Originally posted by KC99SE:
i just got my contour a few months ago and went ahead and changed the oil as soon as i got it. The previous owner used regular oil in it. Well I put in Mobil 1 full synthetic 5w-30. It is almost time for another oil change and lately as the weather has gotten colder, i've noticed in the morning when i first start it, the engine sounds louder on startup, not a good sound either, sounds almost like a scraping sound. It only last a second or two on startup and then its normal, but I was wondering if it would be better to just use regular oil to maybe help the cold starts. Any recommendations on running synth versus regular on cold starts?? Or is it normal on these duratecs in the cold? Any help apreciated.



That noise is normal or common on a lot of duratecs and I think it was determined to be the noise the timing chain/gear makes before the oil has a chance to get to it. It happens more in colder weather because the oil gets thicker and moves slower. I don't think you get that issue with sythetic as the oil does not 'thicken' as the weather gets colder like conventional oil.