has anyone ever heard of fomoco denying someone's warranty because they did not use the recommended oil weight in a vehicle?

i would imagine they would try to use any excuse available, but wouldn't they have to prove it?

 

An oil analysis proves if you are using the correct oil weight.

 

yeah, but they recommend 5w20 to everyone. The climate in North Dakota, i.e., is a little different compared to where i live.

i know they can test the oil to find what weight it is, but what I meant was- if there is a failure and you are using say 10w30 instead of 5w20, and they blame it on that to deny warranty. wouldn't they have to prove how using an oil (meant for your climate) caused an engine to fail?

 

YES they can deny a claim because of incompatible engine oil. They really don't have to 'prove' anything.. just tell you no... Then, if/when you take them to court their team of hundreds of lawyers will be doing all of the proving...

Give 5W20 some credit.. it's able to withstand extreme hot temperatures as well as extreme cold.. it is acceptable in pretty much ALL U.S. climates. Oil technology has come a long, long way in the last decade... thicker isn't necessarily better anymore.

If you have a Ford that calls for 5W20, and you're not comfortable using it in warm climates, you CAN use 5W30 as long as the temperature never drops below zero degrees Fahrenheit. I wouldn't recommend 10W30 on any vehicle designed for 5W20.

 

they can also deny a claim for changing the oil yourself and not having it done "professionally" cough-cough with a store or an oil change place reciepts...that is what was told to me by a ford service manager

 

Actually the first time I changed the oil in my new 01 escape, I put in havoline 10w-30 and a K&N air filter. Took it out for a test drive and ran the **** out of it and dropped a lifter. Luckily I've been dealing with the same dealership since 85. They told me it had the wrong oil in it, but that they would cover it because of our long standing relationship. I had allways ran 10w-30 in everything, however I now use the recomended weight in all my vehicles as these new over head cam motors are a bit more sensitive than engines use to be. I learned a valuble leason, I'm just glad I did't have to pay for that learning curve. The new mariner will get mobil 1 5w-20 as it should.

 

Looks like being a great customer finally paid off! How it works is Ford allots so much money each month to their dealerships (depending on their sales volume) for "Goodwill Warranty Considerations". This is for situations just like yours!

Basically, this is to cover certain non-warranty conditions (such as using the wrong oil, or being JUST out of warranty) that may arise. This was designed so that the dealers don't lose good customers and also to help settle some disputes at the dealership level, but the problem is that since the amount they have available to them is so limited, they are very stingy on how they give it out!

I'm sure they used this program to take care of you back then... but if you had handled things different, or if you were not such a great customer, you'd likely have been SOL.

 

Don't worry about the 5w20 in Texas. It is far supieror to 5w30 at staying in grade and designed to protect your engine. Ford used Lincoln Navigators in the testing in the Nevada desert loaded to the max GVW + had a trailer loaded to max spec. behind. They drove 15K miles between changes on the Motorcraft 5w20 for the duration of the test and the motor was un hurt. If you search this article is posted on FTE.

Use the Motorcraft, $ is right and it works. You can also check some of the oil forums like Bob's and the reports confirm.

 

Motorcraft is a good synthetic blend oil, but now days I use mobil 1 full synthetic in all my rigs. It reduces heat and friction to add to parts life, doesn't hurt the hp any and can even help with mpg. For increased mpg, I've found it pays to run synthetics in the whole drivetrain, like in my ranger I run mobil 1 in the engine and royal purple in the t-case, tranny and rear diff.