We are the second owner, purchased with 70,000 miles, premium certified used, purchased the extended warranty (expired 6,500 miles ago) all service except for last oil change and front bearing replacement were performed by Lincoln/Mercury dealer where the car was purchased from, and done on time. At least once at 92K or 99K we had it checked for noise and hesitation when reaching highway speed. Most of the driving we do is in town with intermittent highway. All dealership oil changes were 5w30 (the dealership says that is what it calls for when entering VIN in system) the last oil change (in April) was done at NAPA PFM shop and they put in 5w20 because "that is what Owners Manual and Oil Fill cap calls for". What other info do you need?

 

 

My 2012 3.5 EcoBoost towed frequently. I changed the oil (actually the dealer did) slightly before the OLM told me it was time, (I generally waited till the OLM was about %20 oil life). Just before I gave my son the truck to keep I changed the plugs, I think that was about 105,000 miles. The plugs didn't look bad however I could tell the truck ran better. I probably should have changed them sooner. My truck had 10W-30 on the filler cap so that's all it ever had in it.

 

Sir, first off, welcome to FTE. I'm sure everyone here is very sorry to read of your issues and I know for sure that this will be helpful to someone going forward. All of that of course is of little consequence to you as this doesn't solve your issue.

You bought the car used at 70K miles. Do you have a record of all maintenance since new? Can you get it? Ford should never have allowed 5W-20 in any GTDI engine. They obviously felt the same therefore they issued TSB to change the oil weight in 2011. I'll wager that by the time you bought the car, the damage may have already been done IF the maintenance was not performed by Ford / Lincoln.

I have to agree with Tom, this will be an uphill battle that may net no positive outcome. Any hack can change out the turbos but there's no way to tell if they were even well lubricated in addition to the lighter weight oil. What if there is a lubrication issue on these particular 3.5's? Have you visited any of the Flex, ecoboost or Taurus forums to ask?



My recommendations at this point, cut your losses and move on.

 

To be honest, I wouldn't be so quick to blame the oil for this. I've spent a lot of time over the years on another oil forum, and have read a lot of different articles about lubrication. And the difference between 5w30 and 5w20 is extremely small. There's also a lot of variability between brands for a given oil weight; some 5w20s are heavier than others with viscosities that are close to some lighter 5w30s.

Would slightly thicker oil have made a difference for you? Perhaps, but also maybe not. You have no idea what the previous owner put in it, and even if he used slightly thicker 5w30 you may still have been in the same situation you are now. You're in a lousy situation, but the blame game isn't going to help you or anyone else. None of us would want to be in your shoes, and I empathize...I wouldn't want to shell out that kind of money on a relatively new car. But you're best focusing on the best way to get your car on the road and moving on.

 

Re-revival of this thread, Did you ever finish doing your oil analysis cycles when you changed oil brands?

 

I’m on my final cycle now actually. Did three runs with Mobil 1, three with Schaeffer’s Supreme and I’m on my third cycle with Castrol Magnatec. The best place to review the M1 and Schaeffer’s results are here as I broke out each cycle with details. I posted my first cycle of Magnatec on BITOG (Here).

I didn’t post my most recent Magnatec cycle on BITOG, but here it is...I wish I could have run it a bit longer but life had the weekends booked, so I swapped the oil out when I had the time. It still looks really good and wear metals are trending below the other two oils. Even more important for me is the fact that with fuel dilution the oil is holding it’s viscosity. I’ve got a summer of towing planned, and I’m going to try to run the OLM down to under 10% to really give it a test. For my motor and driving conditions, this Magnatec is amazing...especially when you consider how cheap it is.

 

If your interested, you can go to BITOG and search my username.
You will see my history with that oil and can trace it back to Magnatecs appearance on the market.

My first UOA after switching on my '13 3.5 showed a 25% decrease in iron.

I have used that oil every change and am now using it on my '17.
I follow the OLM for changes... typically end up between 9-9.5k on changes.

I usually show the lowest wear indicators of any 3.5.

Magnatec 5/30 is the best oil to use in a 3.5 ecoboost.

 

Sorry for bumping an old post, but I've been searching around for information on Castrol Magnatec after seeing KJ Smith's posts on BITOG. I've seen some of yours as well onug. I was looking for information on the new formulation of Magnatec and specifically if it performed like the old semi-synthetic version in the EB engines.

onug,

You mentioned that the last three oil changes were with Magnatec. Would those be the 6356 miles, 6811 miles, and 5649 mile intervals posted above?

Neil

 

I can't say if I have run a UOA since the switch to full synthetic.
I had a mix of old and new in it, then went through two oil pan changes w/ 2 10k cycles of Motorcraft and one cycle of Magnatec in between.

Pretty sure my last cycle was all syn Magnetec… but I didn't run a sample.
Probably will run a UOA on my next change (80k on truck).

 

Thanks KJ. Turns out Magnatec is hard to find in my little part of Canada. Lots of Syntec and Edge though.

 

Around here it's under $20 for a 5 quart jug at Walmart.

 

Finally found a place that can order it in for me. Unfortunately it's $41/5L jug and you have to buy 3 jugs at a go.

Neil