My daughter's b/f just bought a 99 Ranger XLT with a 3.0. What grade of oil does the 3.0 take??

 

With a high mileage engine and pushrods I would use 20w50
if were hydraulic lifters 10w30 or 10w40, but you truck has pushrods, so go with the heavy oil.

 

mldmkr, what's the mileage?

 

its at 100,000 is the original grade 5w-20?

 

5W-30 is specified for the 99.

 

Check this thread out. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/4...0-or-5w30.htmlThere's no hard and fast rules for engine oil, just recomended grades. For all but the 4.0 SOHC, the prefered/recomended grade is 5W-20. This is mostly to maximize fuel economy, and rapid flow on cold startups when people usually just fire it up and go. You can go with heavier grade like 5W-30 for the hot weather. It's a 5 weight oil that performs like a 30 weight oil at temp because of the additives. When you notice that the engine is burning a little more oil as the mileage creeps up, you might go with a heavier 10W-30. Talk to some older mechanics for their opinions. Heavy oils like 20W-50 are meant for hard core extreme applications like offroad racing where the engine should be at temp before loading up. For the daily driver, they can leave your engine uprotected for that crucial minute or two in the morning start up.

Fred

 

mine has 148K on it and ive always used 5W30 Quaker State and never had one motor problem related to oil or failure or wear of a oiled part

 

Consider using a "high mileage oil (75,000 mile +) in either a dino or synthetic version.

 

From what I've seen, the old premise of "You gotta use thicker oil on higher mileage engines" just simply isn't true anymore. Oil technology has come a long way since those days.

Yes, if you're having oil pressure problems, a higher weight oil may help extend the engine's life a bit.. but on a healthy engine, regardless of mileage, it's just not necessary and can actually do more harm than good, especially in cold weather.

Ford originally specified 5W30 back in 99, but has since changed to 5W20 once that oil was developed (with the exception of diesels and the 4.0SOHC). Everything I've seen and heard about Motorcraft 5W20 (I can't vouch for other brands) has just been great. That's what I run in my truck... same engine as yours but with 60,000 on the clock.

If you're worried about running that thin of an oil... feel free to use 5W30 and if you think that's too thin 10W30 will also be fine as long as the temperature never drops below 0 degrees f. I DO NOT recommend anything thicker.. especially not 20W50.

Enjoy.

 

I was told once that my '02 3.0 needed 5w-20 because the tolerances were so tight. I thought that sounded good, but I'm no engineer or mechanic, so that may be bogus.

 

So many different opinions, one shop tells you you must use heavy oil like 20w50 if you're in hot climate and have a pushrod engine, I have some kind of knocking which my shop said is the light oil, so don't know anymore what to believe?

 

That is the most terrible advice I have read all month. Its flat out wrong.

First of all, the engine has both pushrods and hydraulic lifters, so that's our first clue that its bad advice...

I have a link to a good descriptive site on my work computer - I'll put that up tomorrow - it describes why it is bad to use heavier oil than what is specified.


Ford has updated their recommended oil for all engines - there is a tsb on it - and they now recommend 5W20 for nearly all engines including those that were originally spec'd at 5W30. The notable exception is the 4.0, which is still spec'd at 5W30. The 3.0 was originally spec'd at 5W30, but now they recommend 5W20.

Even in a high mileage engine, there is no reason to use a heavier oil than what the manufacturer recommends, and there are lots of reasons to use what they recommend.

 

So Ford now recommends 5W20 for the 4.0 OHV motor? That would be great, then I can use the MC 5W20 semi-syn in both my trucks.

 

I run whatever is on sale. I was running 10w30, now I've got some castrol syntec 5w40 in there. Good GrP III oil to go with the rinse phase of the almighty ARX.

Do a UOA and that will tell you if your oil choice is going it's job. As far as weight recommendations a good 30 or 40 weight will do just fine. No need for 20w50

 

I make it a normal practice to follow the manufacturer's guidelines. From the 99 Ranger owner's manual:

Ford oil specification is WSS-M2C153-G.

Use SAE 5W-30 motor oil certified for gasoline engines by the American Petroleum Institute.

Do not use supplemental engine oil additives, oil treatments or engine treatments. They are unnecessary and could, under certain conditions, lead to engine damage which is not covered by your warranty.