what oil are you running?

I would not use any viscosity other than 5W-20; this discussion has come up in other forums, and Jim at JDM tuning said that the cam phasers in these cars are very sensitive to viscosity changes and they have seen up to 30 hp gains from putting the right oil in the car to get the valve timing working again.
The regular Motorcraft filter has a very good reputation, I don't know if there is much reason to use something else. I use Mobil 1 and the Motorcraft filter.

ct07gt said:

I would not use any viscosity other than 5W-20; this discussion has come up in other forums, and Jim at JDM tuning said that the cam phasers in these cars are very sensitive to viscosity changes and they have seen up to 30 hp gains from putting the right oil in the car to get the valve timing working again.
The regular Motorcraft filter has a very good reputation, I don't know if there is much reason to use something else. I use Mobil 1 and the Motorcraft filter.

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I'd love to see that 30 hp gain ...

He was saying that the wrong viscosity oil was causing a 30 hp loss, not that the oil they switched to made any gains over what should have been in there to begin with. From what I understand, the variable cam timing is dependent on the right viscosity being used, and when it isn't the system won't work right. I may have misunderstood what the guy at JDM was saying, but I would guess that he knows what he is talking about, he has a S197 with no power adders running 11.15.

ct07gt said:

has a S197 with no power adders running 11.15.

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Huh?

I guess one of my big questions is...will the 0-20 satisfy Ford's warranty requirement? Also, has anyone been running 0-20 in their Mustang?

It seems that the better flow at cold temperatures would be a benefit...and at warmer temps it acts the same as a 5-20, right? (feel free to chime in here oil experts...I don't pretend to be one).

My car is at almost 1K miles and I'm changing it to full synthetic next weekend. I've done it before in all my cars without any problems whatsoever except for my last one that shipped with Mobil 1 from the factory.

As for Mobil 1...I've used it, I think it's OK, but the oil always looks filthy black when it's time for the oil change whether that is at 3K or at extended frequencies. Now I know I've read that oil color is supposedly not an indication of quality but that doesn't seem to matter to the oil change guys when they scorn me for how terrible my oil looks...or when I change it myself and it's pitch black. It seems just like conventional oil in that respect.

Amsoil on the other hand always looks like I just changed the oil (perfectly clean) and it also smells different; where Mobil 1 smells like regular oil Amsoil almost has no odor which leads me it's more "synthetic" than Mobil 1 "synthetic". Just rambling here...and I don't pretend to be an oil expert so those that are please offer your opinions. It also kills me to be an Amsoil advocate (since their company seems practically cult-like in their fanatical followers and their sales practices) but damn...I swear my cars seem to have more horsepower and fuel efficiency, plus it looks cleaner when I dump it. The only thing I don't like about it is the lack of API certification which the owner's manuals say I need...and the price. Any opinions?

I haven't decided what oil I'm going with yet (0-20, or 5-20, Amsoil, RP, or Mobil1?) so more opinions to sway my decision are appreciated.

I'm 2200 miles into a run on the Mobil 1 0W20 and have seen no noticible gain in fuel economy. The car has 8400 miles on it and I changed out the factory fill at 500 miles with new Motorcraft 5W20 and FL820S filter. Switched to M1 5W20 at 3000 miles and tried the 0W20 at the 6k change. I've always used M1 so guess I'll go back to 5W20 and be done woth it.

My opinions. Feel free to disagree.

If you want to keep the warranty in place, do NOT use any viscosity oil other than what is stated by Ford in the owner's guide unless you have a written letter from Ford Motor Co. that says that another particular oil is acceptable and will not void the warranty.

Essentially, 0W oil uses viscosity improvers to reach 20 weight when the oil is hot. The same thing with 5W, except the viscosity improvers are not the same because they do not need to increase the weight of the base oil's viscosity as much.

STANGmole said:

Huh?

I guess one of my big questions is...will the 0-20 satisfy Ford's warranty requirement? Also, has anyone been running 0-20 in their Mustang?

It seems that the better flow at cold temperatures would be a benefit...and at warmer temps it acts the same as a 5-20, right? (feel free to chime in here oil experts...I don't pretend to be one).

My car is at almost 1K miles and I'm changing it to full synthetic next weekend. I've done it before in all my cars without any problems whatsoever except for my last one that shipped with Mobil 1 from the factory.

As for Mobil 1...I've used it, I think it's OK, but the oil always looks filthy black when it's time for the oil change whether that is at 3K or at extended frequencies. Now I know I've read that oil color is supposedly not an indication of quality but that doesn't seem to matter to the oil change guys when they scorn me for how terrible my oil looks...or when I change it myself and it's pitch black. It seems just like conventional oil in that respect.

Amsoil on the other hand always looks like I just changed the oil (perfectly clean) and it also smells different; where Mobil 1 smells like regular oil Amsoil almost has no odor which leads me it's more "synthetic" than Mobil 1 "synthetic". Just rambling here...and I don't pretend to be an oil expert so those that are please offer your opinions. It also kills me to be an Amsoil advocate (since their company seems practically cult-like in their fanatical followers and their sales practices) but damn...I swear my cars seem to have more horsepower and fuel efficiency, plus it looks cleaner when I dump it. The only thing I don't like about it is the lack of API certification which the owner's manuals say I need...and the price. Any opinions?

I haven't decided what oil I'm going with yet (0-20, or 5-20, Amsoil, RP, or Mobil1?) so more opinions to sway my decision are appreciated.

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Although I am not an expert, I do know that one can not determine the condition of the oil by just the way it looks and smells or even the amount of miles/time it had on it.

Many stationary industrial engines have the oil changed only when the oil analysis indicated it is necessary. Mucho $$$ were saved by analysis based oil change intervals (many units hold well over 500 GALLONS of oil with the filters holding 75+ GALLONS alone!) Additionally, the analysis spotted small problems (metal content, coolant, etc.) which was the original reason for the analysis due to the fact that these were emergency use engines that we couldn't allow to fail. They were used as generators (nuclear power plants) or storm drain pump power units. People would tend to get a little pissy if the local nuclear power station had a meltdown or they woke up with 3 feet of water in their homes because a power unit failed. Unfortunately, "highly detailed" oil analysis costs a couple of hundred dollars each. Not very cost effective for an oil change that costs less than 50 bucks.

Auto and oil manufacturers have tested the oil and engines for thousands of hours and have determined the safe intervals for oil changes using the cheapest dino based oils that met the API standards in order to get a worst case senario. You can make book that there is a "fudge factor" built into those recommendations as neither the car maker or oil producer wants to be advertised as producing a product that fails. The use of full synthetic oil is just an additional safety factor that we gearheads are willing to pay for for the peace of mind.

With all that being said, I would think that a "dirtier looking" oil would be a good thing. That would tell me that the oil's detergent was removing sludge and gunk (technical terms for water, acids, carbon deposits, etc.) as designed. I would be more suspicious if the oil was clean as a whistle after a few thousand miles. Of course I could be wrong as I am not a expert on oil, but that would be my opinion.

Art161 said:

My opinions. Feel free to disagree.

If you want to keep the warranty in place, do NOT use any viscosity oil other than what is stated by Ford in the owner's guide unless you have a written letter from Ford Motor Co. that says that another particular oil is acceptable and will not void the warranty.

Essentially, 0W oil uses viscosity improvers to reach 20 weight when the oil is hot. The same thing with 5W, except the viscosity improvers are not the same because they do not need to increase the weight of the base oil's viscosity as much.

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That is quite true and one of the reasons why auto makers got away from 10w-40 oils is due to all the additives required for so large of a viscosity span. They also found that the "40" part of the viscosity span dropped very quickly to "30" (less than 1000 miles) while still having all of the additives which are not really the best stuff for lubrication. Of course, again I am not an expert and this is just my opinion.

For a 2007 Mustang GT, the engine oil needs to meet Ford specification WSS-M2C 930-A with API Certification Mark. If the bottle says that on it, then you should be fine. If not, you need to contact the oil manufacturer and get, in writing, that the oil meets the Ford specification. If you can not get that assurance, I would not use it.

Art161 said:

For a 2007 Mustang GT, the engine oil needs to meet Ford specification WSS-M2C 930-A with API Certification Mark. If the bottle says that on it, then you should be fine. If not, you need to contact the oil manufacturer and get, in writing, that the oil meets the Ford specification. If you can not get that assurance, I would not use it.

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Have you really ever heard of Ford denying a warranty claim because of oil? Nope, not going to happen, especially within the factory warranty period. If you've got a oil related engine failure than you're to blame more than likely.

NastyStang113 said:

Have you really ever heard of Ford denying a warranty claim because of oil? Nope, not going to happen, especially within the factory warranty period. If you've got a oil related engine failure than you're to blame more than likely.

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actually, i have....

NastyStang113 said:

Have you really ever heard of Ford denying a warranty claim because of oil? Nope, not going to happen, especially within the factory warranty period. If you've got a oil related engine failure than you're to blame more than likely.

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No, I have not. I have heard, however, that GM has refused to repair engines under warranty because the incorrect viscosity of oil was used.

I don't think for is really going to go all CSI on you for using a non-motorcraft oil. After-all; Ford is a motorcraft company, of course they will recomend that.

And as for Royal Purple, I am dissapointed. I usually go up to my cabin and get around 27 miles to the gallon. I changed the oil to Royal purple at 1000 miles on the car, I ran to the cabin this weekend and I only got 23 at the HIGHEST.

Could this be because I put pure synthetic in a brand new car, first oil change?

Wind-Farmer said:

I don't think for is really going to go all CSI on you for using a non-motorcraft oil. After-all; Ford is a motorcraft company, of course they will recomend that.

And as for Royal Purple, I am dissapointed. I usually go up to my cabin and get around 27 miles to the gallon. I changed the oil to Royal purple at 1000 miles on the car, I ran to the cabin this weekend and I only got 23 at the HIGHEST.

Could this be because I put pure synthetic in a brand new car, first oil change?

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As far as Ford denying a claim because you didn't use their own, that'd be against the law.

As far as Royal Purple causing less mileage ... The oil had NOTHING to do with that ... There are way too many variables to say that the oil did it. I've been running Royal Purple synthetic since 1,000 miles on my car and never saw a difference in mileage because of it. There are way too many things that effect gas mileage. The only time I'd say that a oil could change a mileage is if you used a different weight oil.