since i rebuilt the motor in my truck i've been using mobil 1 5w-30 synthetic oil. works great for now. ill find out if it works well in the cold when we start to hit the 30's during the daytime.

 

the only thing i use in my 94 f150 5w30 mobil syn. i never had a problem. if you have minor leaks you can get a engine sealer that will help. it will take 6 qts.

 

I shy away from "fix a leak" sort of stuff... The way I look at it, if it's made to plug up holes, who's to say it isn't plugging up the holes that I DON'T want plugged?

 

Heh, that's funny Skan. You change your oil at 5,000 miles, I change mine at 2,000 miles. I love my truck and baby it, can you tell? She only get's the best. Weeee.

 

Damn dude... I thought I was being EXTRA GOOD by changing at 5k miles... But geez!! Maybe I'll bump that number down a bit...

 

6 qts of Motorcraft semi syn 10w 30 and a fl 820s filter every 3000 miles , does the trick and w/ 171000 miles on the odometer I have no leaks to show for.Works great for me.
Mike

 

Yeah Skan,

I would definately bump that number down a bit. 5,000 is okay..... if you put alot of highway miles on, but there in California you do put highway miles on (or so my mechanic friends tell me), but the ambient temperature is quite warm. I am from AZ so I know hot too. My dad bought his 06 f150 new, and the techs (mechanics) at the dealer told him it was good he was changing it in every 3mo or 3000mi. No, the dealer wasn't making money, they offer free oil changes for a couple of years if you buy there. It is just cheap insurance in hot AZ and most places to change it out every 3mo/3000mi.

Point is: Oil is cheap insurance.
Don't feel bad about 5,000mi either. Its when you let it go that extra 2000 or 4000mi over 4or5k that can do the damage. Trust me, college kids let it go really far and the results aren't pretty. But changing it religiously at 5k you are better than most people, unfortunately

 

i change my oil every 3,000 miles with dino oil in the weight suggested by ford and of course a motorcraft filter.

 

woops almost forgot. i change mine every 3000 miles and use the NAPA gold filter"same as the WIX filter. filter number 1515

 

that wix is one fine filter, i use them in everything but my fords and would in a pinch use them in fords also.

 

I try to change my oil before 3,000 but rarely do, always ends up 3500 or so, good ol Penzoil 10-30 dino, and my PH8 Fram filter. I know I'm about to unleash Fram is bad, go with motorcraft, but when I got the truck had 230,000 miles on it, always used Fram filters and Penzoil, and it still had over 145 psi on every hole (except the one that had a broken valve), and had less cyclender wear than a 302 that a friend gave me that only had 150,000 miles on it.

 

I want to give a big AMEN to the poster that suggested diesel spec oil. I bought a '95 Bronco with a 302 in February. The PO wasn't too bright and a lot of the maintinance was lacking and it showed, especially for only having 98K on it. I knew that this would never be a screemer, but I always felt like something was holding back the performance.

Oil wise, it lost about 1qt/1000 miles. The oil seemed to ooze slowly from everywhere, including the pan gasket, drain plug and rear-main. First change in I loaded it with SuperTech semi-syn for 1K and finished that with a short SeaFoam bath. This was supposed to be a rinse run, but it didn't seem to flush much out. The next run coincided with AdvanceAuto's Pennzoil Platinum buy-one-get-one-free sale so I dropped in the expensive stuff. It continued to gobble up the oil and I couldn't afford to keep the Platinum in it at full price.

I had a half jug of Rotella 15w40 and when it came around for oil again I topped it off with that, instead. HUGE FREEKING DIFFERENCE! I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. I was just trying to keep the level up, not do any miracles on the beast. The oil immediately clouded up with grunge the Rotella cut through, but the wussy PCMOs wouldn't. From that point on I never lost another drop of oil and the performance improved dramaticly.

With winter coming I wouldn't want a sump full of 15w40. Rotella 10w30 can be hard to find, but Wal-Mart sometimes has it. In the upper midwest the hardware chain Menards usually has a shelf, too. I got two gallons from Menards for $8.88. That's what's in it now and it is running so much better than when I got it and doesn't consume any oil at all.

When I cut the last filter open - Motorcraft FL1A all the time, btw - it had collected what looked like a teaspoon of oily sand-like insolubles. After about 500 miles of the fresh Rotella 10w30 the oil is still transparent so I think the worst of the gunk is gone. I don't think the Rotella would be appropriate for a spotless 302, but for one with a dubious history it can make a dramatic difference.

I didn't mean to make this so long, but I hope it helps.

Calvin

P.S. After another couple of OCIs and once I am sure my engine is cleaned I might try a run of the Motorcraft 5w20. For back-speced that weight for the 95 302 and I had very good results with that brand and weight in other vehicles. You can get that FL1A away from me when I'm cold and stiff :-).