5w-20 might be ok for the US market because of the speed limits. Here in Germany you can't even get 5w-20, the lowest is 5w-30. I think my engine wouldn't like the 5w-20 on the Autobahn with 155 mph.
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2007 Mustang GT Premium - manual - Black - Dark charcoal with parchment color accent - Spoiler delete option - Interior Upgrade Package - Premier Trim Package - Active Anti-Theft System - Heated seats - 3.55 axle ratio
And Rod Z You wrote "I was told by my motul dealer that the reason why most automanufacturers use 5w-20 is because it is less viscousity and gives higher mpg but at the cost of long term protection. I was recommended to switch to 5w-30. Anyone else has any imput on this?"
The reason Ford recommends 5-20 is for bearing clearance. The closer the bearing clearance the thinner the oil has to be to maintain a certain amount of oil between the surface’s under a certain pressure . 5-30 oil is thicker, Thicker oil will work as long as your not pushing the oiling system, (your foot on the floor). Thicker oil wears the bearing surface quicker because of increased friction from the thicker oil. After your Ford gets over 100,000 miles on it, the bearing clearance will be that of a manufactures engine that a 5-30 oil is recommended , So after 100,000 miles change to 5-30. The API donut information, that is on every container of oil is confusing to read. I will post an explanation of all three segments of the donut if you would like.
It'd funny that Ford only recommends 5W-20 in the USA. Go to Europe or down under and see Ford recommends for the 4.6. 5W-20 is NOT recommended. It's all about "CAFE" and not about clearances. 20 weight oil is on the hairy edge of protection and with any shearing the enginne is not protected. The Ford Modular is a great engine and would last just about for ever if it wasn't for the EPA lowering the ZDDP (Phos/Zink) levels in oil and the dam CAFE issue. If you only care about getting to 100K miles and good gas milage, then run the 5W-20. Most of us didn't buy a V8 Stang for gas milage.
Hon I don't know where you get your info and I have no Idea what CAFE is unless your talking about a place to eat. But (API) American Petroleum Institute,determine just what a oil is , as compared to the 5-20, 5-30 Numbers and The reason Ford recommends 5-20 is that the bearing tolerances are such that 20 is the max that can be forced threw without damage. I think you should run 20-50 or maybe 80 in your car. The "energy conserving and energy conserving11" are what give better gas mileage, They are slippery additives. You missed the point about 100,000 miles, reading comprehension comes to mind. The reason Ford recommends any weight of oil is because oil thickness vs clearance of the two surface's that the pump is trying to push the oil threw. 5-20 oil in the US maybe different than 5-20 oil in Australia or UK, The (API)American Petroleum Institute engineers may not apply outside the US. And I could care less about Gas Mileage. FronZ
< Message edited by ZZmustang -- 6/24/2007 12:52:05 PM >
I was told by my motul dealer that the reason why most automanufacturers use 5w-20 is because it is less viscousity and gives higher mpg but at the cost of long term protection. I was recommended to switch to 5w-30. Anyone else has any imput on this?
I use Redline 5w20 (because of the additive package) and an Amsoil EAO-11 oil filter (because of its 98.7% filtering capabilities). I also use Lucas UCL in the gas tank.
If you want the best oil, use Amsoil series 2000 - 0w30. There is no better oil on the market today and data is available to backup this statement. (ya just gotta read alot)
I plan on switching to the Amsoil 2000 in about 5K miles after the additive package in the Redline has done its thing.
GT John There are two things that will kill any oil. Time and heat. Oil sitting on the shelf For a year is just as bad as oil that has been in your car for 3000 miles. Although the additive package for Amsoil 'May' be the best, It's more of a matter of how long that oil was sitting on the shelf before you bought it. Oil is kind of like aspirin, the fresher the better. Aspirin is aspirin mo matter who makes it, I buy Bayer aspirin because it sells the most, which means it's the freshest. I buy Pennzoil because it sells the most which means it's fresher. When Pennzoil and Amsoil come from the factory they both have to meat API regulations for additives and they both have to have minimum API numbers to be sold in the US, these numbers are uniform for all oil manufacturers, Now Amsoil may put additional additives in there oil for whatever reason, But , I wouldn't guess that would make them better. More like , more expensive. When Buying oil, there are two important things to look for, The API Donut that has the right classification (In your owners manual) for your car, and the manufactured date. Pennzoil and Amsoil are both no good if they have been sitting on the shelf for a year.
Oh yea, I forgot, A filter that filters 98.7 % is nice , unless you put your foot on the floor. then the filter is so good that the oil can not run threw it fast enough, so when you have your foot on the floor, your system goes into bypass, which means you have no filtering. You could put 20 filters on your car, that don't mean it's good.
< Message edited by ZZmustang -- 6/24/2007 2:16:25 PM >
I didn't miss the point; it’s all about gas mileage and politics, not friction or "bearing tolerances". "SAE" 5W-20 for the 4.6 Modular is recommended in the USA and not in other countries. Ford hasn't changed the 4.6 bearing tolerances; they changed from 5W-30 / 10W-30 to meet the EPA's CAFE standards. It's about politics, not engineering standards. “Ford Motor Company reports that the company’s switch from recommending 5W-30 viscosity motor oil to 5W-20 viscosity motor oil has saved 700 million gallons of gasoline since 2001.” Thinner oil does give better gas mileage in "some" engines but it's not due to "lower friction". It's due to lower pumping losses. Thicker oil does take more energy to pump. When Ford first published the thinner oil recommendations, they had some engine failures especially on flat-tappet designs initiating TSBs to return to 30 weights in some engines due to 5W-20’s marginal hydrodynamic film properties. Isn't it interesting that other auto manufactures also changed oil weight recommendations to thinner oil without changing their engines? The EPA lowering of anti wear additives such as Zinc and Phosphorus coupled with lower EP properties in the new “green generation” oils is just the beginning. “Thinner” was to save gas and lowering Zinc and Phosphorus was friendlier to Cats forcing many oil knowledgeable owners into switching to HDEOs (Diesel Oil) to protect their engines. Now, HDEOs are next on the EPA’s chopping block. If they keep it up, there is going to be a black market for oil in this country.
< Message edited by honus402 -- 6/24/2007 3:06:23 PM >
Hons If you didn't miss my point, maybe you could share with me the place I mentioned anything about gas mileage or politics. API regulations don't apply to other countries because of the first letter in API (American) that would be a United States Regulation. Yes thinner oil gives better gas mileage, Who cares. The tolerences for the 4.6 in America and in UK may be the same, I don't know, If they are then the 4.6 in UK should be useing 5-20 because the tolerances are smaller that the tolerances that require 5-30 oil. God this is like talking to a Chevy guy. Lets start with something a little simpler, 2+2= 4. I'm done trying to explain this, I could care less what oil is used in UK or Austrailia. . Hears something from a Honda engineer. on a Honda site.
"One thing to be sure of is that the place you get your oil changed uses the proper oil. A lot of the new Hondas have engines with very tight clearances and Honda has switched to 5W20 oil. Some people have mistakenly believed that they switched to 5W20 to increase fuel economy, but this is only peripherally true; they went to tighter clearances on the engines to increase fuel economy and reduce emissions, and this is why they switched to 5W20. Even some Honda dealers don't use the right oil."
America is great , most of the time we can write literally. Just what does your statement mean? . " We all have the freedom of our own opinions rather they are based on emotion or fact. "
You think I wrote that Honda thing, You think I gave ford 4.6 less tolerances in bearing clearances, or maybe I decided that the UK should be more fuel efficient. I’m not real sure what you are saying cause your statement makes no sense, and even if you added punctuation it still wouldn't make sense , unless you are say my opinions are based on emotion or fact, and to that I would say YES. Reading comprehension, try it, you’ll like it.
I don't know if I'm right or wrong, but, I use Royal Purple 5w-20 and 4 oz. Tufoil and either a Mobil 1 or K&N filter every 3,000 miles. This engine runs smooth as silk.
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Silver 2006 Automatic Mustang GT Premium, Borla cat-back S-type exhaust, JLT II CAI/SCT II 93 octane tune by Fred @ EVO, Royal purple oil, Tufoil, 255/50-17 Riken Raptor tires
It'd funny that Ford only recommends 5W-20 in the USA. Go to Europe or down under and see Ford recommends for the 4.6. 5W-20 is NOT recommended. It's all about "CAFE" and not about clearances. 20 weight oil is on the hairy edge of protection and with any shearing the enginne is not protected. The Ford Modular is a great engine and would last just about for ever if it wasn't for the EPA lowering the ZDDP (Phos/Zink) levels in oil and the dam CAFE issue. If you only care about getting to 100K miles and good gas milage, then run the 5W-20. Most of us didn't buy a V8 Stang for gas milage.
Bingo!
Local Ford doesnt even sale 5W20, they had to specifically import the oil for this engines (mustang and explorer) 4.6 3V, because there is none in the market, they brought Motorcraft 5W30 and Valvoline synthetic also 5W30. The manual of the car in spanish clearly says 5W30 even the oil cap still says 5W20.
I have a friend who is an oil geek, he is the Agip representative in the country and as soon as I told him I bought the new stang he told me "dont use the 5W20 they recommend, use 5W30" they (Agip) dont carry such oil locally because the market is quite small so he told me to use Motul specially done for Ford 5W30. With this oil mpg and hp will suffer so little you wont notice (or care with gas @ 0.08$/gallon) but you will gain longevity, specially in this tropical weather.
Believe what you want, I trust my sources and my findings, motul is next.
This is an easy one. Use the factory oil. For sure, use the right weight. There is a sensor that detects oil pressure / flow speed, and this sensor helps the computer regulate the variable cam function. Using the wrong weight of oil may cause improper valve timing. I have heard from several people who have confirmed that using the wrong weight of oil could be seen on the dyno. If the sensor gets confused, it can momentarily revert timing to the "failsafe" setting, robbing power.
I know of at least two people who claim that running mobil 1 OF THE CORRECT WEIGHT caused a drop on the dyno too, since the sensor does not register the flow of this oil in the same way. While I have my doubts about this one, I am not sure either way, and am not going to chance it, with 289 RWHP out of my auto-tranny mustang on my last dyno pull. Why mess with success?
Why reinvent the wheel? I think Ford, who designed the engine, and spec'd the tolerances, probably knows what oil to use in their engines. Thicker oil may not penetrate tight clearance areas as well. Why take the chance?
I love mobil 1 in my other vehicles, and swear by it. But not in my stang.
My two cents: Use the oil ford specs for the engine, and keep it changed. Use a good filter like the K&N, and call it good.
< Message edited by USA Power -- 6/26/2007 12:34:25 PM >
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2006 GT - C&L Racer CAI / Diablosport 91 Octane - FR 410s - Mac Axle Backs - 255/45/18
I didn't miss the point; it’s all about gas mileage and politics, not friction or "bearing tolerances". "SAE" 5W-20 for the 4.6 Modular is recommended in the USA and not in other countries. Ford hasn't changed the 4.6 bearing tolerances; they changed from 5W-30 / 10W-30 to meet the EPA's CAFE standards. It's about politics, not engineering standards. “Ford Motor Company reports that the company’s switch from recommending 5W-30 viscosity motor oil to 5W-20 viscosity motor oil has saved 700 million gallons of gasoline since 2001.” Thinner oil does give better gas mileage in "some" engines but it's not due to "lower friction". It's due to lower pumping losses. Thicker oil does take more energy to pump. When Ford first published the thinner oil recommendations, they had some engine failures especially on flat-tappet designs initiating TSBs to return to 30 weights in some engines due to 5W-20’s marginal hydrodynamic film properties. Isn't it interesting that other auto manufactures also changed oil weight recommendations to thinner oil without changing their engines? The EPA lowering of anti wear additives such as Zinc and Phosphorus coupled with lower EP properties in the new “green generation” oils is just the beginning. “Thinner” was to save gas and lowering Zinc and Phosphorus was friendlier to Cats forcing many oil knowledgeable owners into switching to HDEOs (Diesel Oil) to protect their engines. Now, HDEOs are next on the EPA’s chopping block. If they keep it up, there is going to be a black market for oil in this country.
+1. This guy has his act together. It is all driven by politics. Go to any Walmart and check out the single weight viscosity of RACING OILS. Not a one of them is under SAE 50. By all the techno reasoning going on here, every RACING engine on earth needs to be running 5W-20. I guarantee you, that doesn't happen in your average pit. Heavier weight oils PROTECT better, because they don't thin out at high RACING temperatures. So if heavy weight oils are good for RACING vehicles, why all of a sudden are they bad for high performance Mustangs? Why do so many believe thin runny oil is a GOOD thing?
Here's a clue. Thin runny oil can't protect your engine, because it's THIN and RUNNY. For the same reason your typical NASCAR team uses SAE 50 or even higher, (gee, they must be intentionally trying to ruin those 50,000 dollar engines), your Mustang will run just FINE on 5W-30, which is what I use. Now 20 weight oil may be fine for getting great gas mileage ('cause it's thin and runny) but it don't do squat for engine protection.
So PICK ONE - gas mileage OR engine protection - 'cause you can't have both.
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2006 Redfire GT Coupe, Charcoal leather, Steeda Tri-Ax, Pypes SFM-66 Mid-Muffler System, Valvoline PowerSyn 5w-30. Next: CHE front xmember brace
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RE: 5w-20 oil? Keep or change to 5w-30 - 
