I bought a 2001 F250 5.4L gas V8, 5 sp.,4.10's, 4X4, no air, reg cab.

I am due for my "break-in" oil change.

In the Owners Guide, in at least 4 different places, it clearly says that the oil I must use is a 5W-20......Ford p/n XO-5W20-QSP
Ford specification WSS-M2C153-H

But I am also hearing that this recommendation is in error. That 5W-20 is **NOT** the correct weight. That Ford made an error when printing the Owners Guide.

Can anyone supply definitive, specific info on this?

URL......or TSB number....something like that??

Lee Carkenord

 

After reading your previous post, this makes sense. I doubt if any changes were made to your 5.4 vs. mine and my manual definately does not recommend 5w20 let alone REQUIRE it.

Bob
Mulepick(No Email Addresses In Posts!)
2000 F-250SD X-cab SB 4x4 off-road auto 4.10LS 5.4L camper pack SNUG-LID front hitch 3 gauge a-pillar (water/trans temp, oil pressure) Ulti-mat

 

After I posted to your other thread, I did some asking around and evidently, Ford isn't the only one. Hond or something like that has introduced the 5w-20 requirement for the 2001s. I am thinking this caught everybody by surprise.
I will do some more digging, but I doubt Ford mis-printed your manual.
Bob

 

Yeah, I responded to your alt.trucks.ford posts too. I don't think its a mis-print, they are now recommending 5w-20. However I don't think there were any changes to the 5.4L, and in my 00' F250 xlt SC 5.4L 5sp 4.10LS they recommend 5w-30. So I think you would be safe with 5w-30 until 5w-20 becomes more available.. Ask your dealer if this will void your warranty, don't take my word for it..

 

I have done some checking and this is what I came up with.

Ford and honda are both playing this dangerous game. The EPa is still demanding higher efficiency and less NOX emmissions out of our vehichles. Ford's engineers have pushed and tweaked these engines to the most and cleanest they can, so the easiest thing to do and cheapest was to change oil requirement. Here's the problem. As I said earlier that Mobil did make a 5w-20 about 20 years ago. The problem is that it was removed because it failed to protect from lack of film strength. It has never been accomplished successfully. I have called several oil cos and most agree that Ford is making a huge mistake, to the point that they beleive that Ford will be revising this decision within a year due to failures. It is basically a cheap fix for EPA reasons and it got the heat off them. Dealers are mad cause it doesn't even exist at the dealerships yet. It's not at any lube shops, and lube shops are not wanting to buy more storage containers and pumps for another grade of oil.
There are a few oil cos that are rushing to have the only 20w on the market, but I would seriously shy from it. I know your worried about warrantee, but that is only 36k and you might want the engine to last past that. I called Amsoil directly and asked when we were going to have it. They don't beleive the rec will stand either and are not willing to develope a new oil that will not be sold after the decision is changed.
Bob

 

>I have done some checking and
>this is what I came
>up with.
>Ford and honda are both playing
>this dangerous game. The EPa
>is still demanding higher efficiency
>and less NOX emmissions out
>of our vehichles.


Thanks, Bob......
Interesting, for sure....... I wonder, on average, what the difference in mpg is using 5w-20 versus 5w-30?? Any idea? It must be a small difference...... one percent maybe? So a truck getting 14 mpg with the heavy oil would get 14.14 mpg with the light oil? I dunno...maybe its much greater than one percent...maybe its several percent.

>It's
>not at any lube shops,

I live in Denver, and could not find any 5w-20 here.

>
>There are a few oil cos
>that are rushing to have
>the only 20w on the
>market,

Yes, Pennzoil is one of 'em. Their 5w-20 will be on shelves any day now........part number 62439.


> I would seriously
>shy from it. I know
>your worried about warrantee, but
>that is only 36k and
>you might want the engine
>to last past that.

I sorta feel as if I am in a quandry......I want my engine to last, yet I want good mpg. I am thinking right now that maybe I would use the 5w-20 for winter, 5w-30 for summer.

Lee Carkenord

 

The 5w-30 is plenty thin for those temps you encounter. I really would not use a 20w till this situation shows itself with a little time. I truly beleive it will cause some serious shortened life.

Here's what I mean. I mentioned the oil's film strength. Oil pressure is not what keeps the bearing surfaces apart, it's film strength. Picture, if you will, two mating surfaces pushing against each other and rotating at the same time, with very high heat. The oil has to have enough "compression" strength to keep the two surfaces from touching. The split second they push the oil thin enough to let the surfaces touch, instantaneous heat is built and the oil is vapor leaving you with metal to metal grinding.
Naturally, a thicker oil has more cushion to keep surfaces apart. The thinner the oil, the stronger the oil must be. It will take a serious oil to make this work for the long haul and I don't think the co's that rush to get this out cannot possibly produce and TEST IT in proper form. Let's put it this way. Mobil one has the lightest oil on the market(thinnest 30w) called their Tri-synthetic, and they are not even working on this new grade.
Like I said and I hope I explained it ok, I really would not run this oil for some time till it is proved for some time.

MPG increase? Probably not much like you said, but if they can squeeze .25% out of 3 million vehichles, that's a bunch. Gotta look at the big picture.
Bob