As more and more Ford products go ecoboost which calls for 5w-30, I bet it was a decision to have only 1 oil grade on the gas engine assembly lines. Clearly 5w-30 will work just fine in a 6.2L.

 

I reckon since I live in Texas and its gonna be really hot I'll go with the 5w-30 when the time comes......does it make a difference?

 

I asked my service writer about this issue. The only information he found was they should use the oil specified on the oil filler cap. We went on the lot & checked a couple 2016 6.2L trucks & their oil cap had 5w-20w on them. The owners manuals were not in the trucks so we couldn't check them.

 

I plan on asking in may when I get my next service done.

Denny

 

I Had a Ford Service Manager look into the reasons behind the oil viscosity change from the 2015 and previous years of 5w20 to 5w30 for the 2016 model year of 6.2L engines and here's what was said.


"It is suspected that the oil viscosity was changed for the 2016 model year due to TSB 15-0161 for the 2015 6.2L engine as it identifies an oil consumption fault and part of the service procedure is to use a thicker oil, 5w30, from then on to resolve the concern. The oil adjustment has been carried over to the new model year.
Also, it is possible that there are different clearances for the new model year engine or engineering has identified that the thicker oil provides better lubrication properties and is now the recommended viscosity to use."


So there it is from my request put into Ford. Looks like a switch to 5w30 is recommended. Response letter attached.

 

Don't these engines have a 195 degree thermostat in them? Even the 2016? There really isn't much difference in 5w20 vs 5w30 at those temps.

 

Sounds like speculation from the tone of the letter. JMHO

 

I'm at 2800 miles with my truck and I'm going to change oil at 3000. I got the stuff last week and the oil i bought with the 820S is 5w-20 so I guess I'm not too freaked out about it. I'm a poser anyway since the only thing I tow is a 24 ft pontoon boat.

 

My dads 6.2l has 5w30 in it now, changed from 5w-20 at approx 3,800 miles.

Dodge specs 0w40 for the 6.4l in the HD trucks.

 

I find this a very interesting topic as my 2011 6.2l raptor has been using 5w-20 from the dealership and has 57700 miles on it , been driven very mild and Ford doesn't wanna honor the motor change it needs because of sludge in the motor. Owned ford trucks over 20 years and have one warranty claim and I am being denied. Very frustrating.

 

That is alarming. You think the oil weight contributed to the sludge build up? How could the sludge cause you to need a new motor? (Assuming no aftermarket mods?)

 

You have sludge build up after 57k miles? How often did you change the motor oil and filter?

 

I am just looking for answers. No aftermarket mods just like it came from the factory. I am going by what the ford tech said at the dealership. The couldn't detect any problem of why the motor sludged up, so they said that if they covered it under warranty that Ford wouldn't reimburse them when they sent them a sludged up motor. So I have a 50k truck sitting in the yard I can't drive. Well unless I spend 9k for a new motor or Ford decides to cover it.

 

What were the OCIs on the truck, 7500 miles?

 

The only motor I killed from sludge is our 77 Cougar, my wife ran it back and forth to work about 3 blocks away for 4 years with very few long runs and one day I could here the rods at startup, we traded it off before it blew.

In hind site I should have changed the oil more often and made sure it had longer runs on it.

Denny