Hello everyone. I'm new to this site but I came here hoping for some good advice. I own a 1995 Ranger ext cab, 2.3L 4 cyl, 5 speed manual trans, 2WD. High mileage but now used less than 100 miles per wk. Very well maintained mechanically by prev owner & myself. No leaks. I need to switch to a different brand of oil. Has used AC Delco 10W-40 for years so what are some brands that will be good to switch to & what are the things I need to do to make sure my truck tolerates this change well? I have always heard its very bad to change brands of oil in a vehicle & this is my little truck. She may be a lil old lady but so am I & I luv this truck. Thanks everyone.

 

Here we go again. What are the things you have heard that will happen if you switch? As far as I'm concerned thats BS, switch to whatever, as a matter of fact why are you using such a heavy oil anyway? Ford recommends 5W-30, I'm quite sure the owners manual will tell you not to use anything more viscus than 10w-30. My Plymouth which I bought new, has almost 220k on it and it has everything imaginable in it. Cheap wal-mart oil to stupid expensive synthetic. What I will say though is better oil with a better additive package tends to clean up a dirty engine, sometimes too good and cause oil leaks, I have had 3 different engines do this to me. Not real bad leaks but enough to go back to cheaper stuff.

 

Welcome to FTE.

As Phinxter has noted, your 95 was originally specified to use 5W-30 & since 01 was back specified to be able to use 5W-20. It'll get better gas mileage, start easier in winter & the oil will flow to the top end of the engine faster, which the over head cam would appreciate.

Dig out the owners manual & follow its guidelines for service intervals according to the type of driving you do & use lubricants & filters that say in writing that they meet or exceed Fords specifications for the items used.

Any oil that is licensed to meet Fords 5W-20, or 5W-30 specifications will do just fine. The specified Motorcraft oil is a semi-synthetic & filter are both of good quality & are designed for our engines, so we can't go wrong using them. EDIT: The current Ford specification for 5w-20 is WSS-M2C945A & 5W-30 is WSS-M2C946A, they meet the latest API specifications for SN/GF-5 spark ignited engines & are back specified to cover your year/model Ranger engine.

SO, look on the front of the oil container to see if it meets API SN/GF-5 in the starburst insignia, then look on the back to see if the oil says its licensed to meet the above Ford specification for the viscosity range being purchased, 945A for 5W-20, or 946A for 5W-30.

Years ago there were some problems with PAO based synthetic oils causing leaks on seasoned engines that had not been using it, but not so now. If the engine has some leaks/weeps it'll just continue, maybe a little more so if you switch to a synthetic, unless its a "High Mileage" recipe regular or synthetic, that has additional seal conditioners in its formula, as they can slow or maybe stop a small weep/leak, by softening & slightly swelling the seal.

So consider using the specified 5W-30, or 5w-20, in a recipe that says in its product data sheet, or on the container, that it meets or exceeds Fords specifications for that viscosity engine oil.

More thoughts for consideration, let us know what you do & how it goes.

 

Thanks ya'll. In answer to why I use a heavy oil, well I bought the truck just a few months ago & the old man I got her from had just changed the oil & that is what he has used for years so I don't have a good reason other than ignorance but I'm learning lol. And I do need to download the owners manual since the original is not with the truck. I like the sound of a high mileage oil. I want to choose a brand that is stocked locally in our little store which doesn't have a big selection What do ya'll think of these? Mobil Super High Mileage 5W-30, Mobil 1 High Mileage 5W-30 Full Synthetic, Valvoline MaxLife 5W-30, Castrol GTX High-Mileage 5W-30 or Havoline Himi 5W-30? And cheers to all ya'll for helping & teaching me so I can take good care of my truck.

 

Oh and forgot to mention, the the truck doesn't have any seep, weep or leaks at all. I have been checking oil, water etc before each time I drive it since its such an old truck but I'm a new owner to it. Is that unusual for such an old truck to not have any leaks?

 

If you don't have any oil weeps/leaks, no need to use a High Mileage recipe crankcase lube. Any of those lube manufacturers products that say they meet or exceed the above Ford specs will do just fine for the specified oil change interval.
Just use the specified viscosity range that best suits the temp range the vehicle will be operated in & as been said there is no need to use a 10W-40. Motorcraft filters are well made & are a good bang for the bucks spent & are designed for our engines & oci.

 

personally I would stay away from sythetics just from my experience. I use walmart oil and BG MOA. I have used a Dexos approved 5w-30 ( synthetic blend) in my Jeep and noticed some front cover seepage that wasn't there before, so I'll stop using it and see if that goes away.

 

Dexos is the worst oil in the industry. The low zinc, low phosphate, high detergent package results in increased wear, decreased protection, and it adversely affects the life of every seal in the engine. It is so bad that GM themselves don't use it (GM engineers designed the oil as an eco-friendly product, so that they and Al Gore could score big bucks from carbon credits), or when they do use it, they use EOS as an additive package to circumvent the issues that the Dexos oil causes.

Personally I think your bad experiences with synthetic oil come from the fact that most oils in this country sold as synthetic oil, are not synthetic, and are really not significantly better than conventional oil.

 

Another thought about oil choice. Select the specified 5W-20, or 5W-30 viscosity range from the same brand name the former owner had been using, that seems to have gotten the engine this far without problems, as its base oil & additive recipe will likely be similar, so seals & gaskets seem to like it just fine if there are no leaks/weeps with the high mileage it has on it, so no need for a shock treatment at this point.

Look in the oil fill cap at the valves & on the dip stick for deposit signs, so you can get an idea of the deposit loading & type of deposits the engine has & let us know what you find.

 

I don't doubt anything your saying, where did you get this information about Dexos?

 

Primarily through my machinist, who in turn gets the information from Joe Gibbs, Chevron, and Siemens. General Motors developed the oil because "the high zinc content " of conventional oils caused "contamination of the catalyst". The allegation is that catalyst failures in GM vehicles were being caused by zinc in the oil reacting with and coating the catalyst, reducing its efficiency.

However, only GM was having issues with this, primarily because they have a faulty PCV design that allows excessive amounts of volatiles to get into the intake, where they then condense and pool, on startup they get drawn into the engine all at once, which is more than the catalyst can handle. The GM engineers then produced this oil, which they called Dexos, which is a GM proprietary blend.

The EPA then said, this new environmentally friendly oil was great and that the rest of the industry needed to reduce the zinc content in their oils as well to prevent catalyst failures (even though only GM vehicles and maybe a couple others were plagued with the faulty designs). The result is that most oils today are not as good at protecting your engine as oils from 10 or 15 years ago.

Funny thing is "Bob the Oil Guy" doesn't say anything about this. Thats probably because its a public forum written by the public, and the comparison oils are not longer sold in most auto parts stores. Comparing the wear effects of one low zinc, low phosphate oil to another is pointless, especially if you compare engines that are not as affected by zinc content.

If you really want to step into the world of better oils, you have to step outside the world of motor oil and into the world of race oils, marine oils, hotrod oils, etc. These oils are high zinc, high phosphate, and they have correct amounts of detergents. As a general rule they are true synthetic base stocks, instead of the pseudo-synthetics that dominate the motor oil world. This should be of concern to you on a 2.3L. The 2.3L Lima motors back in the day never ever had aux shaft gear failures This is the shaft that drives the distributor if you had one, and the oil pump. Now it is a common occurrence, why, because the gear needs zinc to be properly lubricated, most oils have nowhere near the required film strength, the pressure just forces the oil out, and the gear makes metal to metal contact and slowly wears thinner and thinner until it breaks. While your engine is not turbocharged, the 2.3L Lima motors are popular turboford motors, and there are plenty of examples and articles describing the gear failure. I have never personally experienced a gear failure, or even any gear wear because I use better oils.

For the record, the oil I use costs about $10 per quart. Instead of buying $3 per quart oil and changing it every 3,000 - 5,000 miles, I change mine when analysis indicates it is needed. On my '87 Thunderbird Turbocoupe, lets just say that since my engine was rebuilt and I switched from the break in oil to the Hotrod oil, I haven't had to change my oil yet. I'm at 11,000 miles so far and the oil looks new, still passing the analysis. According to the oil manufacturer, I don't change it at a mile interval, I change it when it needs to be changed. They say change the filter every 10,000 miles or so, replace the oil that is lost, and keep going. Based on my results so far, I expect to get upwards of 30,000 miles on the current oil, and this is in a turbocharged setup where the oil is being subjected to extremely high temperatures and shear forces.

Before assuming why my engine was rebuilt, it was because the previous owner had put the wrong sized injector on one of the cylinders, which caused that cylinder to run lean, which in turn caused a head gasket failure.

 

ok then, so whats the answer to lilredtruck747?

 

The answer is none of the oils he listed are synthetics, so don't bother with them, and don't waste your time with a high mileage oil. Either run a regular oil of the proper API spec and weight, or run a real synthetic like Amsoil, Redline, or Joe Gibbs.

 

fwiw i also run the 2.3 engine very low miles per week. i have been using with good success 5w30 year round; either valvoline or castrol conventional oils with a motorcraft filter. i would just caution that even running low miles i still change oil at least every 4 months no matter what the miles add up to...