Synthetic oil possibility

Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives

since i have read that our cars need 5w-20 oil and i want to go synthetic i was wondering what you all thought about this oil

oil info

any feedback would be great

Where did you read our cars need 5W-20? Stated 5W-30 everywhere.

here

dont think many people know about it, cuz i get asked that alot

Originally posted by todras:
Where did you read our cars need 5W-20? Stated 5W-30 everywhere.

Yup...today's Fords that use synthetic use 5W 20, as tol by a frined of mine who is a service advisor...but ours specificly state 5w 30.

Lupe

This is a quote form that.....

Applications
Mobil 1 0W-20 is recommended for all types of modern vehicles, especially high-performance turbo-charged 4 and 6 cylinder gasoline and diesel multi-valve fuel injected engines including those found in passenger cars, light vans and trucks where a 0W-20 or 5W-20 viscosity grade is specified.

So where on our cars does it state 5w 20?????

No where in that link do i see 5W 30 even mentioned....

Lupe

EDIT: i was refering to your first post......you posted almost the same thime i did on your second post....that intresting.....

ENGINE - ENGINE OIL - RECOMMENDED
APPLICATIONS FOR SAE 5W-20 AND SAE 5W-30
MOTOR OILS - GASOLINE AND FLEXIBLE FUEL
VEHICLES ONLY

FORD:
1992-2002 CROWN VICTORIA
1993-1994 TEMPO
1993-1997 THUNDERBIRD
1993-2002 ESCORT, MUSTANG, TAURUS
1995-2000 CONTOUR
1998-2002 ESCORT ZX2
2000-2002 FOCUS
1993-1996 BRONCO
1993-1997 AEROSTAR
1993-2002 E SERIES, F-150, RANGER
1995-2002 WINDSTAR
1997-1999 F-250 LD
1997-2001 EXPLORER
1997-2002 EXPEDITION
1999-2002 SUPER DUTY F SERIES, SUPER DUTY F-53 STRIPPED CHAS.
2000-2002 EXCURSION
2001-2002 ESCAPE

ISSUE
Ford Motor Company now recommends SAE 5W-20 viscosity grade for servicing most gasoline and flexible fueled vehicles.

ACTION
All 2001 and 2002 vehicles where SAE 5W-20 is specified should be serviced at the recommended oil change intervals using SAE 5W-20. This oil is an improved formulation to improve fuel economy.

Testing has validated this viscosity grade can be used in many previous model year vehicles. It is recommended ALL vehicles on the following Vehicle Application Listing be service with SAE 5W-20.

it should not hurt to run this should it, right now i have dino 5w-20 in there and have had no ill effects, just checked the mobil site to see what oil it said i should us and it says 5w-20, also the climate i live in never gets extremely hot like it would in say california or florida, and it never gets extremely cold as say new york or michigan

Theroreticly you should be fine....id like to know what ford is basing this change in motor oil....is there a reason or are they doing it just to be uniform?????

Cause in the FCO site, the post gave no info as to why...just that there doing it.

Lupe

Originally posted by Roz 1999 SVT-C:
This is a quote form that.....

Applications
Mobil 1 0W-20 is recommended for all types of modern vehicles, especially high-performance turbo-charged 4 and 6 cylinder gasoline and diesel multi-valve fuel injected engines including those found in passenger cars, light vans and trucks where a 0W-20 or 5W-20 viscosity grade is specified.

So where on our cars does it state 5w 20?????

No where in that link do i see 5W 30 even mentioned....

Lupe

EDIT: i was refering to your first post......you posted almost the same thime i did on your second post....that intresting.....

Yeah. The short version is that there is a Ford TSB out that recommends 5W-20 for every MY Contour with 2.5. Follow Gearhead's second link and scroll down.

So, given that our cars can use (should use?) 5W-20, then the Mobil 1 language does apply to us. Interesting.

Originally posted by RogerB:

Originally posted by Roz 1999 SVT-C:
This is a quote form that.....

Applications
Mobil 1 0W-20 is recommended for all types of modern vehicles, especially high-performance turbo-charged 4 and 6 cylinder gasoline and diesel multi-valve fuel injected engines including those found in passenger cars, light vans and trucks where a 0W-20 or 5W-20 viscosity grade is specified.

So where on our cars does it state 5w 20?????

No where in that link do i see 5W 30 even mentioned....

Lupe

EDIT: i was refering to your first post......you posted almost the same thime i did on your second post....that intresting.....

Yeah. The short version is that there is a Ford TSB out that recommends 5W-20 for every MY Contour with 2.5. Follow Gearhead's second link and scroll down.

So, given that our cars can use (should use?) 5W-20, then the Mobil 1 language does apply to us. Interesting.

Yea i realize that now....everyone posted before i did...so im alittle late to the party...lol

Lupe

well on to another issue of using this oil, since the oil is thinner will it decrease the risk of spinning a bearing or increse (and yes i know that you spin a bearing when you take a hard right all the oil goes to the left side of the pan, thus leaving the pick up with no oil, thus the bearings gets no oil and spins) i guess what i am trying to ask is will running a thinner oil than before give the engine a little more protection from spinning a bearing (because it is thinner it will not be squeezed out from between the bearing and crank) or will it harm the engine (because the oil is thinner it will flow through the gap easier)

and if non of the stuff i am saying about the oil and spinning a bearing makes any sense what so ever, please tell me or

Originally posted by Roz 1999 SVT-C:
Theroreticly you should be fine....id like to know what ford is basing this change in motor oil....is there a reason or are they doing it just to be uniform?????

Cause in the FCO site, the post gave no info as to why...just that there doing it.

Lupe

From Demon...
Ford (and it's family) changed to 5W20 oil to raise it's CAFE ratings so they could build more SUV's & trucks without actually having to make them get better mileage themselves.

A very cheap trick that will likely start showing up with engines starting to wear out sooner. (Definitely hot climates one!)

See post.

Thanks Todd....i need that infomation...5w 30 for me it is.

Lupe

so what do you think i should run in the car, also i should say that the car has about 120k on it, so for longevity should i run

a)5w-30 dino
b)5w-20 dino
c)5w-30 synthetic
or
d)0w-20 or 5w-20 synthetic

opinions please

or maybe even 0w-30 if that is better

Man i wish one of the gods would step in and speak on this topic (not that they may not have already spoken on it)

It stick with what has been used and proven in real world enviorments with the Mobil 1 5w 30.

If some one wants to try the 5 w 20 be my guest....but im sticking with whats proven...

good point, and since from what i have read by demon that the switch was just for better mpg and not better engine life (which was what i thought it was for and the original reason i switched from 5w-30 to 5w-20, also the reason i was asking about the 0w-20) i will go back to 5w-30

now i just have to do some searching on wether or not to go with dyno or synthetic, hmmmm time to start a poll

Originally posted by gearhead98:
good point, and since from what i have read by demon that the switch was just for better mpg and not better engine life (which was what i thought it was for and the original reason i switched from 5w-30 to 5w-20, also the reason i was asking about the 0w-20) i will go back to 5w-30

now i just have to do some searching on wether or not to go with dyno or synthetic, hmmmm time to start a poll

I notice you have been reading the post in troubleshooting section....theres good info in there....im also in the process of writing a FAQ on oil for this forum....hopefully done soon.

Lupe

Originally posted by gearhead98:
since i have read that our cars need 5w-20 oil and i want to go synthetic i was wondering what you all thought about this oil

oil info

any feedback would be great

This is an old and well dead topic about Ford wanting to raise their CAFE Fleet average so they could sell more trucks (the large majority of all Ford's sales are trucks!) and not fall below the minimum Fleet Average imposed on them.

If they did "Massive" fines would ensue and Ford can't even pay their creditors much less the large fines to the government.

So the solution was as simple as running a thin semi-synth oil.
Think of it as akin to the old trick hot rodders use to beat out others by running a "dyno only" oil. They make the extra 2% power and win but the engine suffers greatly for it.

'nuff said

thanx for the info demon, only reason i started this post was because i didnt think people knew the cars needed 5w-20, not knowing they don't need it, also started it because i have yet to see another 5w-20 synthetic and i thought that everybody that wanted to run synthetic had to run 5w-30 and that running the 5w-20 would be better on the engine and they would be able to run synthetic also

so this weekend i will be switching back to 5w-30 and depending on the results of the poll i started will be running mobil 1 synthetic or some 5w-30 dino