If you are looking at brand name oil, then yes, I doubt there is any price difference.

But if you read my earlier post, 5w-30 is generally more readily available in generic or house brands, which is cheaper.

 

The 5w is the cold temperature component of the oil weight, so a 5w-20 provides no advantage to a 5w-30 in the winter.

Buy what's on sale.

 

Sounds like a plan to me, so let us know how it goes & if & how much your mpg gain, if any, is!!!!

If you run into a good buy on a synthetic lube in either viscosity, you might try some & see if it'll offer up a little better highway mpg for you, as it did for me.

Seeing as how you are driving 86 miles round trip daily, a mile or two improvement in mpg would add up over a years time & aside from the money saved on fuel, the less fuel burned by the engine, the fewer contaminates the engines systems, oil & filter have to deal with, so the less wear they'll likely see over time.

Crank the mpg numbers, to determne if it'll pay for itself over time.

My 1.8-2.2 improvement in highway mpg on my trips, could have offset the higher cost of the synthetic lube, IF most of my driving was highway, like yours.

Will a lower viscosity synthetic lube produce better, or that much better mpg, for your paricular engine, operating in your area under your diving conditions, only you can answer that.

But as jschira has said, slowing down will surely save fuel & maybe like me, you can find a lube recipe your engine likes, that'll supply a little better highway mpg too, so you could double your pleasure, maybe tripple or even quadruple it, if you'll also use low rolling resistance tires, properly aired up & maybe a smooth lightweight fabric, or aluminum bed cover, to tweak the air flow over the bed some.

Anyway, let us know how it goes.

 

Update.... I changed the oil to MC 5w20 and noticed no increase in MPG's at all. I did notice that with this thinner oil that my engine sounded some what looser, like a little more rattle in the morning's, some say it could be the piston slap and so on. I only left that in there for about 500 miles and decided to get that stuff out and put the castrol 5w30 back in and now it sounds normal again. So i say screw what the mfg says on back spec and using 5w20 when they them selves put 5w30 as recomendation on the truck when new. I think i have come to the conclusion that Ford now recomends a 5w20 just to try and meet EPA fuel economy requirements regardless if its good for these engines or not. The whole idea that a truck V8 engine should have such a light oil in it just dont sound right in the first place considering how much these things weigh empty, not to mention towing a trailer. This could be the main reason that so many of these engines get the famous piston slap in the first place.-----Oil Too Thin and cant take the beating that a truck engine puts on it in the long run and the warranty will be out by the time you notice these problems. Just my 2 cents.

 

5W just means the viscosity falls within a specified range on the CCS test. In most cases, a 5W-20 will be thinner at all temperatures.

 

Good feedback on your mpg test, too bad the engine didn't sound good with the 5w-20 in it.

That was one of the reasons I decided not to try a run of 5w-20 in my Taurus 3.8L, even though Ford has back speced it to be able to use it.

The Havoline 5W-30 I use in it is on the low side of the 30wt spec anyway, so I doubt that my switching to a 5W-20 would have made much, or any difference in it's mpg either.

 

You would be correct on this. I have this deal where i allways shake a bottle of oil at the store ( dont ask, just weird i guess ) and there is a difference between the two as far as thickness.

 

""You can use either. It will not matter.

Buy whatever is on sale/cheapest.""

good advice <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

 

I agree with a lot of your thoughts on oil. I have tested this theory and it is 100% confirmed. I wonder if I can now get a job at Myth Busters?

 

I have a 1999 F250 5.4 2V and I use nothing but 5W30 in it.
Using the synthetic oil, my gas mileage has increased 3 MPG over DINO oil.
MY OIL CHANGE INTERVAL IS EVERY 15000 MILES...no joke!
All my vehicles have way over 100,000 miles on, with no problems at all.
18 wheelers go 50,000 mile oil changes and they last over 1 million miles.

If you dont believe what I say here, search the internet for yourself.

I buy Mobil 1 or good quality 100% synthetic oil in big 55 gallon drums
(quality brand cheapest at purchase time). MY VEHICLES & EQUIPMENT all drink
from the same drum every oil change, thus keeping costs down.
It does not cost me any more money to use synthetics over DINO oils.

1) The difference in price for the synthetic is more than made up for with the
fewer oil changes made.
2) Synthetic oils keep your engine cleaner, because they dont create any
deposits/sludge from the combustion gases and oil degradation.
3) Synthetic oils allow the engine to run freer with less friction, thus raising
engine power output about 10 HP.
4) The lowered friction also increases your average MPG over DINO oil.
5) The gov. originally developed synthetics and uses them in most of the
military vehicles and equipment.

If you are wanting to get the most longevity out of your vehicle...
switch to a good quality synthetic oil and a good quality filter too.
You can use the 5W30 weight oil in most all vehicles...
no matter what weight of oil is called for by the manufacturer.
In colder norhern climates, you should go to 5W20 or lighter weight oil.
You should never use any oil additives or mix DINO with synthetic oil.
Doing so will break down your oil faster.

And to the person above that suggested to buy the cheapest brand
available...to you I say good luck and that you are full of $#!+.
Doing so will only guarantee early engine failure, because the 'cheap' oils
do not have all the necessary additives for todays engines.
You will be spending that savings and much more to do a rebuild.
Pennzoil is one of the worst offenders, they use a parafin base in their
oil. This parafin turns to sludge and clogs the oil passages......
you should be able to guess what happens then.
I learned the hard way, it took two engines for me to finally wise up.
A long time ago.

THE ABSOLUTE BEST SYNTHETIC OILS ARE:
These are a few that are 100% synthetic, unlike all others claim to be.
Mobil 1............$
Amsoil.............$$
Royal Purple...$$$$
Redline...........$$$

Again, everything stated here is true and factual and has been proven.

 

""to you I say good luck and that you are full of $#!+.
Doing so will only guarantee early engine failure, because the 'cheap' oils
do not have all the necessary additives for todays engines.""

No not true ANY oil that is API licensed will have the correct AW and additive system to meet all requirements of the level such as SM GF-4
Assuming a licensed oil no problems.

Like buying generic vs a name brand headache medicine same chemistry lower price same basic perfrormance. Synthetics will offer longer drain interval and oil life compared to "normal" oils but on basic oils the gap is not as wide as It used to be.

""You will be spending that savings and much more to do a rebuild.
Pennzoil is one of the worst offenders, they use a parafin base in their
oil.""

WAY wrong and a myth ALL mfg today use Paraffinic base oil to meet the NOACK volitiliy and low temp requirments, most use GPII and some GPIII type base oils but ALL are Paraffinic in nature.

Back when they made dirt paraffinc oils were the better base oil but back then wax was an issue due to some or not all the wax being removed when refined this has all changed perhaps 15 years ago.

""This parafin turns to sludge and clogs the oil passages......
you should be able to guess what happens then.
I learned the hard way, it took two engines for me to finally wise up.""

This is somewhat true but modern oils do not have near the problems as they used to unless you run a 10-15K drian.

Sludge is a by product of NOT alowing the oil to fully heat up such as short comute and forms in engines that operate cooler than they should.

Varnish and coke are high tempurture issues with sludge that does form in short trip cold operation turning into coke and varnish latter on.

This will not be a problem nowdays with any quality oil name brand or no name as long as they are licensed and of the latest quality level such as SM GF-4 any they will all give at least API passable perfromance.

Now names like Mobil 1 or Redline will surpass "passable or normal" performance but joe street engine will normally never need that for the life of an engine.

I get 200-300k out of my fords and have never had any lube issues.

A guy who knows
bruce

 

More

1) The difference in price for the synthetic is more than made up for with the fewer oil changes made.

I would agree somewhat depending on labor.


2) Synthetic oils keep your engine cleaner, because they dont create any
deposits/sludge from the combustion gases and oil degradation.

Not true they do not brerakdown as easy as a "normal" oil but they DO form breakdown residue but more slowly.

3) Synthetic oils allow the engine to run freer with less friction, thus raising engine power output about 10 HP.

I would agere both due to the higher Friction reduction due to some base oils and the higher quality additive systems generally used in Syns


4) The lowered friction also increases your average MPG over DINO oil.

As above

5) The gov. originally developed synthetics and uses them in most of the
military vehicles and equipment.

No they did NOT modern syn lubes were developed during and after WWII
and did not see any Auto use till Amsoil and a few others started marketing them in I think the late 60's though i maybe off on that.

Military use of syns were first in fighter aircraft, truck and auto are
still just getting started.

 

Dont have the time to go back and forth on all this.

Bruce, I know from 90 years of family history in the automotive business.
Numerous service stations and a dealersip on the east coast.
I also know from experience the hard way.
Some of my knowledge is common sense...
but the majority of my information is FACT.
Research it, if you think that I am wrong.
Please.

And to both of you...
Just for ****s and giggles, go browse the Royal Purple website.
Just go through it and read what they have to say also.
Thats all, just read some.

 

Ive used 5w-20 in all my Ford vehicles an have never had any issues at the present. even a small increase in gas mileage will more the off set the extra cost off the oil. An engine uses the most fuel at start up a 5WT-20 oil will flow more quickly to the engine parts an there for take less fuel to get engine temps up to normal. Oil is the cheapest expense on owning a vehicle. Good Luck an hope this helps.

 

I've seen UOA's of 5W-20/30/40 all in the 5.4's. They all do equally well. No better than the other, really. One person ran 5W-20, towed a camper for a few thousand miles, and the oil temps never went over 180-200F. Still thicker than the viscosity that the 20 is rated at.

UOAs can be your friend.