OK, I searched, but I did not find a answer to my question.

I want to switch my wifes expy to synthetic oil, but am concered. I have used regular Dino 5-30 in her 2001 XLT 4x2 with a 5.4. This is her regular driver and she does not see highway unless we are going somewhere on the weekends. All city driving.

My questions are as follows:

1. What is high mileage considered? (She has 50,000)
2. What brand is the best and what weight?
3. Have you noticed an increase in MPG?
4. How so they preform in extream heat, such as AZ desert?
5. Does it increase the interval for changing the oil. I know according Ford they say 5,000 miles between, but I still cannot take myself away from the 3,000 interval.


Thank you for your great assistance.

 

some quick replies before dinner:

1. 50k is not considered high mileage to me
2. Any major name brand is going to be good, any XW-30 is acceptable for your conditions (all city)
3. You will probably not notice any increase in mpg
4. syns are EXCELLENT in desert heat
5. syns are candidates for extended drain intervals, M1 and Amsoil among those specifying 15k miles or more

If you can't tear yourself away from 3k changes, consider running Motorcraft blends or the new Mobil Clean 5000 or 7500 lines.

time to grill...

 

I have used amsoil for about 10 yrs , 5-30 in wifes expd and also in my s.d. it is hard to get used too but you can go 12500, then chg filter and add i qt. then go another 12500..... and drain it all... old s.d 5.4 had 125000.. new 2004 s.d 21000, wifes expd rt now only 9000. the oil does not even look have dirty at 12500...

 

I just bought my 2000 EB 5.4 and I changed the oil to 5w-30 Castoroil Synth Blend and I plan to change the oil every 5k miles. I have used it before in my motorcycle and hadn't had any trouble with it.

I just switched out my wifes car to the same and also plan to do oil changes at 5k intervils.

I might eventually switch to a full synth... Maybe in the summer months? Or when I can't find the oil I have been using.

So Far I havent seen an increase in MPG but I have seen that when you change ALL your fluids to Synth is when you see a pick up in MPG.

On a side note you might want to change one thing at a time to see what is helping and or hurting your MPG!

 

There are more opinions on oil than you can use.

"Clean" is the best oil you can have in your engine, if conventional oils are changed every 3000-5000 miles - IMHO - that would be superior to running Mobil 1 changed at 15000 mile intervals. Look at the color of the drained oil, the darker it is, the more recirculated dirt you've been pumping through your engine. Mobil 1 at 15000 isn't pretty. Valvoline at 3500 isn't bad by comparison.

Dirt accumulates due to combustion chamber blowby. Ash, particulates, and all sorts of mayhem inducing hobgobblins will build up in even the best oil.

I question the detergent quality of any oil that doesn't show dirt at 12500 miles. It must be hardened sludge by then if it won't drain out.

I use Mobil 1 5w-30 synthetic, and I change at 3500 mile intervals. That has worked for me, but it's fairly expensive. Figure $40 a pop, 7 times per year. That's $280 a year which has kept me running for 163000 miles in 8 years with no internal engine problems.

If that's too expensive, change conventional oils at 3500 mile intervals and you should be fine. Even the basic motor oils have better additive packages than they had 20 years ago.

Fear not, go forth, and change your oil.

 

I use the new Mobil1 0w-20 in my expi, it actually says its recomendded for Ford V8s on the bottle. I like it a lot, and i change about every 8k miles. This is the same oil that comes in new Porsches and BMWs, and they recommend changing every 15k miles, and those motors are a little more high perf than our triton V8s.... Changing every 3k is old school, not needed with todays syn oils. Not sure you are going to see a MPG increase though....
50k is not even close to high mileage...your expi will easily hit 250k if you take care of it.

 

All my veh. run on syn, At this time i am using amsoil, but find myself buying the cheap syn at walmart somwtimes.