and to think that I thought that the 12 degree low we had the other day was cold. I'd say anything below zero qualifies as a cold start. Do have to say I already prefer the synthetic. Already have it in my wife's car, and it loves it. Was kind of hard to swallow the $22/gallon sale price for the valvoline blue, but it starts alot easier and I do believe it is better for the truck. Whether or not it is at $22/gallon is another story or personal choice. Thanks for all the input guys and hijack away. This site is the best for figuring things out for our trucks. How much does a OA cost on average and anyone know some good sites to better understand one so I can get a better understanding of what I'm looking for?

 

I consider your situation an extremely cold start. Plugging it in is getting you underway for sure. If you want a visual of why synthetic is going to be better for your engine, pour a small amount of dyno and a small amount of synthetic oil in separate cups and place them in your freezer, or outside in your case. Once down to temp, inspect the properties of both. It speaks for itself. This is of more concern to folks who cannot always plug their truck in. Oh, and the more mileage your oil gets on it, the worse it will perform when below freezing.

If you are not having any problems, then I wouldn't worry about it.

 

I just went to the dump and poured my old Rotella dino in the waste oil container. It is in the mid thirties here today and that stuff was like syrup. That is a big deal when it comes to cold start up lube properties. As for 12 degrees Fahrenheit, that is cold make no mistake about it. Those Canadian guys are talking Celsius, and 0 degrees for them is 32 for us. -36 degrees is COLD either way, though.

 

I started running syn in the winter and love it. I figure it eases start up on the engine, starter, injectors ........ I still do run dino in warmer months and change at every 3k.
Some people I know tell me I'm crazy to change that often, but call me traditional, I really don't care. I also figure on changing the syn at about double the dino (6k)

 

I'd say that is is a waste of money too. But everyone can do as they please and everyone uses their trucks differently. My self I use dino 15/40 all year in Minnesota. I really don't change the oil based on miles. I change it once a year. Some years I have done 5000 miles others are 7500 miles. I believe I am still sitting around 55xxx miles on the truck and with the van going on trips that number of miles on the truck will stay low. I will probably get rid of the van in a year or two and get another van but an extended van maybe a chevy van gas engine as they seem to do better mpg over ford gas engines. I'm hoping to wear out the tires first before switching vans.

 

I traded my 95 (250,000) in on my 02. Bought the 02 with 40,000 and now have 140,000.So far haven't had any major engine issues. I do a ton of miles for work.

 

Gents, since we are talking about oil weights, I have a question. I am in CA, but it is the high desert and right now, it gets below freezing at night and early morning, but during the day it is failry warm...between 50-60 F. I am getting ready to do an oil change, usually I would have the dealer do it because I used to get them free, but no more, my free oil changes are up. So, what weight would you all reccomend. Thanks in advance!

 

Put synthetic in it. You can't go wrong there.

 

I lived in calif and know the "high desert".. I moved years ago, but my guess is temps are the same now. I use 5w40 Rotella Full synthetic in my 7.3 and it is amazing the improvement in starting in cold weather. You also get the plus side with the 40W in the oil protecting on the hot days. I would still use the 5w40 full synthetic if it were me in the High desert. I run 0w40 Full synthetic in my V8 mercedes and it now has 82000 miles with no issues. I also change the mercedes oil every 14,000 miles reguardless of if it needs it or not.

 

I just had an oil change on 12/18 with Rotella 15W40. I also did NOT add any anti-gel additive to my fuel, and my truck would not start yesterday until late afternoon and MANY tries.

I did add in some anti-gel (white bottle) DK to the tank, but still, she was NOT HAPPY about spinning the motor. So after getting her started, and running around for 30 minutes to get her good & warm, I went to the store and bought Rotella Syn 5W40 and did an oil change in my driveway last night. It was about 10* F out. Fun. Not really...

My truck cranked over SO MUCH FASTER this morning!! Almost unbelievable the difference!! I will hopefully be adding on a bypass filter soon, and running my oil for 10k miles.

I get free oil changes at the dealership every 3k miles, but they only put in Rotella 15W40. That's OK for summer, but I'll never run it again in cold weather!!

 

Any special filter, or can I use the same motorcraft FL-1995 filter, or equivilant, that I would normally use with regular oil? Thanks!

 

I have stayed with Motocraft. Granted there may be others but I decided not to experiment with others and just stay with the one that worked.

If I were to try another brand WIX would be my 2nd choice.

 

Thanks

 

I too use 5w40 Rotella syn and the engine loves it.. Use it year round..
I can not understand why Ford is so negative on the use of synthetic oil in our engines.. I have completely eliminated the romp romp as soon as I switched a couple of years ago.. The injectors work so much better and I also heard it is better for the turbo, especially if you are a person who doesn't like to wait to shut off the engine, allowing for cool down..

 

YES everything you said sounds like me!

No romp,, quicker startups,, easier drive off, and who waits to cool off when finished.