Recommended Oil and Spark plugs?

I say if your worried about leaks,try a synthetic blend and see how it goes.Mine has 120k on it and I have no leaks with fully synthetic but as HISSIN said no two are the same.

Jekyl said:

I have leaks...the whole underside of my engine is messy..... but I dont seem to be burning or losing TOO much oil. I think im going to stay with regular oil and do an oil change about once every 45 days since I drive alot. what motor oil weight should I use tho.. i dont understand how that works..

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one wants to run the thinnest (least viscous) oil that they can and maintain proper pressure in ALL situations. remember, pressure is the resistance to flow.

i go in steps from something like 10-30 and keep going up till i end up like Pete (like i said, i do run 20W-50 in some cars).

good luck.

I used to think synthetic was the way to go and now I just think it is a waste of money. We have trucks in out fleet at work that have way over 300k miles on the original motor running dino oil that gets changed hopefully once a year.

I say use conventional oil changed every 5,000 miles and run motorcraft plugs.

"colored oil" (that sounds racist =P) means the oil has lots of gunk and blowby embedded in it. That means its no longer fresh and it needs changing. Sure it's doing it's job....but that doesnt mean it's still at 100% efficiency anymore. You'd be pumping carbon deposits over your bearings.

When a car goes too long without an oilchange...it just runs rough, even if properly filled. When I replace that oil...it smoothes out. The only difference is whats in the oil. So this leads me to believe that the deposits are not beneficial to the running of the engine at all and the oil should be changed if they are present.

A good synthetic is hard to beat. However, it makes no sense to use it if you intend to change it every 3K. I use Mobil 1 and change every 6K.

Also, just found out from a reliable source that our 302's like 5W-30. The lifters like the lighter oil to pump them up. Also, you will notice less noise from them.

Remember too that the oil does not cause leaks. Loose bolts, overfilling etc. cause leaks.

I agree with Crazypete. The oil in my 94 Ford xlt 5.7 litre has been changed regularly using the visual inspection method of when its stating to get dark (2,500 - 3,000 in my rig) change it. At 191,000 miles it still runs strong and does not smoke. I ran 10-30w dino in it until 150k miles and then changed to 10-40w dino. At 190k I started using 20-50w.
I run Valvoline dino or the Durablend (dino/syn mix).

It is funny how opinions vary so greatly on the matter of oil (synthetic vs. dino and different viscosities). Bascially, keeping the oil clean, the motor tuned and serviced has worked out quite well for me.

I think the problem is that ALL oil works and works well. So opinion divides greatly. Synthetic is what you want for extreme conditions but you dont encounter those often. It survives better than regular oil. But regular oil works just dandy if kept fresh too. Dont fear the heavier oil in high milage cars either. You have enough clearance built up inbetween rotating surfaces that the little extra cusioning is helping you.

TbonesBlack92GT said:

It is funny how opinions vary so greatly on the matter of oil (synthetic vs. dino and different viscosities). Bascially, keeping the oil clean, the motor tuned and serviced has worked out quite well for me.

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very true! I also agree with Pete about using a thicker oil on an older motor (that is not enjoying the thinner stuff - otherwise i see no reason to run thicker stuff).

oil these days is Sooooo much better than it was even 10 years ago, it is hard to go wrong (even the folks that run a cheap dino oil for wayyyy too long). G-I oils that sheared down severely were a different story.

about the color - to each his own (it is hard to look at, but UOA numbers say otherwise).

Reminds me of a time I was car hunting for a friend. I went to go look at this old beat up honda accordian. The thing sounded like it had 2 of 4 cylinders dead. The outside looked ok but you could tell the old hag selling it was a cheap pennypincher and didnt bother mainenence. The thing SHOOK at idle it was so rough. I went to look at the oil and it was SLUDGE. PITCH BLACK GOO. Ever since then, I've been oilchanging every 1000-1200 miles. She horrified me that bad.

Dude!!! Gas costs, what......$25-30 for a tank now? An oilchange costs what....$7 for oil and maybe $3 for a filter. You wont even notice after a while you'll get so good at it. Pull in, slide the pan, pop the plug and go inside. Come back out, put the plug in, pop the front plug and remove the filter while it drains. Replace front plug and fill her up. Get the 4 quart truck oil and you wont even have to hold the oil container. Even a speed oilchange is better than nothing. Drain only the rear sump (practically no oil up front anyways) and leave the filter. Thats a $4 oilchange.

$4 versus (5 tankups at $25 each= $125) It's...for me at least...a no brainer.

Jekyl said:

How many liters of oil do I need to buy? I dont know how much a 5.0L takes

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Don't use Synthetic oil! Your car has too many miles and I can pretty much guarantee, that it will leak. Trust me or try it for yourself. With the age of your car, I would think the gaskets are getting a little old . Good luck and let us know.