I have an 01 f250 V10. I bought the truck used and this was my first oil change. I looked at the sticker and it said 5-40 but the cap says 5-20. Wall Mart messed up and put 10-40 in it. I called Wal-Mart and they agreed to redo the change, but I am wondering what weight to go with. 5-40 that was in it when I bought it or 5-20 like is reccomended. I live in Louisiana and it rarely gets below 30 degrees.

I know someone can help me.

 

i'd say have them put the motorcraft 5w20 back in it!

5w20 has been a great oil choice for me. MC oil is syntec blend, and it's about $2 per quart. but any 5w20 should be great!

 

If you run MC 5W20 you will never have anymore worries about oil weight ever again.

 

what does MC stand for?

 

Motorcraft........sorry

 

Wal-Mat is going to put Pen 5-20 Syn blend, but I think I am going to ask for 5-30 because some have mentioned it for chain noise

 

Double check owners manual for your temperature (outside ranges).
The proper viscosity of oils (not weight as all weigh app. 3lb/qt.) will be on that chart.
Use the(( 5w (winter/pourpoint) 20 breakdown )) as it is best for our tight tolerance engines.
Old school thinking of using diesel oil 15w40 or the like will ruin our v10's.
Good-luck with your truck and welcome to FTE.
Rich.

 

5W-20 is what is recommended, if you want 5W-30 you should still be OK. NO 10W- 15W- or 20W weight oils should ever go in these!

 

I mentioned the chain noise, but my ear is tuned into it - it would never be noticed by the "regular" "normal" V10 user

 

I have heard that we should change to thicker oil if the truck is close to 100,000 mile mark due to the tolerances getting larger.Is there any truth to this?

 

I've heard of folks running 200,000+ on 5W20, so I'd say it's not true.

I only run 15W40 in my '83 302 because of the flat tappet cam. I wouldn't change oil weight for high mileage. If the clearances are opening up due to wear changing oil viscosity isn't going to fix anything. It will only temporarily mask the problem and you'll wind up grinding journals undersize when you may have only needed bearing inserts.

 

The only thing that would make me change it is if the truck starts using more than 1 quart between oil changes. I've never seen that happen on a well-maintained machine tho