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  • 1996 - 2004 SN95 Mustang -General/Talk-
  • SN95 4.6L Mustang Tech

oil ??

  • Thread starter Thread starter 4.6boy
  • Start date Start date Jan 23, 2008
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4.6boy

New Member
Jan 17, 2008
187
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0
Jan 23, 2008
#1
  • Jan 23, 2008
  • #1
is it better to stay with the 5w20 recommend by ford or go with a ticker oil? i got a 02 gt with 70,000 miles . also which one would u recomend castrol synitic or mobil 1
 

BurningRubber

10 Year Member
Dec 6, 2004
1,865
24
58
Jan 23, 2008
#2
  • Jan 23, 2008
  • #2
Stick with the 5w20. If you want to pay for it get Synthetic Mobil 1.

Motorcraft is good oil too. Its a synthetic blend and costs alot less than Mobil.

6 quarts. I reccomend using a Motorcraft oil filter. Should be FL-820S.
 
B

bdcardinal

tree hugger
Jun 10, 2003
3,612
16
69
santa barbara, CA
Jan 23, 2008
#3
  • Jan 23, 2008
  • #3
you can use the Motorcraft Synthetic 5w20, theres a special offer thing now with ford, at least my dealer.
 

hotstang_46

Member
Apr 11, 2007
481
4
18
Charlotte NC
Jan 23, 2008
#4
  • Jan 23, 2008
  • #4
stay with conventional oil and frequent oil changes.......and save the $$
 
9

97speedster

New Member
Jan 16, 2007
134
1
0
stanwood,wa
Jan 23, 2008
#5
  • Jan 23, 2008
  • #5
Use Amsoil it meets the specs for all weights. It is only labeled differently to meet certain criteria's.
 

Skidawg

Member
Nov 11, 2003
104
0
16
Jan 25, 2008
#6
  • Jan 25, 2008
  • #6
4.6boy said:
is it better to stay with the 5w20 recommend by ford or go with a ticker oil? i got a 02 gt with 70,000 miles . also which one would u recomend castrol synitic or mobil 1
Click to expand...

5W-20 is fine. Stick with it. Given ONLY those two choices, go with M1.
 
C

chuck943

New Member
Oct 26, 2002
262
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0
north carolina
Jan 25, 2008
#7
  • Jan 25, 2008
  • #7
hotstang_46 said:
stay with conventional oil and frequent oil changes.......and save the $$
Click to expand...

Well actually you don't, if u are running conventional oil u should change that every 3k miles or run the risk of developing sludge which the modular engines don't do very well with, with the synthetic blend oil u can go 5k easily without any problems what so ever. If u drive say 12k miles a year thats only 2 oil changes with the blend as opposed to 4 with conventional. So actually the blend would be cheaper,however if protection is your main concern then full synthetic is the way to go.
 

Mustang5L5

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell
Mod Dude
Feb 18, 2001
43,295
17,998
224
Massachusetts
Jan 25, 2008
#8
  • Jan 25, 2008
  • #8
Motorcraft FL-820S and a quality conventional oil is all you need. I beleive synthetics are overrated.


Stock weight is 5w-20, some guys run 5w-30 because that's what this motor was designed around and ford went to the 20 to gain 0.25MPG without changing any motor tolerances
 
D

Dragstr05

New Member
Dec 21, 2004
643
1
0
Stafford VA
Jan 25, 2008
#9
  • Jan 25, 2008
  • #9
If Ford says you can run 5w20 and you want to, have at it. I'm running 5w20 in my 2000 right now with no problems, plus it is winter so its better to have a thinner oil anyway. I may go back to 5w30 in the summer.

I always run motorcraft oil and filter. I change it every 3000. Sure it may be overkill, but I know I always have good, clean lubrication. Hardly costs anything to change oil anyway. Dont forget to maintain the rest of your vehicle...too many people forget that and think oil changes are all thats needed.
 

mustang50v8

Member
Feb 4, 2003
548
3
18
847 Chicago Burbs
Jan 25, 2008
#10
  • Jan 25, 2008
  • #10
i use mobile 1 5w20 and either napa nascar select or wix filters, same filter i have been told.
 
T

Too Slow

New Member
Jan 23, 2004
209
0
0
Houston, TX
Jan 27, 2008
#11
  • Jan 27, 2008
  • #11
mustang50v8 said:
i use mobile 1 5w20 and either napa nascar select or wix filters, same filter i have been told.
Click to expand...


I work at NAPA and to follow up, Yes it is the same filter. Wix makes all the filters for napa....air, fuel, and oil.
 

jivepepper

Founding Member
Jun 19, 2002
776
5
18
Under a Sombrero. in WV.
Jan 28, 2008
#12
  • Jan 28, 2008
  • #12
I use what ever 5w-30 dino oil is onsale and a Motorcraft oil filter.
 

joshheat25

Member
Nov 8, 2004
871
0
16
Delaware
Jan 29, 2008
#13
  • Jan 29, 2008
  • #13
Yea I used to use 10W 30 in the summer when I first got the car but I heard that it was bad for our engines so now I just run 5W 20 all year round!
 

hotstang_46

Member
Apr 11, 2007
481
4
18
Charlotte NC
Jan 29, 2008
#14
  • Jan 29, 2008
  • #14
chuck943 said:
Well actually you don't, if u are running conventional oil u should change that every 3k miles or run the risk of developing sludge which the modular engines don't do very well with, with the synthetic blend oil u can go 5k easily without any problems what so ever. If u drive say 12k miles a year thats only 2 oil changes with the blend as opposed to 4 with conventional. So actually the blend would be cheaper,however if protection is your main concern then full synthetic is the way to go.
Click to expand...

chuck, what you state is not true. I have a brother with BP who's told me time and time again it's not the integrity of the synthetic that's in question at say the 5k mark you speak of. It's that the oil may be dirty from combustion byproducts, etc, which the manufacturers don't really mention.... The oil itself could potentially last until 10-12k. You are incorrectly using the viscosity of the oil as the barometer of when it needs to be changed. Waiting until 5k just because you have synthetic is not a chance you should take, or at least I wouldn't. For that reason oil changes should be done more regularly than you state regardless of what you choose to run. If changed regularly a conventional oil will serve it's purpose just as well as a synthetic for 99% of the people with stangs out there. And if changed regularly regardless of blend it will be cheaper.
 

streethorse

15 Year Member
Oct 8, 2005
1,042
6
58
Dallas Texas
Jan 29, 2008
#15
  • Jan 29, 2008
  • #15
There is an interview with a Royal Purple Rep in Modified Mustangs, I think
the Dec or Nov issue where he says you should run RP for 6k or 8k miles
but change only the filter at the halfway point.
Im just gonna keep doing conventional oil and filter at 3k.
 

hotstang_46

Member
Apr 11, 2007
481
4
18
Charlotte NC
Jan 29, 2008
#16
  • Jan 29, 2008
  • #16
streethorse said:
There is an interview with a Royal Purple Rep in Modified Mustangs, I think
the Dec or Nov issue where he says you should run RP for 6k or 8k miles
but change only the filter at the halfway point.
Im just gonna keep doing conventional oil and filter at 3k.
Click to expand...

the reason he states the filter change is because of all the combustion products and road grime, etc that can work their way into the oil that clogs filters. Any independant person or agency that's done testing will tell you to change regardless at the 3k mark if not earlier on all blends, and at worse do what the RP rep said, do a filter change at the 3k mark. The manufacturers do not specifically mention this stuff because it would seriously hurt their sales and their clame to fame........They only tell the public part of the story...it's not their lying, they're just not giving the whole story. Which in turn lead to the masses thinking they can go longer between changes, which is what chuck above was recomending. If you are truly fanatical about car care and want to do what's best for your vehicle, even if it's just overkill (which is what most who run sythetic are doing) then it would only make sense to follow suit and change your synthetic, which is still in great shape, but quite possibly dirty @ 3k.
 
C

chuck943

New Member
Oct 26, 2002
262
0
0
north carolina
Jan 30, 2008
#17
  • Jan 30, 2008
  • #17
hotstang_46 said:
chuck, what you state is not true. I have a brother with BP who's told me time and time again it's not the integrity of the synthetic that's in question at say the 5k mark you speak of. It's that the oil may be dirty from combustion byproducts, etc, which the manufacturers don't really mention.... The oil itself could potentially last until 10-12k. You are incorrectly using the viscosity of the oil as the barometer of when it needs to be changed. Waiting until 5k just because you have synthetic is not a chance you should take, or at least I wouldn't. For that reason oil changes should be done more regularly than you state regardless of what you choose to run. If changed regularly a conventional oil will serve it's purpose just as well as a synthetic for 99% of the people with stangs out there. And if changed regularly regardless of blend it will be cheaper.
Click to expand...


I do not disagree with what you are saying about combustion byproducts, my point was that conventional contains solvents which evaporate with heat and this promotes the build up of sludge, sythetics do not contain the large amounts of solvent and therefore are more tolerant of heat before breaking down. With a good quality filter 5k miles is not a problem between oil changes,providing that your car is running good, not running excessively rich or lean. We see numerous cars through our shop daily with 200-300k on the oddometers and have oil changes regularly with sythetic blend at 5k and are as clean inside as the day they were new. We even have a 96 Town Car we service that went 624k before we had to replace the motor(he is now at 1million,air port shuttle vehicle).
The main thing is to do what you are comfortable with.
 

hotstang_46

Member
Apr 11, 2007
481
4
18
Charlotte NC
Jan 30, 2008
#18
  • Jan 30, 2008
  • #18
1 million miles
 

NobleHdwe

New Member
Jan 19, 2008
16
0
0
Oklahoma
Jan 30, 2008
#19
  • Jan 30, 2008
  • #19
I talked to a service mgr at a local Ford dealership about this just the other day. He said that the main advantage of the synthetic is that you can go longer between changes. He said that the blend, which all conventional oils are now, changed at 3K miles is just as good in his opinion. He said that the svc dept will do whatever the customer requests. If they want full synthetic then they do that. He said that they haven't seen any real differences in problems between using either one. Just my 2 cents. I'm too old school. Every 3K oil and filter for me!
 

the98stang

Active Member
Aug 12, 2005
2,408
0
47
Clovis, CA
Jan 30, 2008
#20
  • Jan 30, 2008
  • #20
Personally 5w-20 is too thin for my liking, especially during the summer. The only reason ford changed their oil recommendation from 5w20 to 5w30 was to save gas consumption and get better EPA ratings. I would definitely run 5w-30 in your stang, especially with the high mileage.
 
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