Using 5W-30 oil will not make your engine knock, so the dealer was lying about that. What he wasn't lying about was the warranty issue. If, while under warranty, your engine blows or something that's lubed by the engine oil breaks and Ford figures out that you're using the wrong oil they definitely will void your warranty.

So, if you don't want to follow what's specified in your manual, don't get upset if they don't repair your engine under warranty.

That's the risk you have to take if you know better than Ford does.

 

Here is one.

If you are using 5w30 and something happens. They will do an oil analysis. Just say, I was using that crappy dino oil and it must have thickened up on me!

Oil do change viscosity during use. and most get thicker with time. I'm sure the 5w20 would do the same. This is a very explainable event.



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...and what will you do when they ask for the receipts to prove that you've been changing your oil and they're for a brand that doesn't manufacture 5W-20?

What you're telling others to do is called fraud.

Yeah. Yeah. I know. Lighten up. Yes, I saw the smiley, but it could still give others the idea.

What I'm saying is 100% right and I'd hate for people here to promote fraud. It's like those threads of people who want to disconnect their odometers. It's called fraud. Can't rationalize it away, sorry.

I don't think Steve the webmaster would appreciate this board turning into a "How to defraud Ford" site.

 

Dennis, With all due respect, I would contend that Ford telling people that using 5W-30 could damage your engine is fraud. You know and I know that there are no fundamental differences in the 1997 through 2001 engines, so they can't tell us that all of a sudden you must use 5W-20 or we won't uphold your warranty. I would be willing to bet that under severe conditions 20 weight oil could be detrimental. I know we come down on the same side on this issue, but I can't stand for Ford and condescending service mangagers filling unwitting consumers with complete BULL***T.

[This message has been edited by roden (edited 05-05-2001).]

 

roden, read your warranty booklet.

You can boil it down to this: You do what Ford says or you aren't covered by the warranty.

 

or just change the oil to 5W20 before you take it in!

 

sound to me like sumone screwed up ur motor and put 50wt oil in it
friends parents bought a 1y/o taurus
when they changed oil they changed it to 10w40
and it knocked so bad the oil change place recomended putting 80wt gear oil and driving till it dies

 

Gotta agree with Dennis here. Sure, we know there probably isn't any difference betwen the old engines and new engines forcing this change.

However, You bought a product from Ford. Ford has agreed to provide certain services to back their product up - provided you follow the rules in your warranty agreement. Don't follow the rules, you break the agreement. At that point, you are out of luck. I will say that at the very least, Ford not honoring a warranty had least have something to do with the oil before voiding a warranty. Still, it would be your choice not to follow the terms of the warranty, beyond that - you are out of luck.

Sure they can tell us what the terms of the warranty are - its their product, and you had several choices - a choice to follow the terms of the warranty or give the coverage up - or even more so, buy a different product from a competitor.

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1997 F150 XLT, Flareside , Moonlight Blue, 4x2, SC, Auto, 4.6L, 3:08's, Cargo Cover by Century, Penda bed liner, Blue Oval reciever hitch plug, Driver Design bug deflector, Monroe Reflex Shocks, 235/70/16 Firestone Wilderness AT's, sliding rear window, captain's chairs, Valvoline Durablend Oil, Purolator Pure One Oil Filter, 280 lbs. of traction sand (ahh, winter in the great white north! ), and 119,000 miles and counting!

 

Funny thing is, I have yet to find a vehicle warranty that didn't state that you had to follow the owner's manual and maintenance schedule.

Seems kind of foolish to screw around with the warranty of a $30k vehicle. I guess if you have the time and money to burn, it really doesn't matter, does it?

[This message has been edited by Dennis (edited 05-06-2001).]

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Dennis:
[B] ...and what will you do when they ask for the receipts to prove that you've been changing your oil and they're for a brand that doesn't manufacture 5W-20?

Receipts? i would be SOL anyway if they asked for oil change receipts. I don't think that they would ask for that. Seems unreasonable to expect everyone with a car under warranty to save those.

I have a '99 and my owners manual idicates 5w-30 and that is what I use. Mobil synthetic or Castrol Syntec. 44,000 miles and no piston slap or lifter noise. I love my 5.4 Well...except for the gas mileage



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'99 XLT SC 4x4---Sport Package---Bright Red---5.4L---catback duals---K&N Air Filter---17" wheels---Remote Start/Entry---12 disc CD Changer---CONFEDERATE BATTLE FLAG ON THE BUMPER! deal with it.

 

I read about a 1 1/2 years ago that Ford would be taking a number of initiatives to increase the visits by owners to their dealers. They starting selling tires at a discount etc. I recall adds touting the dealership as the best place for an oil change ( which seemed like a stretch to the average Joe ). I see that I now get "No Boundaries" catalogs that direct me back to my dealer. Nothing wrong with that.
But this 5-20w oil thing looks mighty suspect.
How come I can't easily find a selection of this weight oil at my local auto parts? Seems the oil suppliers were caught off gaurd. I guess I need to go to the dealer right? Kind of reminds me of the "special honda oil" I had to buy years ago.
As for the 5-20w oil and warranty I make the following observations.
The warranty is only 36K. I think that even inferior oil would take the engine safely through that mileage.
I changed to Mobil 1 after 5000 miles because I'm the guy who is going to own the truck when it goes past that mileage. I wonder how much concern any car manufacturer has for the wear on higher mileage engines. If the recommendation of 5-20w turns out to shorten the lifespan of the engine who is going to benefit the most?
I must go now because the black helicopters are over my house again.

 

I'm going with mobil 1 also--in fact 10w-30 not even 5w-30 cause after i get my mods on--ford won't honor the warranty anyway, but if i was worried i'd stick to 5w-20 for the 36000. you can get all the 5w-20 you want at k-mart. i have to agree tho, it sure is a turn around--man 5w-20 seems awlfully lite.

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2001 F-150 4X4 Supercab
XLT 139" WB style side
5.4L V8 3.55 LIMITED SLIP AXLE
MODS:
AIRAID FIPK
SUPERCHIP(FLIP CHIP)
ROLL & LOCK TONNEAU

sitting in garage mods
GIBSON CAT BACK
GIBSON HEADER
REFLEXX COBRA HOOD
STREET SCENE GRILL
HOLLEY THUNDER SUPERCHARGE
ALL TO BE INSTALLED IN 20 DAYS

 

[quote]<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by RebelYell:
[b]Actually all the vehicle manufacturers accept receipts for oil and filters as proof that the work was performed on the vehicle that they're being asked to do warranty service on. If you don't have the receipts, how else are they to know if you have regularly performed the scheduled maintenance tasks? Take your word for it? I don't think so.

 

All-

As long as you are using an SAE approved motor oil, like Mobil 1 5w30, Ford CANNOT (I say again) CANNOT void your warranty! Plain and simple! They must prove that using synthetic 5w30 instead of their Dinosaur oil 5w20 is a direct cause of the problem. Trust me- you will get no engine problems by using 5w30 versus 5w20 dino oil.

 

Are you willing to fork over the bucks to members who follow your statement and end up with a voided warranty?

I still maintain that if you care at all about your warranty and don't want the hassels or spend the time and money to prove that you know better than Ford, then do what Ford says. Otherwise, if you have the time and money, do whatever you like, but don't whine about it if Ford denies your warranty claim.

I would suggest that you contact the oil manufacturers with your ideas of what's best for your truck and see if they will back their product by paying for any repairs to the engine that Ford refuses to because of the use of an unapproved oil for that particular engine.