2019 f150 3.3L
ford recommends synthetic blend. why not full synthetic?

 

they recommend the cheapest oil that meets the spec. The cost of recommended oil has an impact on Total Cost of Ownership calculations for large fleets.
You are free to use any oil that meets the specs. Full Syn is a small amount better and doesn't hurt anything.

 

You also have to consider "recommended" versus "required". So Ford recommends semi-syn, but you can use whatever you want (that meets the spec).

 

You may even be able to find a conventional oil which meets specification.

 

There are no uniform standards for what constitutes a blend. It could be 5% synthetic mixed with 95% dino oil. Synthetic is so cheap now, I can't think of a reason not to use it.

 

As I understand it, now days most brand name recipe lubes we would likely trust enough to purchase, semi - synthetic / blend, lubes that are API / ILSAC certified / licensed recipes on the container, will need to be about 60% Synthetic / 40% Group -2 base oil, in order to pass muster for the SP / GF-6 test requirements.

Motorcraft oil has been a Blend for a Long time. In days past back in the early 90's it was said to be a 40% Group-3 - 60 % Group-1 to pass those less stringent tests. Today those numbers have likely changed & I'd guess the Group-1 base oil has been dropped in favor of Group-2 base oils, as the Motorcraft recipe still yields low UOA testing wear metals & we don't hear reports of it producing deposit problems, when used as specified.

There are still fakes out there being tested, found & reported monthly, under the PQIA web site Consumer Alert banner, The Petroleum Quality Institute of America (pqia.org). Testing they have performed at certified labs, has shown some of the fakes seem to be Used motor oil thats been re-bottled. Some are out of spec lubes. Most but not all have been found at out of the way, no name quick / stop & shop places.

 

It just depends on you, and your environment. Many people may never encounter bad motor oil. If you are buying oil from trusted retailers, you just won't see some off-brand, questionable bottling. If you are getting oil changes from a dealership, you will most likely get something which is legitimate.

I have found questionable oil. Where I live, there's an area which is predominantly Spanish speaking. There are shoppes that sell discounted items. I've seen automotive fluids which were questionable. Labels in Spanish. Brands which I didn't recognize as mainstream commercial. I've also seen off-brand labeled automotive fluids at corner liquor stores.

Something to keep in mind - if someone is bottling bad motor oil, they aren't following the rules. Since they're already breaking the law, they may as well print fake certification marks on the label. So if some weird brand oil creeps onto a shelf somewhere, don't even bother with reading the label. You can't trust any of it. No matter what it says. It might say 10W-30. It may even have certifications. But none of that matters if it's fake.

You buy oil from legitimate auto parts stores, or places like Wal-Mart or Costco. Then you know that they are actually getting motor oil from legitimate distributors. If you're buying motor oil from a liquor store or a flea market...... did you think that Warren Distributing was stocking the shelf?

 

Tractor Supply sells a 5w-20 "Conventional" oil. But if you turn the bottle around, the back label says that it is a blend of both conventional and syn base oil.

I know that Ford uses its own spec, but if the bottle has the API "SP" logo, you are good to go.

 

I see synthetic blend. I see full synthetic.

Does anyone sell conventional oil anymore?

 

Its probably still available somewhere but as the synthetic and blends work well and popular it would be a bit more difficult to find without looking for it specifically.

 

It exists, but not in all grades, as some specs are easier to meet with syn blend.