I'm getting ready to do my second oil change on my truck since I've gotten it.

Last time, I put 5w-20 Motorcraft and a Motorcraft filter.


My truck has 51,000 miles on it.. and I live in a desert part in California where some days the temperature gets up to about 110 (not now.. but in a few months.)

Is 5-20 still good, or should I step up to something else?


And what about additives.. can anyone recommend a good one? I've heard people talking alot about "Restore", anyone have any good experiences with that?

 

The oil you are using is Ford's recommended oil. It will be fine. That is all I have used and it gets plenty hot in Texas. I have 68,000 miles and do not use any oil between changes at 3800-4000 miles. Additives are a no-no. Your oil has what it needs.

 

X2 stick with motorcraft.

 

X3- I have 90K on mine and I've used motorcraft oil and filter every 5k.

 

I have no problem with using Motorcraft oil, but should I step up the weight a bit?

 

NO! Stick with the 5W20 and Motorcraft oil filters!

 

yea the 5-20 is a good weight for the engine even with high mileage and high temps. my dads 04 has 150,000 miles on it and doesnt use a drop of oil between changes. and hes used 5-20 everytime

 

The engine clearances are designed for 20W when hot. When cold, the oil flows like a 5W to get to the parts as quickly as possible. Many engines have been ruined by guys using heavy oils, thinking they know more than the factory engineers - they don't.
I use additives for many reasons but do not recommend them. Under no circumstances would I recommend 'Restore'. I don't believe it will cause harm, but if your engine is in good condition you simply don't need it. As to whether it works, I believe the principle is sound; under heat and pressure, 'soft' metals fill voids in the cylinder walls. In case you don't believe that is possible, think about how much trouble it is to get copper out of your firearms barrels. My reservations about it simply are whether or not 'Restore' actually accomplishes this.
Not using additives in your oil is the safest course of action, but many who speak so vehemently against all additives perhaps forget that many components in today's oil were the 'snake oil' of years past. So, we all use 'additives' every time we use today's oil, but they are blended scientifically by the manufacturer to work with the chemistry of their product. Just arbitrarily adding something foreign to the oil may upset that chemistry and cause some problems. There are many additives available to dealers' service dep'ts that are intelligently designed to work with today's oil and do not void warranties. There are others that are just as well-engineered to not cause corrosion or damage to the additive package in the oil. These additives may be for various purposes; cleaning, dry-start prevention, etc. OTOH there are many additives that should not be used because while their premise may be sound, inadequate engineering/testing was done to possibly discover potential problems. So, unless you feel that you are fairly sophisticated in these matters, it's best to leave additives out of your engine unless recommended by the vehicle manufacturer or other unbiased, reputable sources. Today's premium oils are many times better than the oils of just twenty years ago, and you will give up nothing by using Motorcraft 5W20.

 

Ok, not to hijack this thread but I've always used castrol 10w30. So for my 06 f150 5.4should I use Motorcraft 5W20 or castrol 5w20?

 

yes you should be using 5w20 personally i use quaker state horspower synthetic for my truck but just about any 5w20 will do the job

 

You should always use what the vehical/truck calls for. 1Saxman explained it perfectly about the engine clearances. If an engine calls for 5w20 and you run something thinker it might not be able to get were it needs to be. Any 5w20 will work. I run Royal Purple 5w20 and MotorCraft Filters in my 05 SC 5.4 and love it.

 

Thank you for typing that, and sparing my fingers.

 

I have used Castrol for 4 years no problems ues it now in my 04 5.4 5w20 ford filter all is well