Saxman, great post! I just learned alot there...

One question...will oil degrade if it's not in use? For example, my motorcycle has seen about 700 miles in the last year since it had it's last oil change....will it break down over time, or will it be good because it has just been sitting there, not in use?

 

with 49k miles (bought with 46k) im coming up on my first oil change. I have no idea what was used in it before. Should i stick with regular dino oil or switch to a semi syn at this point? I live in Ohio, do primarily city driving, and only drive about 450-500 mi a month, at the most.

Also i have a 2004 5.4L, but no owners manual. How many quarts will i need?

Any recs?

 

yes, oil will breakdown. the acids/moisture in the motor (natural and leeched) get into the oil and break it down.

You should probably change your oil out every 6 months to prevent from running your engine with substandard oil




5w20 motorcraft semi-synthetic oil
7 quarts

FL-820s oil filter

 

Changing oil every 3k, 5, or 10k is a myth.

I had a for that was a buy back so I swore I wouldn't spend a dime on it knowing Ford was going to eventually own it. Long story short it took three years to settle, and I put nearly 50k miles on the truck with NO oil changes.

Granted I did put make up oil when needed. Before I turned it in I pulled an oil sample and the oil sample came back great with no appreciable sign of wear.
In the 80' my new VW stated change every 3k miles while the same model in Europe said 10k - now they say 10K over here.

Last story, when I purchased a extended warranty it came with "free" oil changes BUT at ever for it 3K in mandatory.

Bottom line oils analysis is the only way to judge what your oil is doing, not age, not color, not smell.

 

not true...and that poor truck. why would you intentionally do that?

age, color, smell are all 1st line indicators of oil life/quality

oils in good condition should pass a clear & bright test and a be free of suspended particles/sludge.


an analysis is good for determining the exact status of oil. and determining where the crap came from is present.



you are welcome to run your oil past the recommended intervals. I'll keep to my 3,000 mile change. it's cheap and easy protection to ensure you aren't circulating damaging particulate through your engine and possible scoring/clogging it up

 

AMSOIL W/ FILTER... I use it in everything I own. The only 100% synthetic oil that does not use a parafin wax base to their oils; Therefore no chance of build up, ever. My old F250 with the 5.8 when in for a head gasket and broken manifold. Truck had 194,000 on it, and had Amsoil from new from previous owner, so I found where I could buy it and continued to use it just to be consistant. The local shop called my house to find out what kind of oil I used; At first I thought something was wrong. After a bit he confessed to me that my engine inside looked like a motor out of a 3yr old truck. He had never seen anything like it. From that day forward I never looked back. Its a little more expensive than Mobil 1, but the oil and filter are good for 1yr. or 25,000 miles. The ATF is good for 100,000 miles and runs a bit coller than factory.

 

Great Post Saxman. Everyone should take note of what he said, because he is definately scientifically correct. Not to mention the VCT systems of these engines operate on oil pressure, so changing the viscosity may affect operation or life.

 

Supercharged 5.4L. I use Mobile 1 or Royal Purple oil full synthetic. Filters, I use Mobil 1 or K&N (look at the drainback on them verses the competition you'll see why). I do oil analylis to determine condition of the engine in advance of problems and change the oil less than every 3000 miles because of high stress the supercharger adds (and because I got a massive discount on Royal Purpose and Mobile 1). Also have a oil/air separator on the hose from the driver's side valve cover because the amount of oil pulled side is much higher when running under boost.

 

Any of the start-up rattle Ken? Usually sounds like marbles in the engine for 1-2 seconds. Thanks

 

No problems with start-up rattle so far. I let the engine drain for about 30 minutes so it cools off nicely and drains completely. I then fill the oil filter with oil, wait about 10 seconds (you can see the oil level going down in the filter as it seaps past the filter material towards the outer casing. I repeat this over and over again until the filter is completely full then I install it. I hold my finger over the filter hole until its just about ready to screw in so there is very little spillage. Fortunately the locaton of the filter makes this easy.

If someone simply poured oil into the filter until it reached the top, without waiting for the level to go down it actually barely fills the filter.

My preference of filters:

1. K&N. Same filter as the Mobile 1, but with a hex nut on the top of the filter which makes removal/installation easy. Very expensive filter, and not worth it to me.

2. Mobile 1. Great filter. Large oil holes, very large and strong drain back valve. I buy this one, its about 30% less than the K&N. I'll deal with a filter not having a nut on top for the 30% savings. Here's why I buy them: http://www.mobiloil.com/usa-english/...AQs.aspx#FAQs1

3. WIX or NAPA Gold. I won't go into the details, tons of threads on FTE about the attributes of these filters.

 

I use Motorcraft 5w-20 semi syn oil and Motorcraft filters

 

I buy my filters right from the dealer.

But use Mobil 1 5w30 synthetic oil in my truck.

 

I am. The metallurgy in these newer engines along with the better engineering allows the use of lighter oils. Also, I was told by a Ford mechanic that the TSBs state that they should not use higher viscosity oils because they alter the behavior of the lifters.

I'm going to stick with 5W20 and since I've had great experiences with Mobil One that's what's going in my 5.4 along with a MC FL820S filter.

 

mobile 1 5w-20w
k&n filters

curious to find out if the mobile 1 and k&n are the same

 

Visually, and a close inspection of the drainback, they appear to be identical. I'm changing the oil this weekend and will open up the Mobile 1 to take some photos. The next filter going on is a K&N (got it on sale so this time its cheaper than the Mobile 1) and I'll open it after the next change. Around here Mobile 1 filter runs $6 to $9, and the K&N $9 to $13.