I have used (and am using) Motorcraft 5w-20 and 0w-30 Mobil One Oils for cool weather. It has increased power and MPG with no change on engine noise. I have 4.0 Aerostars. One has over 140,000 miles and has no oil consumption. Anyone else try these relativly new oils? Comments?

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 23-Dec-01 AT 04:11 AM (EST)]>I have used (and am using) Motorcraft 5w-20 and 0w-30 Mobil
>One Oils for cool weather. It has increased power and MPG
>with no change on engine noise. I have 4.0 Aerostars. One
>has over 140,000 miles and has no oil consumption. Anyone
>else try these relativly new oils? Comments?

I have only one Aerostar, an '89 3.0l. I've been running Castrol Syntec (5W-50, not the lesser-range version) in several vehicles since 1993, and I like it a lot.

In my Aero's case, I bought it very used as a basket case two years ago with 141k on it, and have run it almost exactly 20k miles. When I got it, it had new oil and filters installed, so I ran it about 3k miles with whatever oil was in it, then switched. I noticed more idle engine noise immediately, but this is the early production '89 that had the TSB about accelerated wear on the (foremost?) main bearing, where the official recommendation is to have that main brg replaced + convert the accessories belt drive from multiple belts to the later single belt, and retrofit the newer harmonic balancer. None of which have I done.

Like every vehicle I've converted to synthetic lube before it, the Aero picked up a couple MPG, and started immediately using less oil between changes. I'm running synthetic ATF, synthetic gear lube in the rear axle, and DOT Silicone brake fluid. I'm convinced.

If you've got a leaker engine, I don't recommend converting, because the stuff is expensive, and its base viscosity is less, so it does tend to want to leak faster. Mine isn't a leaker (just a drip once in a while from the rear main), so it was a no-brainer to convert.

On the subject of Mobil One: I had two bad experiences with this synthetic oil back in 1975! So, I've never even tried to use it since then. Yes, Mobil One is over 25 years old! "Modern", indeed

Regards,
Al S.

 

Concerning the "new" oil, I was referimg to 0W-30 and 5W-20 not how long synthetic oil has been around. Being nit-picking, the Germans used it in WW11. LOL

 

A few years ago, I've started using 5W-40 of a local brand. I did not notice any increase in gas mileage but I think the engine runs smoother. Plus the car is mostly used for short trips, so fully synth.oil is the better choice for me.

Tom Ucen
1993 Aeorstar XL Ext. 3.0
Munich, Germany