2005 F150 - Which oil?
 

I have read numerous postings and articles concerning which oil to use, Ford recommended 5w-20 or something else. One article suggests that 5w-20 is only recommended by Ford because of milage requirements and that 5w-30 will give you longer engine life. With little difference in milage. What is best for a new truck?

We have 5.4's with over 200,000 hard miles (forestry trucks) still on 5w-20. Clearances are smaller now, so a thinner oil is needed. I dont think 5w30 would hurt, but at 5,000 mile intervals the 5w20 will work fine. The motorcraft version is a synthetic blend, or can be had straight synthetic, nut i see lots who use other brands. Myself I would use the 5w20, just because i have yet to see an oil related concern 215,000 miles later on just 5w20 with no additives

Before I would have said 5W30. However, in your brand new engine you should stick with the 5W20. It has some to do with mileage, but it also has to do with the setup of the engines as well. Go with what Ford spec's. The Motorcraft 5W20 can be taken out to 5000 miles every time (after breakin) without worry. Too heavy and thick an oil at operating temperature limits the ability of the oil to extract heat from the head area. These engines need every bit of heat that can be removed to leave the heads for efficiencies sake. Stick with the 5W20. Someday your engine will start to loosen up a bit and then you'll want to move up to 5W30. Then someday a 10W40, until you eventually hit 15W40 and need a rebuild =). From the sound of it, Ramsey's are doing pretty damn (Sorry mods) good with the 5W20, and I doubt their engines see anything of a gentle life.

If I had a 2005 with a mod motor, I'd certainly use 5W20 Motorcraft semi-synthetic blend (the regular stuff). No reason to stuff it full of thick heavy oil if it doens't need it or wasn't designed for it.

Best thing you can do right now? Change the oil often. New engine means that the engine is still wearing in. Don't want all kinds of copper, silicon, and iron floating around. ^_^

Just my humble opinion on the matter. Do some searches on the matter. If you want to know the strength of the 5W20 oils, search the specification number (can't remember it offhand) and you'll get all kinds of debates.

And welcome to FTE, and congratulations with your Ford. =)

As long as the drivetrain is under warranty, stick with the manufacturer recommendations (and preferably, their products) unless there's a very good reason to deviate from them.

5pirates, You may have ventured into the "oil war" zone...

IMO Definately change frequently when under 10K- Then go with the recommended weight (5w20 or 5w30) in a full synthetic oil and do not exceed the manufacturers recommended change intervals. I like Mobil 1 but there are a lot of other good ones.

Why??

No extra benefit from a synthetic vs a conventional when following a mfg'ers reccomended schedule, other than elevated cost (negative actually).

MC 5-20 has been show time and time again to be a very, very good oil, and has even returned better UOA's than some synthetics on this particlular motor when changed at mfg'ers reccomendations.

[QUOTE=superrangerman2002]Why?? /QUOTE]


As we all probably agree, oil selection all depends on personal preference. With that said, I use Mobil 1 products because my Ford 6.0 PSD performs better than with dino oil. Documented better mpg, towing and unloaded. Additionally, given that I'm not a scientist, I rely upon those experts for their opinions, practices and recommendations.... Every Porsche, Corvette, Dodge Viper, Aston Martin and Ford Mustang Cobra R comes from the Factory with Mobil 1. Also, certain Mercedes models. A darn good support group IMO-

Rather than go to a Quick Lube garage, I change with Mobil 1 (myself) for about the same cost and genuinely believe I have a cleaner and smoother running engine. At the same time, if I ever have a negative experience with Mobil 1, I will be on this forum railing against it...

Spirates, the link I have given here is THE application oil companies must fill out and submit to Ford to have their oils certified for use in any Ford engine. The spec for your Triton engine is the 930 A which means it is a 5w-20 oil. The only way to meet Fords spec is using a synthetic blend or a "full" synthetic. So if you buy the cheapest oil that meets Ford specs, you are buying a synthetic blend. The blends will turn in the lowest wear metals regardless of the hype you probably have heard about "full" synthetics. So, its your money, you can certainly put any oil in your truck but if you want it to last, use the correctly speced oils and save your bucks for some mods later rather than spend it on synthetics.

Okay, you have read the material at the link and don't have a clue what it means. Let me sort it out for you. The speced oils will run longer, cooler, have fewer allowable deposits, less oxidation, stay in its respective viscosity range, less sludge, and provide all of the protection your Triton will ever need. And that includes synthetics which are not the "magic bullet" most folks have come to think they are. Again, it's your truck and your money.

http://www.ilma.org/resources/ford_s...fill_specs.pdf

This link is an eight page pdf file