things he did on his 2002 Super Crew was to switch to 10W30 oil, he didn't say why and I didn't ask, now I wish I would have asked.

Personally, with the heat here in Texas I plan to switch to Mobil 10W30 synthetic blend, and maybe later to a synthetic such as Mobil 1 or Royal Purple. I've ran Mobil Oil exclusively in my Fords for 20 years and I put over 100,000 miles on them before trading and I have had great results.

I must add that I religiously change my oil at 3,000 miles--an old timer Ford mechanic told me when I was a Kid that the best life insurance for the life of an engine was clean oil--that is something that has stuck with me.

Jayhawker in Texas
Oxford White 2003 King Ranch

 

Neal~

Would you recommend 10w-40 on a 01 4.6 if I'm going to be running it hard (i.e. punching it all the time, high speeds)? I've been running 10W-30, and I already have Red Line D4 ATF. Just wondering what you think about changing to a 40 weight. I don't have a quarter of the Mods. you have, but I do have the exhaust, FIPk and chip. my oil system is as stock as it gets.


Victomize anyone tonight?


Thanks.

 

Mobil1 5w30 without issues. IMO synthetic oil is ABSOLUTELY NEEDED in climates like mine (Buffalo, NY). The oil at least stays in a liquid form with synthetic.....dino oil actually gets hard. Keep inmind I park outside and last night it got down in sub-zero temps!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

My '98 4.6 has 49k on the dial. Been using 10-30 Chevron Supreme Motor Oil. Here in AZ it's hot in the summer and never gets to freezing in the winter, hence the 10w.

I've been changing mine regular every 3,000 miles with no oil usage but at this point with 5 years of dino oil use I'd be afraid to switch to synthetic and risk leaks or oil burning.

 

My wife and I each put about 50,000 miles per year on our vehicles. She works for the County and travels between schools, I travel in my job as well. In the past 10 years, we have put 200,000 miles on several vehicles and have never had an oil related problem. I long ago got away from the 3,000 mile oil change. My personal opinion is that 3,000 miles is a good idea if you own a Jiffy Lube, in that case, everyone should do it. I went to 5,000 mile intervals first of all because I was tired of changing my oil every few weeks. I also found that I could keep the changes on the "5's" (5,000, 10,000, 15,000, etc). This helps me keep up with when each vehicle is due for its change. (we own an F150, an Explorer, and a Taurus) Keeping up using this method is really simple. Currently, the Explorer and the Taurus are over 100,000 and are doing great. No smoke, leaks, or anything else. I fully expect them to go closer to 200K before I retire them. The F150 is the newcomer with only 34k so far. I run dino oils and motorcraft filters. I put 5W30 in everything. BTW, I usually have to retire vehicles around 200k due to electrical problems, not oil. I'm not sure how those electrical demons sneak in there but they always do.

 

I use 5W-30 Mobil 1 with the Motorcraft oil filter.